Gyeongju: Korea's Ancient Capital

Gyeongju was flat and open and wide. It is the most 'Korean' Korean city I've visited.When I arrived there I was surprised how open and wide it felt, there were no giant apartments towering above the city, most of the house were lower and slightly more old-fashioned.  It had an atmosphere like a museum or an park that encompassed the entire town. There were giant burial mounds everywhere, which came out of the flat ground without warning, gently sloping upwards. There were also parks everywhere with small, neat forests, beautiful gardens and fancy pavilions. The style and feel of the town felt old. It felt like going back in time a little bit, but it still had all the modern day features and the downtown area was similar to normal Korean cities.

I think I need to back up here and explain why Gyeongju is special. It is the ancient capital of Korea, during the Silla dynasty (a few dynasties ago I think). There was a giant palace there and you can still see the beautiful pond. This is also where they discovered the burial mounds of ancient rulers which apparently were discovered by a man working on his house, he found a gold crown in one. The people of Gyeongju seem very proud of their history, of the history of Korea, as most Korean's do and they rightfully should be. The parks were amazing in this town, larger than ones you usually saw for temples and palaces. They were also very peaceful, even with lots of people they were so spread out and calm it was hard not to relax in them.

The first day we arrived in Gyeongju it was Saturday, we decide to start by going around and exploring some of the parks they were wonderful, as I just described. Honestly, it's hard to do them justice in a written description, but they were just how you imagine Korea before all the industrialism and development, well a little, they were to well curated, clean and neat to be real in a sense. Still, they were probably my favourite part of Gyeongju.

After we explore most of the parks and the old palace site we went for lunch (by this time we were starving). We got a local speciality which is called ssam bap which just means rice wraps. It had many many side dishes as well as rice wraps. It had lots of dishes I'd never seen and was delicious.

During lunch another friend of mine met up with us at the restaurant and said we should visit Yangdong Folk Village, a traditional style village just outside of Gyeongju. We thought that sounded awesome so we agreed to go. We had a little trouble with the buses because we couldn't seem to find the stop for the bus that was supposed to take us there. We finally ended up getting a cab, which wasn't too expensive when split between four of us.

The village was another highlight for me. It was so big! And people actually live in it! Amazing. It had traditional style Korean houses, lots of them even had thatched roofs. There were plants and gardens everywhere and people too, not just tourists visiting, but people just living there lives. Since people lived in the houses you couldn't go inside any, although there were a couple cafes and restaurants around. The village was all over the hills, not just flat as Korean cities often are. We ended up walking up a hill near the edge of the village and we had a lovely view of the surrounding area and the village.

Earlier,  before going into the village we'd all stopped at a convenience store for some snacks and crystal ate some ramen. While she was eating the little boy at the table next to ours was watching us curiously, he came over and we all all fawned over him. His family seemed fine with it, until Crystal put on her sunglasses and for some reason that scared him and he started crying. She attempted to show him the glasses were harmless, but he was still scared, so we left the family alone after apologizing.

Later, when we were climbing one of the hills inside the village we found the same family sitting at the top of the hill eating some traditional Korean candy. We said hi to them again and Crystal went over to greet the little boy. The mom kindly offered us all some candy, which was very hard, it was a kind of white taffy like stuff, it sort of melted in your mouth and then became more chewy. It tasted like pure sugar. I made the mistake of taking a larger piece and was stuck with it for awhile.

When we were walking in we also saw a beautiful school, you couldn't go inside it because it was a operating school, but Crystal said she had a friend who worked there, gosh I envied her in that moment. The school had a more traditional architecture style and wasn't the regular three block of cement that Korean schools usually are. Also, her friend go free entrance to the folk village (which cost 4,000 won).

After we finished at the village I was pretty much exhausted from the full day of travel and walking. We headed back to Gyeongju and Crystal headed back to her town of Pohang. When we got back we decided we needed to stop off at the hostel first (where we'd dropped off our bags earlier) and then head out to find some food. The hostel was a big, two story Korean style home. It had a beautiful little garden and court yard area when you went through the gate (typical of Korean houses, especially more traditional ones). There was a lot of beautiful wood work inside and it felt really comfortable and homey to me, it was comfortably cluttered inside the house, but the room we stayed in was simple and clean, it had beds rather than the ondol style sleeping (sleeping on a mat on the floor) which many guest houses and hostels I've stayed in have so that was nice.

