First Impressions of Thailand

Just a little foreword: I've kept a journal for my travels in Thailand so these posts will be written in a day-by-day sequence.

I've realized some interesting things despite only being in Thailand for less than 24 hours:
- I didn't notice it until I looked into a car because most roads are one-way, bikes and scooter are also very common, but Thais drive on the left side of the road.
- The most modern thing in Thailand is the Airport in Bangkok. It makes everything else in this country look dilapidated. To be fair, lots of stuff is run down especially in Bangkok.
- Bathrooms are few and far between. Public ones cost money (1 or 2 Baht) to use. Better off sneaking in and out of a coffee shop. They're much nicer too.
- Toilet paper here is way softer than in the Pu Dong Airport in Shanghai. I thought about blogging about my impressions of China but it wouldn't be nice.
- There are a few Subway Restaurants in Korea, all of them are located in Seoul. When I went there one weekend it was closed when I got there (!?) so I've gone almost a year without a quality sub. That changed in the airport. I smelled something so good and I walked towards the Thai restaurant in the basement of the airport, but the smell wasn't there. It was the Subway bread next to it. I got a steak and cheese with bacon too, and black olives. Great way to start an adventure.
- Thai food is still amazing though.
- I took a sleeper train up to Chiang Mai and if you're a patient person I recommend going that route the rolling hills and mountains are gorgeous. They say it takes 14 hours but mine took 17 there and 16 back
- The fields look undisturbed but then you see a shiny new Chevy pick-up driving across them.
- Buddha's almost everywhere you go which is very different from Korea. Same goes with monks.
- All of the meals that didn't result in food poisoning were amazing and the ones that made me hug the throne were still decent.
- If you're going to get food on the train buy it the first time the waiter walks by, or else you're going to eat sun-beaten food that's a different type of warm (food poisoning occurrence number one).
- On that note stick to chicken and pork when travelling in Thailand. After looking at the cows roaming beside the train tracks there's a reason the beef is questionable (food poisoning occurrence number two.)
- I've been in Thailand for about 24 hours now and it's felt much longer. There is only one railroad going up to Chiang Mai so we have to park at stations so there aren't any collisions. These stops can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes. In the heat of the morning it's brutal. The train goes 50km/h max, and max doesn't happen that often.

This is the first thing I saw coming into the airport.

This is a wat (temple) that is near the train Station in Bangkok.

This is an apartment complex around the Be Bo Market.

Here's a view from the train up to Chiang Mai.