20100624

Tawandang Beer Hall and Khlong Toei market are two things that are not touristy about Bangkok, but anyone who lives here knows about.

Khlong Toei is one of Bangkok's largest urban districts, and it's also one of the poorest. The market here is fantastic, which every vegetable and half living animal for sale. Come early, wear closed toed shoes and prepare your senses for overload.

Tawandang is a massive Beer Hall which has nightly cabaret performances, mostly with Katoeys (transgender, transvestite, etc., etc.). I'd go into the political acceptance of the "3rd gender" here in Thailand, but for me personally, I don't have a problem with katoeys, and find Westerners who do to be quite rude (you're in Thailand, deal with it... the Thais don't come to your country and criticize you for being fat or having a stupid religion). ANYWAY - the shows are usually quite amazing and the performers are talented. the beer is also brewed right there and it pretty darn good. Whole tables of Thais go to gorge themselves on beer and food, and it's quite a show!

20100612

We've been leaving bangkok a lot on weekends. This time, we've headed down to Koh Tao (turtle Island) for 4+ days of snorkeling. For you divers out there, Koh Tao is one of Thailand's gems, comparable to the Semillion Islands, but accessed at different times of the year due to weather. We lucked out with the weather, for sure. The snorkeling was amazing: black tip reef sharks, titan triggerfish, etc., etc.

Why go here? it's accessed by a flight to Ko Samui, then a 2-hour ferry ride north (READ: it's remote, so you deal with less touristy riff raff, less development). Don't go here if you want a fully pampered experience - one hotel we stayed at in Mango Bay doesn't have electricity during daylight hours (but how many hotels have you stayed at where you access by dock, and see some great snorkeling by jumping in right in front of the hotel?

20100604

Kanchanaburi is another fantastic place in Thailand. Located only 3 hour drive (or in our case, given Friday afternoon traffic, a 6 hour drive) West of Bangkok, it is a great weekend escape. I compare it to Lake Tahoe for Bay Area people, or, um... well, I don't know where the rest of you fools go on the weekends for outdoor activities.

For those coming to Thailand for the first time, and who do not have enough time / money to go to Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi makes a lot of sense. Also - if you are a WW2 Pacific Arena buff, this is where "the bridge over the river Kwai" is located. I'd go on about the Japanese building a railway using POW labor, but you've probably seen the movie. Anyway, the railway is neat, as is the museum which follows the old rail line for about 4km - it's likely the best museum in Thailand.

Heaps of fun is the plethora of mountain bike riding in the area. There are few things more rewarding that tearing down some village path (READ: single track) and asking some villager where the trail goes (in Thai). Most just stare at you and tell you "no where" or "it just ends", then politely keep going onto the next little village which is another 4-5 km down the road.

Also in Kanchanaburi: floating down the river in a life jacket at sunset (or on a bamboo raft if you don't like chancing the water), elephant trekking, hiking around beautiful fwaterfalls (Erawan National Park), visiting a Buddhist temple where they have taken in Asiatic tigers (petting them is okay), etc., etc. Basically, it's as good as Chiang Mai in all aspects except food and temples (and a lot easier to get to).