The bathrooms were outside though, which was a little annoying and the showers were the kind where the whole bathroom is a shower (ie they don't have a stall) this is pretty normal in Korea, my own place doesn't have a stall. The whole bathroom is just tiled and there's a shower head.

We went out for jjimdak (steamed chicken) which is a great, cheap meal to get when you're hungry. I might have complained about all the walking a bit because the first place we went to find the restaurant it wasn't there! Disaster. Michael asked someone about it and she told us the actual location of the restaurant, which was luckily near by. The food was delicious. Jjimdak has a spicy, soy sauce sauce, pieces of chicken, potato, glass noodles, and other bits of veggies. We also got rice with it because it has a ton of sauce to soak up. You get it on this giant plate and it looks like an endless about of food and it pretty much was, even with the three of us eating we still didn't finish everything.

After dinner we decided we wanted to try the local Makeolli (kind of traditional rice wine) since everywhere in Korea makes there own (it doesn't travel well I've heard). We found some in a CU (convenience store, Korea is handy that way). Then we headed back to the hostel. It was actually a beautiful night but a little chilly now. When we got back we set ourselves up in the living room with our makeolli and some cards, we never actually played cards (although michael played solitaire for a bit). I discovered a whole stack of beautiful photos someone had taken in and around Gyeongju. I spent a good long time looking at those and then we saw some of the other hostel guests and Lori began chatting with them so we all sat around comfortably talking to different people from around the world. As I thought, the hostel had a really good vibe. We met a girl from the czech republic (I think?) who was there for a conference, but she had finished and was now traveling around. She was an anthropologist. We also met three guys form Singapore who were traveling around Korea (and I think asia) it was cool to compare all the places we'd been. We also met a student from Seoul. Part of what makes hostels so awesome is the people there and the hosts (who were also great). There were a couple little boys around too who say me and started saying 'waygook' (foreigner) to their mother watching me with wide eyes. I laughed at this and the mother realizing I understood tried speaking to me in Korean, which was a bit of a lost cause since my Korean isn't that good. We had to finish drinking by 11pm so we went to bed around then too (hostel rules). The next day we were going to Bulgoksa a famous Korean temple.

The bus trip to the temple was a bit long, but it was pretty beautiful. It went by a really large lake (river?) and through a resort area with tons of beautiful buildings. We saw a temple under construction as well. When we arrived at the temple it was super busy. This is one of the more popular temples in Korea. It was a short walk up to the temple and as with most things in Gyeongju we had to pay to get in.

The temple was huge, I think it was the largest one I've been too. It is also special because it houses some ancient pagoda's. Michael asked us if we had 50 won on us (which is about 5 cents and a coin) Lori had a couple and he said we should have them ready. When we got into the main courtyard of the temple he said to get out our coins and hold them up to the pagoda, it was the pagoda on the coin! So funny Michael. Unfortunately one of the pagoda's was under construction and had a huge building built around it to protect it so we couldn't get a look at it easily. As I said the temple was huge, it seemed to not end. There were tons of tiny, little temples all around the main building. The main entrance to the temple was probably the most spectacular part with giant stairs going up to it and a beautifully decorated building, stretching across the entrance (I can't do it justice here, please see my photos on facebook from Gyeongju!). I ended up taking tons of pictures of the temple because it was so beautiful. I loved it there, I only wish it had been less busy there were people everywhere.

After the temple we were getting hungry so we went across the street to a small strip mall type complex to look for food. I guess not that many people go over there because it was near lunch time and the place looked deserted. As soon as we walked up a korean woman came over and tried to get us to come to her restaurant. It was uncomfortable. We told her we weren't interested, but as ajuma's do she followed us and continued to try and get us to her place. As we walked further we say more and more ajuma's hanging around outside their restaurants or stores. The atmosphere was strange because nobody was around so we decided to leave. I felt a bit bad, clearly business wasn't that good, but being stared and followed was pretty uncomfortable for us in that situation.

