Bangkok. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Fair warning: long post in the beginning.  Due to the fact that I had to leave Bali a few days earlier than planned (visa was not planned for properly) and I had to connect in Bangkok regardless, I decided to just extend my stay in Bangkok from one day to three.  Big mistake.  I'm sure there's a really great part of the city to find with local help but what I saw was mostly the bad and the ugly.

I'll start with the good, the photos you'll see are from The Grand Palace which is beautiful.  I literally cannot put into words how stunning, intricate, and colorful this place is.  It made Versailles look basic.  We were lucky enough to catch it 2 days after it reopened due to the King's death.  You could stay here all day and not even begin to see everything there is to see.  I wish I spent all three days there because.....

The bad. The ugly.  I'm used to dirty cities, I'm a New Yorker.  I've seen homeless people doing things I can't un-see.  Ever wonder why there's an empty car at 8am rush hour on the train?  Take a deep breath in.  The point is, I'm used to dirty cities.

Bangkok was another level.  It smelled terrible - everywhere. You couldn't breathe the smog was so bad.  Our hotel (the Park Plaza mind you) had a sign that said "We don't sell our children into sex trafficking." Great. Thanks for clarifying.  On top of that, there's just a general disrespect for women as a whole. I paid for a Tuktuk and the driver thanked the only man in the car. The women dancing in the bars (not strip clubs just bars family, don't worry) were so sedated they could barely even shuffle. They wore numbers and just drowsily pointed at men to go wherever (I don't want to know) with them.  These men were laughing at them and not even acting like they were humans.  These are men in business suits, wearing wedding rings, having drinks outside talking business then going inside of these places.  Apparently it's OK to behave that way, as long as it's in Bangkok. Also, the men (ladyboys) are prettier than most women. Weird.

Anyways, it was a rough few days.  On top of that, if you've ever seen Bridesmaids and recall the scene where Leah Remini shits herself in the middle of the street after bad Brazilian food then you'll know what I went through. Thai spice is REAL. After a month of healthy veggie food, relaxing in Bali and being surrounded by beautiful nature - Bangkok really fucked up my energy.  Luckily I'm now back on an island (more details next post) and my best friend here is a Reiki practitioner so I should be back to normal soon.  Below are my photos from the respectable places in Bangkok.

This is the Bangkok equivalent of the subway system.
You basically have 30 seconds from when it pulls up to
jump on or you're SOL.

A few of us in the tuktuk.  We ran into our
friend from Serbia, and her sister who is now
living in Upstate NY who joined us for
our tour.  Truly a small world.

Elephant statue outside of the Palace. Just cause I like
elephants. 

Sitting outside of one of the buildings in the Grand Palace.
Desperately trying to hide my sneakers under my skirt.
You had to have shoulders, arms, legs and feet covered.
They literally have fashion police who stop you on the
way in (yet they expect skirts to go with sneakers).

Beautiful buildings.

10 Months of travel : still an asshole.

HONEY I'M HOME!  A girl can dream right?

For your entertainment. We ordered a triple room. Which means
three twin beds crammed into a room so you can't even walk,
you just barrel roll.  The three stooges at their finest.

And finally, our rooftop pool.  Probably the only time I felt peace in this city.