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a trip to bangkok

bangkok is just the name of a city for those who have not visited it. its name is often associated with more or less true stories of poverty, crime, lack of hygiene and sex. that is also what sprang to our minds before starting our trip and it was so difficult to get a clear picture based only on hearsay from friends who lived or still live there. until we got there and saw it with our own eyes.

what we found was a large, indeed enormous city of over ten million inhabitants.

skyscrapers that have nothing to envy the american big cities, parks, motorways running over the city, futuristic sky trains, shopping malls that look more like small villages than shops… and then slums in the areas that have not yet been developed, pile dwellings along the banks of the channels criss-crossing some parts of bangkok and poverty.

the locals are amiable, friendly and always ready to help. what struck us the most was the city's scents. there are scents of food, spices, kitchens on wheels at the crossroads, markets where you can find any sort of things. there are lots of people everywhere and they seem to eat at any time of the day!

we were very impressed by the beauty of the local girls. they are good looking, well groomed, smartly dressed and always smiling. in our western world, does it really takes so much to become calmer and better groomed?

and then comes the traffic. we had never seen traffic like that. it seems unbelievable even thinking about it. motorbikes, taxis, lorries, public and private cars contribute, with pollution and noise, to create the most absurd urban traffic that we had ever come across. be careful when you cross the road, pedestrians are considered moving human targets… we can tell you that from personal experience! you will find traffic wardens in the middle of this traffic wearing antismog masks and trying to bring some order into a chaos that seems to have a life of its own.

restaurants of any kind and of any price range are always ready to welcome tourists who are in search of a cool spot (it is constantly hot…) and good thai food. when we say "of any price range" we mean that by thai standards. the bill of a restaurant where we had a good and big dinner, probably one of the most expensive ones in the city, came to an amount that we would have paid in europe for a couple of burgers and a coke. it is impossible to compare our prices with theirs. the same applies to taxis. the fare for the 30-minute trip from the airport to the center of bangkok was just over 5 euros (about us$6).

over the next few weeks we are going to expand this guide to bangkok, which eventually will contain handy tips, destinations, restaurants and shopping addresses. just give us the time to write it like a proper travel guide.