So we headed back to Gyeongju. By the time we got there I was starving so I told the others we needed to stop for some food. I'm glad we did. We found a cute little hole in the wall kind of place with one other man eating there. He spoke fairly good English and chatted with us while we order. The food wasn't the most amazing I'd eaten, but you can't complain when you were as hungry as we were. Lori ordered some kimbap (seaweed and rice rolls) and Michael and I got some ramen. Kimbap is a kind of snack food or side dish in Korea, usually you have it with something else. So when Michael and I didn't give Lori some of our ramen (she didn't actually want any) one of the ajuma's came over and gave her some of her own noodles.

The man we were chatting with left part way through our meal, but he bought us patbingsu (shaved ice with sauce and toppings) before he left so we were very happy and grateful towards him. The patbingsu was delicious, but it's a pretty hard dessert to mess and so good that you can't really go wrong with it.

After lunch we headed to the museum, which was huge. There were about 4 large buildings full of artifacts from Gyeongju and the silla dynasty. It had some beautiful things in it. I especially liked the crowns and jewellery (you should google the silla dynasty crowns they are very unusual looking). There was also an art museum with many statues of buddha, it was interesting to see all the different ways he was depicted. The whole thing was very simple and, I thought, well curated, you didn't feel overwhelmed even though there was a lot of stuff to see.

Eventually it was time to return home, we walked from the museum to the bus station. I remember on one of the walks by the giant burial mounds there was a family hanging out on a blanket on the grass. I think they were eating too, but I honestly don't think I was close enough to tell. I couldn't help imagining that my next trip to Gyeongju would be something like that. Sitting under the shade of an ancient burial mound with some good friends and a role of kimbap.

We also caved to our hungry and grabbed some of the special Gyeongju bread, which looks like small buns but they're filled with red bean paste (which I love, but is a bit of an acquired taste for some people). They were the perfect snack to take on the long bus ride home (which ended up being a lot longer than the bus ride there because it took a different route and hit up a bunch of other cities along the way).

Arriving 'home' in Changwon still feels strange to me. I still feel like I'm on an adventure even though I know I'm just going to catch the bus home and sit and watch tv and make food. It still feels a bit foreign and overwhelming when I get off that bus and see the strange landscape, but still at the end of the day, I feel most comfortable in my little room writing or watching tv or reading or cooking. It's all quite comfortable now.

Jinhae Gunhangje Festival (진해군항제)

The Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival is world famous, and trust me there is a reason for that. My pictures do not do Jinhae justice at all. There were trees everywhere and they looked amazing.

We had decided the festival was a must to attend and it was definitely the right decision. We left early from Changwon (also a good decision) because we were (rightfully) worried the traffic would be bad. When we got to Jinhae we got off the bus a little before the downtown area on the top of a hill. You could see Jinhae stretching out before you dotted with beautiful pink blossoms poking up between the green trees and the sea in the distance framed by the land nicely (refer to my photos). It was breathtaking. I immediately took a hundred pictures (okay, not that many but I took a bunch). I was really surprised by how many cherry blossoms there were. Everywhere you looked you could see them poking up from between the green trees. All over the hills, down the road and stretching right to the ocean. I hadn't known their would be that many cherry blossoms.

We walk down to the festival and took pictures the entire time. The day was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. My friends had bugged me about wearing my coat and scar and they both came off as soon as I got off the bus. It was warm for the morning too. A perfect day. Finally we reached the famous stream and main festival area. If you google Jinhae Cherry Blossom festival you will see a pictures of the stream. It's got walkways going down both sides, then a bank down and more walk ways along the bottom. It was very green and fresh looking. There are spots were you can cross it on a stone path. The part that makes it really spectacular are the cherry trees lining the top of the bank on both sides so you're walking right under them. It would be beautiful even when they aren't in bloom.

There were also tons of people, even though it was still before 12 pm. There were also lots of food carts lining the street beside the stream making it feel even more crowded. It was impossible not to get a person in your photos everyone was there to admire the blossoms. We walked down the stream, ate some snacks and just enjoyed ourselves. It was really nice, although by the time we got to the bottom we were all starting to get sick of all the people as the crowd was getting bigger the further we went. Finally we went to a cute little park with some really interesting art work and a cute tree fort/platform thing made of large branches (again, see my photos). Another friend who lives in Jinhae met up with us and we decided to go eat lunch. We went to a popular Chinese restaurant and had jjajangmnyeon a popular chinese-korean noodle dish. I also got some dumplings with Lori and they were really yummy and crispy, not like ones I've had before.

