The Midnight Train to Bangkok

Well, it was the six o'clock train, but that doesn't have a good ring to it. I was expecting a leisurely ride, and then do my best to sleep in the upper berth as the train made it why to Bangkok. Well the woman who makes up the beds decided everyone needed to go to sleep at 7:30, and I was very surprised when most people actually went to sleep. I arrived in Bangkok at 6am and went for coffee, where I met another girl who was nervous about moving back in with her parents since they too lived in a sleepy town in Virginia..yes she was also from Leesburg.

In Bangkok, I stayed with a mother's friend's sister's neighbor's sister's friend? I don't really remember the connection, however they were incredibly gracious hosts who have lived in Thailand for a number of years. I had heard a lot about Bangkok from other backpackers; most people hate it. Bangkok is loud, crowded, and polluted. But like any other major city is Asia, it's vibrant and buzzing with surprise sights down wandering streets and alleys.

I did the normal things you do in Bangkok. First stop, Royal Palace and Wat Pho. On the recommendation of a friend, I went to the Jim Thompson house. Some of you know of Thompson. He was an expat who marketed the Thai silk industry to American fashion designers. So all of that silk in the King and I...actually from Thailand. He was an enigmatic figure, who learned the year of his death from a physic. Was she right? You betcha. He went walking in a Malaysian jungle alone and never came back. Moral of the story--don't go walking the jungle because that's stupid. Maybe even refrain from recreational walking altogether. But I digress, the cool thing is he built an awesome house in the middle of Bangkok. He combined four traditional teak homes into one larger house. The house was filled with antiques from all over Asia, definitely a cool sight to see. Unfortunately, you won't get to see it because cameras were not allowed.

I spent many hours trying to plan out my vacation so that I would ended up in Bangkok over a weekend. Every tourist has to visit the Chatchuck market in Bangkok. Not only is it interesting to see, but it's the cheapest place to get souvenirs for everyone. So I shopped until I couldn't take it any more then headed down to the islands for my last week of vacation.







Mother of pearl toes!