Three Days in Bangkok

I just returned from three days in Bangkok. While, this wasn’t exactly the most insightful cultural experience, because I rarely left the Shangri La Hotel, it was still a good opportunity to get out in another country, walk the streets, take some photos, and realize that the world is a big place, and remind myself that it feels good to be able to taste all the flavors it has to offer once in a while. I like Thailand, but I am ambivalent about Bangkok. It is a big, crowded city. It is not necessarily pretty, but the people are great, and I am huge fan of any place that has food served on the street. The temples are worth seeing at least once and the river gives the city a nice breath of fresh air, one that KL could really use. Having grown up in San Francisco, I miss living near water, even if it is the dirty Bangkok River.

I wish I had a more profound detailed post about my experiences there, but this was my third time in Bangkok. I was there for a teaching conference, and with my daughter along, my hands were full. Like I said earlier, we enjoyed the luxury of the Shangri La Hotel, by far the nicest hotel in which I have ever stayed and not much more.

I did manage to make it out to the floating market outside of town with my mom for a great photo op. I have included a few shots below and more can be found here on my Flickr page. I had many thoughts on the differences between Western tourists and local people making a living in places where Western tourist like to go and take photographs, but I realized I was being very dualistic in my thinking, so I will just say that I was so impressed, once again, by the power of women, particularly the amazing women you see in my photographs below. Perhaps i will write a better post about them soon.

Here is the view from our Club Floor room on the 25th floor.


The shots of the market are pretty self explanatory. Be sure to see the rest on Flickr.