After lunch Min had to go to schools so the rest of us walked down to the navy base which was open for the festival. It also had lots of cherry blossoms and was huge. It's very easy to forget sometimes that South Korea is still technically at war with North Korea. There were tons of people at the base to check it out and the option to bus down to the boats and water, but we decided to walk once we saw the line for the bus.

I need to interject here about something. All week at work my coworker told me how I shouldn't go to the festival because it would be sooooo busy and that if it rained all the blossoms would fall off the tree (it did rain and have a little wind storm thursday, but the blossoms were still intact Saturday). She also warned me it would rain... I didn't really believe her that morning, but I checked the weather anyway and sure enough they were predicting rain in the afternoon so I took an umbrella just to be safe... when I got to Jinhae the prediction of rain sounded ridiculous... there wasn't a cloud in the sky. While by the time we got out of the restaurant and started walking down to the navel base there were a few clouds around.

We got down to the ocean and saw that you could go on one of the ships and there was a war memorial set up on the pier (landing strip? Not sure what you call it). There were even a few pictures of Canadian soldiers helping out during the Korean war (or at least we presumed they were Canadian's because there was a Canadian flag). When we realized we could line up to go on the boat for no cost we immediately did. And then I felt it, the first of the raindrops. It was just a little sprinkle then... barely a sprinkle even. I just felt a tiny cold spot on my face or a hand a clear indication it has started raining.

By the time we reached the top deck of the ship it was full on raining. We had really good timing though because they had a little air show just after we got up there. It was cool to feel closers to the planes like that and I hadn't seen an air show in a long time. Unfortunately only two of us brought umbrella's so we were all trying to huddle under the two of them... or some of us anyway.

Since the rain started we decided it was time to go. We started back up the navel base kinda taking our time since the rain was a little off and on. It actually stopped by the time we got back into Jinhae so we were less worried about it at that point. When we got back we attempted to find a bus stop because our plan was to bus home... apparently this was a bad plan. First off, there was an insane amount of traffic everywhere and also a lot of the streets were closed because of the festival. They were using some of the streets as parking and other streets were set up as a market so you couldn't drive down them. We quickly realized all the buses at the stop we were at said 'delayed' so there wasn't much chance of getting a bus there. Instead we decided to walk further up the road, away from the festival to see if we could catch a bus there instead (there were also lots of people at that bus stop).

It wasn't any better. The rain started when we were walking up. First gentle, then it was pouring and we tried to huddle under umbrella's. I gave up pretty quickly it didn't matter which way you went about it there were only two umbrella's and 7 of us so at least 3-5 people were going to get wet. Unfortunately this is not the worst of the afternoon, oh no. It got worse than this.

I think it was around 3:30-4 when we first start attempted to leave Jinhae. We could see the traffic was bad and there were tons of people at all the bus stops. We eventually came to one where we thought we could catch the bus, unfortunately everyone else had the same thought and it was really busy.  The good thing about this bus stop was the gas station beside it so everyone who didn't fit into the bus shelter just stood under the gas station awing. We had high hopes for this bus and planned to dash for it when we saw it turning the corner.

When the bus finally came you could see it was already pretty packed, the windows were steamy and there was definitely a large number of bodies visible. We dashed for the bus anyway, feeling hopeful (or maybe that was just me) and everyone else at the bus stop dashed too. People getting on the bus in Korea is already a little rougher than I'm used to. Korean's do not worry about pushing you, bumping into you and cutting in front of you. Well now imagine that people are stuck in the rain, there only hope to get back to Changwon is this bus and who knows when the next bus will show up, so to say the least it was a little aggressive. You definitely had to be forceful to get on that bus. I attempted at first but when i saw how full in was and how many people were literally hanging off the entrance to the bus attempting to pull themselves on I gave up. Even if I could get into the bus there was no guarantee the bus drive would even let me stay on.  I am happy to say one of our group was aggressive enough to get her way onto the bus. The last I saw of Lori that day was her green jacket getting shoved down the bus by someone else shoving their way on.

