At the Airport Again

iPhone 6s Plus, f2.2, 1/2862, ISO 25, JPG

Graffiti in Bangkok

After the heat of the past days it was nice to have an overcast day in Bangkok to keep the temperature down.

It also allowed me to walk a bit more and go for a walk along the canal to take some photos.

I've been going past these places in the river boat many times but never real walked along it to take photos so this was a good opportunity to do this.

Chinatown in Bangkok

To get a change from the usual, I went to Chinatown in Bangkok to take some photos and get dinner.

Chinatown certainly makes for a nice change, especially at night, thanks to the lit up signs.

It's very busy and the prices for food are higher than they should be, given Chinese food is usually quite inexpensive.
It's still worth a visit and makes for a nice change.

Bangkok Entrances

Being back in Bangkok was not the most exciting thing and after waiting at the first traffic light for 4 minutes in the sun and heat, I quickly started thinking of getting out of the city as soon as possible.

Still, Bangkok is not bad for some photography so I focused on this.

While I do appreciate the opportunity for some street photography while in a big city, I've done quite a bit of street photography and decided to focus on colours and doorways for this post.

Songkran in Bangkok

After another really boring drive up to Bangkok, I ended up staying at a hotel right in the middle of the Songkran festival area.

At first this didn't promises to be much fun due to the many people around which made it impossible to take the motorbike out.

Still, if Ban Phe was great fun for Songkran, Bangkok was a few levels higher.

After having some lunch and managing to get to the hotel halfway dry, it all started to get really, really wet.

It wasn't just kids but also adults acting like kids and having water fights on the streets. Everyone had fun and was in a good mood.

It was like being a kid again and just enjoying yourself at a big street party.

This lasted till about 22:00 when the police decided to break it off and make sure people went home.

Still, it was great fun and I enjoyed not only the atmosphere but also acting like a kid and having water fights with strangers.

Having the Olympus TG-4 around allowed me to capture the action without having to worry about the camera.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Songkran in Bangkok and thought it might be best to avoid it, it ended up being great fun and I can recommend it.

Bangkok to Koh Samed

This post could also be called, "The Most Boring Roads in Asia" or "F**K the F***ing Traffic Lights" but I decided for a more neutral title.

After picking up the motorbikes at the train station, the plan was simple, to head out of Bangkok and to Koh Samet, about 250km away.

Unfortunately you don't just head out of Bangkok, it takes hours of sitting mostly idles in the baking heat, waiting for the traffic lights to count down from 400 seconds so you can continue on to the next traffic light while navigating the cars in your way and wait again anther 350 seconds.

Once you do get out of Bangkok and are happy to have made it out without dying in the heat, you are greeted with the world's most boring route, driving mostly straight next to an elevated highway, seeing mostly concrete and some petrol stations along the way.

If after seeing this for hours you are still driving, you get rewarded with some nice views from Ban Phe to the Koh Samed island and over the sea. A short ferry ride later, you and your motorbikes are on the island and you can start to forget the road that lead you here and enjoy the island (and speed bumps every 10m).

Across the Bridge

TG-4, f2.8, 1/30, ISO 2500, RAW, 25mm

Back in Bangkok, not my favorite place to be but had to be done and at least it's not bad for photography.
Will be a short stay though as usual, Bangkok is more of a stopover place for me now.

People in Bangkok

Back in Bangkok, not my favorite city so the plan was to get out as fast as possible with the night train.

Bangkok is nice for a few hours and even a few days if you've never been here but I spent more than enough time so now enjoy it as a stopover place if I have to.

It's a big city with lots of traffic and a lot of people everywhere, good for some photography and good if you know where to go and don't need to rely on taxis or tuk-tuks.

I planned to take the overnight train to Chiang Mai and almost didn't get a seat so had to spring for a first class ticket but it's worth to get away for a while before I have to get back here again.

8h in Bangkok

8 hours and 8 photos from Bangkok, not my bast work photographically but after a 10 hour flight and having to lug my backpack ion the heat around I didn't make photography a priority.

Bangkok was never my favorite city but somehow it feels like all roads lead to it, I've been in and out of Bangkok so many times by now that I have some places I always visit, most if the times these remain the only places.

While the last times I've been here the city saw it's fair share of demonstrations it was all back to normal now.

Bangkok is a great hub to Asia since it's cheap to get here and to get anywhere else in Asia from here is easy and even more inexpensive.

After my 8h stopover it was time to fly onward to Ho Chi Minh City and from there to Da Nang.