The Sunday Market

Immediately after the exchange in Japan, I was lucky enough to get to travel to Thailand. After going on the Farewell Tour around Japan with Liz, we parted way with me flying to Thailand and Liz heading to snowboard in Hokkaido. I had some relatives in Thailand so I got the opportunity to see Bangkok with the guide of a local. Ever though I was only there for a week, it was an amazing week and awesome way to cap of such an amazing abroad experience.

The Sunday Market - consisting of small shops and street side vendors

Bangkok is a city where the hustle and bustle never stops. The city never sleeps and everyday is a traffic jam. However, amid all that chaos, it really is a unique city that many people before and many after me, fall in love with. Never have I seen a country where their unique culture is more prevalent and constantly on display than in Bangkok. On the surface, everything seems like any other major city, but when you take a closer look you notice that culture is always found in everything. From the many pictures of the king, to the shrines outside every building; the Thai people really love their culture and their traditions.

A vendor displaying his skills along with his product

One of the first place I went to was the massive Sunday Market. It was stalls upon stalls of food and various trinkets, clothes, jewelry and pretty much anything you can think of. I have experienced the night markets in other countries before, but nothing was quite like this one. For one, it was just simply massive. I spent about 3 hours there and I am pretty sure I didn’t even get to see half of it. The vast diversity of stuff available was also astounding. And like everything else in Bangkok, it was extremely crowded.

The Thai Royal Palace

On my second last day, I also went to visit the Thai Royal Palace which are in stark contrast to the dark, imposing castles of Japan. The first things you notice were the colors and intricate architecture employing spherical shapes and pointed tips. The opulence of gold and the shimmering colors of the precious stones adorned the walls and ceilings of the structures. To anyone who has never been to Thailand before, it would seem a little bright, but the colors and the shapes are traditional Thai colors and architecture found all throughout the country. And like the Sunday market, it was also extremely crowded. However, the Thai palace was definitely a real treat show casing the beauty of Thai architecture and history.

The Thai Royal Palace

While the common theme of the day was crowds, it easy to see that one must wait for all good things. Bangkok is truly a crowded, non-stop moving city that can be frightening at times. However, once you look past all of that it really is a beautiful city with an unlimited number of places to go, things to eat and people to meet and where the urban jungle blends beautifully with culture and tradition.

The Thai Royal Palace

The Thai Royal Palace

If you read my About page, this blog is meant to be a collection of all my travels around the world. What started as a student exchange to Japan for one semester, became a new perspective on life. Life after Japan consists of working hard, studying hard, living a day to day life and somewhere in between… the adventures of traveling. I go where ever the opportunity arises, whether an invite from a friend or traveling on business. However, regardless of where I am, I try to make an experience and adventure of everything.

A little about myself; I am from Vancouver, Canada and I hope one of these days I will document the beautiful city in which I live in. However, I will definitely photograph and document the 2010 Winter Olympics happening right here because, while I may not be traveling anywhere, the rest of the world will certainly be coming to Vancouver and that along with the Olympic atmosphere is an adventure in itself. I live a normal life like everyone else, working a job and waiting for that litle bit of vacation I get and the occasional long weekend. But beyond that, I will write about my trips around Canada and the US and also everywhere I travel around the world. I have traveled in Asia, Europe and North and Central America and I look forward to traveling the rest of the world from South America to Africa and up to the Middle East. I try to take as many pictures as I can and also give some tips and advice from some of the places I travel to.

All of the published dates in the blog post correspond to the dates that I was actually in those places. Therefore, I usually write the blog post after I have visited those places. I will also sometime have some posts to give updates on where I am about to head to or some ramblings on things I find interesting. They will all be sorted mainly by category with some major tags assigned to the general places or topic or theme. All of the pictures are taken by me (unless otherwise stated) with a Nikon S600 Digital Camera. I hope to customize a skin for the blog one day, but in the meantime I will be a using a WordPress provided skin.

I hope you enjoy my travels and please leave me a comment!