It stuck me this afternoon as I got into chiang Mai, I may have gotten it backwards. I was thinking that I didn't want to spend to much time in Bangkok because it was going to be big and dirty. On the contrary. Bangkok was way cooler than I expected, easy to get around in and all in all a pretty amazing place. As a contrast, when planning my trip chiang Mai kept coming up as this place I had to see blah blah blah. I got here this afternoon and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Back to that disdain that I have for trinket shops. This place is nothing but trinket shops. I'm hoping that Monday when i head off to do some activities that I get a better impression. Its disturbingly lop sided. There are more westerners here than thai, or at least it came across that way. Think of something like the craft fair your folks dragged you to except instead of wizard mugs and vagina ash trays it's all bad tennis shoes and crap watches with the occasional " authentic ethnic clothing " thrown in. Except that if your a westerner and actually wear that crap it is sort of like hanging a big sign on yourself saying I'm a jackass. The exception to my tourist contempt was the food today. Bangkok dining was good but spendy. Chiang Mai has some great food at low prices. For the first time I got food from a street cart. It was awesome and cheap. I don't know what I was thinking but I also broke my cardinal rule and had something with ice in it! So my bowl of soup and mango shake cost me a whole $2 after that it was a long walk through the bar district and back to the hotel.
One cool bit of news today, a good friend of mine is going to catch up with me and we are going to see Angkor wat together. I'm really happy about that. It is supposed to be one of those amazing places that you want to be able to look at your friend years later say, " remember when i got bit by that fucking snake when we were at the temple" yes kids that area of the world has more deaths by reptile bites than any other place on earth.
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