The rest of us were abandoned in Jinhae. In a thunderstorm, no less. Oh I forgot to mention that, didn't I? Not only did it start raining, but there was thunder and lightening and then showers. It was unpleasant to be in no matter how positive you attempted to be. I kept trying to cheer Julianne up because she wore a really thin jack, didn't bring and umbrella and got soaked to the bone...well honestly I think we were all soak at this point. Finally I pointed out there was no reason to stand in the thunderstorm and wait for a bus we had no idea when would come and be cold and miserable.

We decided to find a coffee shop or restaurant to sit it. For some reason the part of Jinhae seeemed to be lacking in coffee shops. I'm not sure how this is possible because there are soooo many coffee shops in Korea and you're usually not 5 minutes away from one. Finally we found a Japanese Soba restaurant and one of the girls, Mina, went to check it out.

Oh, I should also mention three of Michael's students were with us for English practice. I think they had quite the experience with the rain and we joked that it was a bonding experience for us which somehow made me feel better.

Of course the restaurant was super busy, but luckily when we walked in a table cleared. It was very steamy inside. Both from the food (mostly noodles and dumplings) and from the damp people. We got warm soba noodles which were perfect for the rain day and some dumplings (Julianne got chicken katsu and then I proceed to eat all her fruit side dishes).

We attempted to dry off in the restaurant but it was hard because there wasn't anywhere to put our wet outerwear to dry it. I think I felt a little drier after, but not that much. After we ate we debated what to do about the buses. We decided to try another bus stop (which had almost as many people and the buses were still super full).

There was an awkward moment at the bus stop where we got confused and attempted to catch a bus we thought went to Changwon, but every time we asked the bus drive they said Changwon, no and we couldn't figure it out until we realized we were trying to catch it on the wrong side of the street.

After this and seeing the bus we had been trying to catch all afternoon go by full again we came up with a new strategy which was this. We would cross the street and catch the emptier bus going into Jinhae, catch it to the end of the line and then just stay on the bus and go back around to Changwon, a long trip, but it was our only option. And yes, we did consider a taxi but they were all full. They kept coming up to the gas station when we were there (earlier) and the owner was checking, but every drive said they were full.

Things were a bit chaotic so when the bus we wanted to catch came we got on, but the Korean students didn't understand what we were doing and they check where the bus was going and then said we had the wrong bus, wrongfully trusting them (although they were right in all other cases) we got off the bus... then realized what had happened and had to wait for the next bus, which luckily (and amazingly) came right away.

Finally on a bus going the right way we were so realized. We actually had seats and everything. It was great. I think after we got out of the restaurant it was around 6:30-7 (forgive me if this time line is painfully off. I can't remember what it was exactly).  We catch the bus to the end of the line without a hitch. While on the bus Michael re-checked the buses and he realized we could catch a different bus back to Changwon rather than the one we were on. So we would by pass the craziness that was the cherry blossom festival (and yes, traffic was still bad at this point).

So we finally got off the bus and had a little confusion about were we should catch the other bus, and also were a little disappointed because we saw the bus we wanted as we were pulling into the bus stop, but then it was gone when we got off our bus. Although my rational mind knew this was a sound plan, I have to admit I was a little worried because what if the bus we wanted didn't show up for another hour and we were stuck in the rain, or what if it never came to the stop or what if it had stopped running? I think at this point getting home was almost seeming too good too be true. I should also mention we were sort of out in the sticks. There was not much around us, just a convenience store and a few other random buildings. I think one was a restaurant.

But I had nothing to fear, the bus showed up pretty soon after we got there and we were some of the first people on the bus. It also seemed like the rain was clearing up while we were at the bus stop it stopped had almost stopped raining. On the bus ride back the bus got really full so we were all happy to get on at the first stop. During the drive back there was a loud explosions sound, apparently more thunder, but it sounded closer and louder than any thunder I've heard (at least in many years) and it I thought it was fireworks near by until I remembered the rain and saw some lightening.

I'm pretty sure we didn't arrive back in Changwon until 10 or 10:30. I honestly can't remember the time. The only thing I wanted to do was change, have a long, hot shower; then drink tea and lay in bed. Julianne and I fantasied about this the whole time we were trying to get home haha.

