Bangkok has some incredible, huge temple complexes -- in perfect condition, many painted gold, and many adorned with zillions of squares of small colored glass mirrors, so when the sun shines on them, the whole temple glimmers bright colors.  So bright it's quite overwhelming.  One of the temples houses an enormous golden Buddha cast laying on its side, honestly perhaps the size of the rocket at Cape Canaveral that blasted astronauts to the moon.  Beyond the temples and Buddhas, however, I think Bangkok is less than pleasant.  The vehicular traffic planners appear to be on crack, as for example I saw a spot where two four-lane 1-way streets ran straight into each other at an intersection.  The result is that traffic jams are horrendous all the time, and so with cars sitting for hours turned on (A/C very necessary!) the pollution is by far the worst I've ever had the displeasure of breathing, much much worse than in L.A. 

So, I quickly headed into Northern Thailand, where there are lots of mountains and waterfalls which look surprisingly similar to the Appalachians.  I rented a motorcycle and zoomed up to Thailand's highest peak, at about 8000 feet or twice the size of the tallest mountains around Charlottesville.  While hiking around I noticed I got tired/out of breath a little bit sooner than when hiking in Virginia, perhaps due to a bit less oxygen at that altitude?  Anyway, the popular thing to do in Northern Thailand is to go trekking, which is heading out into the bush for a few days' hike to go see some indigenous tribes and their primitive way of life.  I skipped that as Lonely Planet noted not to do it if disturbing their lifestyle with a bit of Western influence would be bothersome.

Next, in Southwest Thailand, I found a beach paradise, surrounded by limestone cliffs making it inaccessible to cars and small enough to have no roads and no imported cars.  A great retreat from Bangkok traffic!  The beach I stayed at was called Rai Lei, near Krabi, and it was cheap & beautiful (see attached photo).  Caving, kayaking, & scuba-diving were great (saw two leopard sharks!), and it's spectacular for mountain climbing, too.  Some of the climbs are such that if you fall, you don't need a rope because you'll just fall into the ocean!

A few tidbits & culture snapshots:

- Cheap, cheap, cheap.  1 hour train ride = 30 cents!

- Thai massage, only $5/hour.  Whoa, funky.  Totally different.  It's kinda like having someone force your body into contortionist positions.  You feel pretty amazing for the next few hours, though.  Check out the bizarre positions by clicking on "photos" at:  http://www.siam.hu/html/english/e-index.htm

- in Bangkok, motorized tricycles as taxis with back seat room for two.

- on rivers and around sea towns, canoes as taxis powered by an engine removed from a smashed car, attached to a broom stick, and propeller stuck on the end; to steer just they just move the broomstick which moves the whole exposed (uncovered) engine and propeller around.

- one town had no streets, just canals.  the morning food market consisted of canoes filled with fruits and vegetables on the canal, and shoppers go through on their own canoes bumping into other boats to get what groceries they need.

- in a night market (like a flea market, but with new stuff) i bought a cheap colorful lamp.  i was the first sale of the evening at that stand, and the owner waved around the money I paid and touched the other unsold lamps to bring good luck for the evening.

- western culture influx:  75% of the TV commercials advertise Western products.

- night discos very European ... I think that America (outside NYC) is the only nation on the planet without European-style discos (music, ambiance)

- Over the past few weeks I have met very, very few Americans but tons of backpackers from everywhere else in the world.  I was really surprised, since it's not Christmas vacation or spring break time or anything.  Many from other countries say that unlike in America, there's no pressure to go straight to college after high school; rather they're encouraged to go out and see the world for a half year or year.  Of course, that's much easier to do if college is free.  Nonetheless, someone told me that only 6% of Americans have passports.  This fuels the seemingly typical belief among foreigners that Americans are self-centered about our country and care little to none about what other countries are like, other than doing our best (with political might) to impose our culture on others.  That's what I gather foreigners think & hence I think many are predisposed to having negative attitudes towards Americans.  This makes things a little bit lonely over here, as the people I meet seem to have little or no respect for Americans.  Very humbling.

Regardless, I'm having an incredible time!

Cambodia ~ Thailand ~ Malaysia ~ Singapore ~ China ~ Mt. Fuji ~ Japan ~ Egypt