I arrived in Bangkok Thursday afternoon, three days after the bombing that killed 20 went off at the Erawin Shrine. After a lengthy wait at passport control, I got a first hand look at Bangkok traffic on the evening commute to the hotel. The bombing though, seemed to be the topic of the trip as my guide and those I came in contact with were very curious to hear what I had thought. There was a significant dip in tourist travel that week, and a significant ramp in security around the city, including my hotel which employed barricades and xray monitoring of all traffic. Overall, I felt extremely safe throughout the city over my two days there.

After an easy evening settling into the hotel, woke up Friday for a day of touring the city. My guide Chino and I started by boarding a loongboat and touring the Chao Phraya River, making our way through the Klongs (canals) of Thonburi. The canals were a great way to tour the very old portion of the city and traditional Thai houses and back channels of the old city. After an hour touring the canals, we visited the Temple of Dawn or Wat Arun. One of the most photographed sights in Bangkok with its shrine at 79 m high. Although under construction, the Temple is ornately decorated with ceramic mosaic that reflect the sun, and make it an awesome stop. It was completely empty as well during our visit.

Mix of European and Asian styles at the Grand Palace.

On the other hand, the Grand palace was quite crowded. The Grand Palace, houses the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Pra Kraw), containing Thailand's most precious Buddha images. The Grand Palace also contains the anncient Siamese court and former residence of the Thai Royal Family. The Grand Palace was a great mix of European and Asian influenced architecture and deisgn. Security was tight, and the area was crowded, but it was well worth the hour or two tour.

Following the Grand Palace tour, we spend an hour or so walking the markets and vendors of he street and stopped for lunch. I got the afternoon to relax by the pool before meeting up again for a night visit to Chinatown. We headed to Chinatown at night to visit Bangkok's biggest open air restaurant. The street opens up with stalls and stands flowing out of the restaurants with all manner of Asian cuisine. My guide and I walked up and down the streets trying all manner of noodles, dumplings, dim sum, satays and soups. It was awesome to have someone who knows the language giving you the background on food and translating with all the vendors. The two hours on the street left me stuffed and really satisfied with a fun night.

The next morning it was up and off to elephant camp in Chaing Rai.