Bangkok is overwhelming; it bombards one with rather strong impressions for all the senses. The penetrating smells are a mixture of burned rubber, incense, roasted meat and exhaust gasses. The heat is also quite penetrating, and, on top of that tuk-tuks, taxi’s, busses and cars - which all drive like maniacs - make exploring Bangkok very exciting; you always wonder whether you will survive. The neon lights, billboards, dj’s playing their tracks on the streets and other musicians also contribute to the overall disorder and anarchy. The vibrancy of Bangkok can be imposing, but, on the other hand, the rather large gap (larger than in the Western world) between poor and rich is confronting. There are persons with big cars and expensive clothes living in villa's, but there are also many homeless and disabled persons who beg for money 24/7.
Furthermore, when being a tourist you are probably going to be scammed sometime, somewhere. In particular the tuk-tuk drivers are notoriously not trustworthy. They will try to bring you to a clothing shop or bar, while you asked the driver to bring you to, for example, a temple. Tuk-tuk drivers do this because they get gas coupons each time he brings a tourist to the shop. Understandable if you want to survive in this concrete jungle, but, from the viewpoint of a tourist it is rather irritating, if not insulting. I know that they see me as a naive tourist and a walking wallet, but please stop that bullshit! Another annoying issue are the exhaust gasses. As soon as you get out of the hotel you can't avoid them. Also, when looking over Bangkok from the roofterreace of our hotel you can clearly see the smog (pun intended) .
From moment one, you are faced with too many impressions to deal with, but, after a while when the jetlag becomes bearable and you get used to the overload of impressions, Bangkok turns out to be an interesting and vibrant megalopolis, although it does require a certain state of mind to appreciate it. (By the way, this text was written when suffering from insomnia, see photograph above).
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