Bangkok - An urban paradise - 10 September 2023!

Feeling a little worse for wear, Darrell and I spent a quiet day exploring Pranakorn and not venturing too far from the hotel. Sunday was a relaxing day; we ate too much and did very little. I can actually feel the pounds starting to pile on, especially while drinking beer every day. I've actually just looked on Google, trying to find somewhere to weigh myself. Back home in Australia, this is part of my daily routine, here, I haven't weighed myself once. It turns out that most 7-Eleven stores have scales outside the shop, and luckily there is one right next to the hotel. I'll give it a try tomorrow - keeping my weight in check is important for me, especially at my age!

Walking around Pranakorn early on a Sunday morning is a rather strange experience. Darrell pointed out all the places where we had a drink in last night, and in all honesty, I couldn't remember one of them. I can only assume I have selected amnesia, or I was particularly spangled (drunk in layman's terms!) Whenever the reason, I was just glad to be out of the hotel, sauntering around this colourful area. Walking is indeed my life, I do a minimum of, 10000 steps a day, and while I'm on this holiday, I hope to do significantly more.

Exploring Pranakorn early in the day, while everything is relatively quiet, was for the most part a joy. There was still the odd chancer or two at the side of the road, trying to sell us something, but as long as you don't engage in conversation you don't end up out of pocket. I've just learnt to look straight ahead and follow my feet.

I am a huge fan of urban life, and the often gritty street architecture here in Pranakorn is a delight. They call this part of Bangkok, the Venice of the East, and yes it does have canals, but in reality it isn't Venice. The streets around our hotel are full of life, laughter and people trying to survive each day. The buildings often look shabby and run down, which some are, but behind the facades and broken windows there are welcoming people who just want to show you warm Thai hospitality.

At first, a visitor like me can find the whole experience testing. I have felt harassed by different vendors in the past, but as soon as you learn to cope with this local way of life, the touting can become an enjoyable part of your stay. Yes, it can get overwhelming at times, but this is part of Thai culture; even if we don't like it, we should respect it, as a normal every day occurrence.

Since city based holidays are our preferred destination of choice, taking pictures of the urban jungle is part of the journey for me. I don't like taking pictures of normal, sanitised landscapes, often seen in holiday snaps, but prefer to look beneath the surface into real lives, traversing the underbelly of the city I am staying in. Bangkok offers a wealth of culture, rich in local history, and we were in the perfect setting in which to discover just what makes this place tick!

The photographs I took today are of course a personal account of my time in Thailand, but they are more than that - they are a snapshot in time, of a city still recovering from the ravages of COVID. With its developing infrastructure groaning under the weight of its inhabitants, and the thousands of tourists who flock here each year, this is an opportunity to capture this evolving metropolis as it continues to change and grow! I would dearly love to return to Bangkok in fifty years, just to see how much has changed, sadly that will never happen!

Feeling more or less back to normal, after last night's shenanigans, I managed to gingerly consume, a couple of bottles of beer with my meal at So Samsen. I did, however, also try one of their house mocktales, which was delicious. Spending half an hour talking with Aom at the beginning of each meal has been a joy and one of the highlights of my stay in Bangkok. Tomorrow will be our last full day here, and I am already sad at having to leave. It may well be a couple of years before we return again, so hope to make the most of our time, before we depart for Chiang Mai, on Tuesday!

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