Bangkok

After spending two years in Busan, South Korea, my second contract finished and I was just not ready to go back to the USA to live or to stay in the ROK (Republic Of Korea).  So I took what saving I had and decided to see some of the world.

The first stop was Bangkok, Thailand.  After a brief stop over in Hong Kong, I arrived in Bangkok in one piece.  This was the third time I visited Thailand, having been here during my winter vacations the last two years.

Thailand greets you with a certain oppressive heat and humidity unknown in North Carolina and certainly foreign to the cool climate of South Korea.  I had packed a couple pairs of pants, 2 long sleeve shirts, and sweatshirt for cool nights.  There really are no cool nights in Bangkok.  Needless to say, those items were eventually mailed home or altered to allow more air access.

From the airport I hopped on the Airport Express train into town and got off at the Phaya Thai exit.  Next I got the first metered taxi to Khao San Rd.  My first few nights I booked a room at Boonsiri Place (for which I spent too much money for the value, but that is the nature of traveling alone in Thailand.)

Maybe it was the 2^nd or 3^rd day, not sure, but I met up with Nick Bud and his sister Kelly.  Nic was also an English teacher in Busan whose contract had reached completion.  We did the usual Bangkok fare, drinking, shopping, eating, and then again in reverse order.  The next two days were peppered with food and massages!  By the end of my third day in Bangkok, Lena Rochford (who I would travel with for the next month), Hannah Richards, and Jenn Young also joined the Busan Reunion! 

On Friday Lena and I set off for Cambodia!  We took a taxi to Mo Chit where the public bus terminal is located.  At gate 23 in the inside counter, we got our tickets to Aranyapatet, a little Thai border town that is one of the main gateways to Cambodia.  On the other side of the border crossing is a town called Poipet, Cambodia.  I once read in Wikitravel that Poipet rhymes with toilet for a reason.  It really is a shithole of town.  Full of snatch thieves, pickpockets, motorbike gangs, the taxi mafia, gambling, prostitution, and any other seeding thing you can think of.  There is no need for the average person to spend any more time in Poipet than is required to secure a taxi to Siem Reap.