3 Nights in Bangkok

Bangkok is a super megapolis that is indeed the crossroads of Asia. As an international hub with thousands of international travelers from all over the world criss-crossing here, it's no surprise that Bangkok has some extreme contrasts. Bangkok has everything any big city has – pollution, traffic jams, dirty alleys with rats. But Bangkok also has some of the best food we've ever tasted and it’s very, very cheap.

There is no way we could do Bangkok justice in three days, so we didn't even try. We booked the Shambara Hostel for 3 nights which was just enough time to recuperate from the long flight. The hostel was in a great neighborhood known as Khao San Road which has a bustling night market and plenty of dining options just steps from our door. Ever since watching Anthony Bourdain’s TV show, I've been fantasizing about Thai street food. So as soon as we got up the next day, we went out to hunt up some breakfast grub. Just by luck, we stumbled upon a little street vendor that had about 20 dishes already prepared and ready to eat at 6am. Yes, the dishes were spicier than what we’re used to in the States, but it was a really flavorful and potent spicy jolt that clearly announced that we’re no longer in Kansas. The next day, we discovered that within one block from our hostel was a “vegetarian alley” lined with several restaurants that specialized in healthy and organic options. Naturally, we had to indulge. And my find of the day was a street vendor selling stir-fried insects, which she seasoned with a little fish sauce and some secret spices. Yum!

For contrast, we also took a tuk-tuk to the city’s premiere shopping mall, the Siam Paragon. This was a super high-end mall that somehow took all of Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile and stuffed it into one big building. But the real reason we went to Siam Paragon was to take a peek at their famous food court. In the lower level of the mall was every type of street food available in Bangkok served up in a pristine sanitary environment. The food looked fantastic, but for some reason it just didn’t taste as good as the real thing. Maybe it was just my imagination, but there’s something special about Bangkok’s street food that just can’t be duplicated in any other environment.

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