The day was long and the afternoon was definitely an adventure, we took soo many buses to get home and it took way longer than the 15-30 minutes it should usually take (I'm guestimating here I've only been to Jinhae once before). I'd say the cherry blossoms alone were worth it, but I definitely think I would catch the train back or stay the night in Jinhae next time. It's was sooo crazy. Also, because I've now been to the main part of the festival I think I would just skip it any maybe go durning the week or on a less busy weekend and enjoy the trees, although they only have limited blooming time.

Anyway, it was an adventure worth having and I definitely felt like the group bonded because of it, also I will remember it for a long time.

So that was my latest adventure. I have much more that happened recently I want to write about but right now I'm late for dinner with my friend so I'll save it for next time!!

Thailand. Bangkok

I thought I could write just one post about Thailand and fit everything, but I think I'll break it up by city or something? I'm not sure. Anyway, here's the first one.
The whole trip was a bit surreal, it was my first real 'vacation' I call it that because it was so short, but it was also more of a backpacking vacation than the regular stay in resort and lounge on the beach sorta deal. Anyway, part one Bangkok and stuff. I don't even think I have all of my adventures there listed yet!

I've wanted to go to Thailand for a long time. And I almost didn't go.
I found myself sitting my friends apartment the weekend before my winter break obsessing over what I should do (as I do) and basically being talked out of it by my friends. I went home in more doubt than I'd been in before and feeling sad about the whole situation. I imagined staying in Korea for the whole winter break. Sitting at home everyday (as I'm prone to do) watching hours of travel shows and movies and wishing beyond hope that I was somewhere beautiful and warm as well. Well that pretty much did it for me, I had to go.

I literally booked my ticket that night and despite the closeness to my departure date I managed to not get an awful price. Then I found a hostel and all was right again. I was going to Thailand!

The pessimist in me is still surprised the trip went off with a hitch. I made it to the airport in plenty of time, had no delays or trouble with my flights and arrived at the hostel with no problems either. The first day I was there I was pretty tired and overwhelmed, it probably wasn't the best day to go see Thailand's largest and most famous tourist attraction, but honestly I didn't even think it through. I asked the front desk what I should see and they said go to the palace.When I was about to leave I overheard the receptionist talking to someone else about going to the palace... well here was my chance! I told a bemused british guy that I was going to the palace as well and would he like to go together? He agreed. I briefly worried he had a girlfriend somewhere who would view my intrusion as something more than friendliness, but the guy (Rob) seemed pretty chill and unconcerned about a jealous girlfriend popping up so I figured that wasn't something I needed to worry about.

So he showed me how to take the sky train (best thing ever) and also the ferry (also very helpful) and we went to the busiest tourist attraction I've ever seen. Now, I will offer my advice here for any of you planning on going to Thailand. If you visit the palace and Emerald buddha, do not do as I did and go at the height of the afternoon. No, definitely get up early and go in the morning. As well as being insanely busy with people. Literally everywhere you also have to keep your knees and shoulders covered up, I actually didn't know this so I wore shorts just above my knees and a tank top. Oops. Luckily I brought a long sleeved top and we found a lady selling long, wrap-around skirts near the palace entrance (no doubt making a bundle of ignorant tourists like me). You can also rent or buy (?) clothes to wear around the temples inside. I wasn't concerned about it though, pretty pink wrap around for a 100 baht? (approx $3 cad), well you can't go wrong with that anyway.

The temple was insanely beautiful and decorated with colourful, shiny stuff and gold. It was insane. Everywhere you looked you saw something beautiful, interesting or old. The only complaint I really have about the whole thing was how busy it was. You couldn't look at anything without five people standing in your way or trying to get by you or whatever. Unfortunately all the temples I visited in Bangkok were like this, although the palace and emerald Buddha were by far the busiest. The other thing I wished for a lot while there was some sort of information about the buildings, artwork, architecture...anything. I guess having stuff to read everywhere would slow down the immense movement of people through the grounds, but still, it would've been interesting and enriched the experience.

Actually, now that I think about it, there were people offering to be tour guides, but as with all things in Thailand you should be a bit weary of Thai people approaching you and offering you services so Rob and avoided what we assumed was a tourist trap. Another thing to avoid in Bangkok were the Tuktuk's although I did end up riding in one after a night out. Apparently they try to scam tourists by taking them to various businesses and getting them to buy stuff they don't want, a guy at my hostel had an experience where they took him everywhere but where he wanted to go and he finally ended up at a suit shop so he just bailed, not the best situation to be in.

The other temples I saw were sorta similar to the first, not identical by any means though. The reclining Buddha was definitely impressive and I enjoyed the atmosphere at that temple more than the Emerald Buddha temple, but it was also less impressive in other ways. When you went in to see the Emerald Buddha you couldn't take pictures and the guards asked us to sit down. There was something about sitting on the floor like that, with a bunch of other tourists, just being quiet and admiring something so stunning and old that I will never forget. It wasn't even the Buddha itself, but just the sense of sacredness and holiness that came over the room. Despite everyone there as a tourist just to stare and gape at the statue. It still didn't lose it's power somehow.

Wat Arun was still my favourite temple though. You could climb up the side and get a wonderful view of the Chao Phraya River which winds through Bangkok's old city. It was stunning. Some of my favourite moments in Bangkok were definitely going down the river on the ferry. They were crowded with tourists (everywhere was) yet some how very relaxing for me. I guess just being on the water is relaxing in a general sense.

Besides visiting temples in Bangkok I also went to Khao San Road, which was basically a bar lined street (from what I saw of it) and the atmosphere sort of reminded me of Canada day in Victoria in the Inner Harbour...I don't know, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it certainly felt crazy. I may have tried scorpion well there, it tasted awful, like burnt paper or egg shell, without the stink. I didn't eat very much though. I also had a delicious wrap (middle eastern and Indian food is popular in Thailand).

I also visited Chatuchak weekend Market which was seriously the most insane thing I have ever seen, well shopping wise anyway. I got lost in it for over an hour (maybe two). It's a weekend market too, I honestly don't understand how that works. I feel like it's one of those things where they say it is a weekend market, but it really isn't. Anyway it's really hard to describe how massive this place is. You enter a maze when you go inside, no metaphor. A literal maze. I tried to imagine trying to find your stall in it and had trouble. It didn't feel real, but also felt like a living thing, constantly changing and evolving as I was there. I definitely saw people put up new stalls as I wandered around. I was surprised, even shocked when I saw the same places more than once, second guessing if they were actually the same place (well that's a bit dramatic, but you get the idea). They sold everything you could want there. So many cute, cheap clothes, knick knacks, both touristy and not. It was a shoppers paradise and possibly someone else's hell.

When I was taking the sky train to the market I looked out the window and saw a massive array of buildings and wondered if that was it, row upon row of roofs all crunched up close together, it looked sorta like a slum from the roof, but nicer.

I also visited a floating market, it was small and less interesting to me. Still really neat to see the women on their boats making food. I wanted to go to one of the larger ones,but unfortunately they were further out of town so I would have had to plan ahead a lot more. Still, I got some really yummy food there and enjoyed looking at the stalls. The market I went to was about a 30-40 minute bus ride away from the hostel so I also got a nice view of the city that way and there were lots of locals on the bus.

I should mention here how the fair system was very different on the buses and ferries. They had a woman with a long tube case full of coins and tickets go around and ask each passenger for their fare. I couldn't help but think it must get confusing when a lot of people got on the bus or ferry. I never did see the ladies miss anyone though, they're probably used to large crowds anyway.

Bangkok was super fun and busy I met some really cool people there, including a French girl who'd been studying in Hong Kong, a Hispanic guy from Porto Rico, a fun Norwegian girl, lots of Germans, two guys from the same neighbourhood in New York City who were strangers before I told them about each other and a few other really interesting people. I was really worried about traveling alone in Thailand, but there are seriously so many backpackers I had absolutely no trouble meeting people to do stuff with. I think it's a great country to travel alone in as long as your safe and take care of your belongings. The backpacking community there was amazing and so fun to be a part of, even for a brief period.

After Bangkok I took a train to Chiang Mai and met some interesting girls from Massachusetts, but I will save that for my next post about Thailand! If there is anything else you want to know about, any pictures on facebook you have questions about or anything your confused by please feel free to comment! I love getting some comments. Anyway, enjoy.