Charliecbc

I lived in Thailand a year and a half and went all over the place but overall the best places I went were…

Kanchanaburi
Bangkok, and in Bangkok I love:
-Thonburi
-Baiyoke Tower
-Pahurat (India town, next to Chinatown)
-The street in Pahurat by the mall with nothing but gun shops
-Khao San Road
-Nana Plaza!
-Silom Road and Surawong road
-The SKytrain
-taking a motorcycle taxi! What an adrenaline rush!!
-Don Muang Airport (I haven’t been to the new one yet)
-the shopping mall near the southern bus terminal in Pra Pin Klao
-the Snake Farm
-Watching some kickboxing at Lumphini Stadium
Trang Province (the beaches along the Andaman sea)
Hat Yai (nice little city in Southern Thailand)
Chiang Mai
Satun Province (little province on the Malaysian border, really beautiful)
Sangkhlaburi (a mountain town on the Burmese border in Kanchanaburi)
Ayutthaya
Suphanburi (small town in between Kanchanaburi and Ayutthaya, although maybe not so good for tourists because nobody there speaks english)

Most Scenic Rides:
The trainline that runs from southern Thailand to Bangkok is beautiful, you pass miles and miles of rubber tree planations and mist covered mountains
The road from Kanchanaburi to Sangklaburi by the border of Burma is a maze of mountain roads on the side of steep hills. Not for the faint of heart!
The road from Ayutthaya thru Suphanburi to Kanchanaburi is a striking glimpse of central thailand. It is very flat and straight and there is rice paddies, marshes, canals, and lakes as far as the eye can see. I’ve never seen anywhere so flat and wide open.
Taking a taxi through Bangkok in the middle of the night is amazing. The city is very lit up yet the streets are not busy, a sharp contrast from the ridiculous traffic in the daytime and evening.

this restaurant/bar has great food with really good prices (there are countless restaurants in Harvard Square but most of them are expensive) and it is also open till the wee hours of the morning. This is especially good to know because the Boston area is subject to these stupid blue laws that make it really hard to have keep any business open late. Thank god for this place and also the Store 24 a block away by the red line station. Mad props to this place.

I grew up about a mile from here and in my youth this was my stomping ground. Most of my best memories take place in this area. It is always a vibrant place to visit, and I bet at any given time there are people from every single country in the world in Harvard Square doing one thing or another. This is a must see for any visitor to the Boston area.

Even though I don’t live there right now this is my hometown and I am proud of it. It is the greatest city in all of the 50 states and the birthplace of our nation, the United States of America. It was here that the concept of our nation came to be and here that we declared our war for independence from England and our goal of democratic rule. Paul Revere, John Hancock, John Adams, Samuel Adams, the founding fathers of our nation were born and raised right here in North America’s first city. My eyes still grow damp to remember the courage of the brave revolutionaries that made a stand for freedom and sacrificed themselves so that we may live in peace today. It all started right here, America. It is a wonderful place to live and an essential place to visit if you are a tourist in the United States. It is a city of tradition, history, and education. This place has a soul. Take a walk in Government Center or Harvard Square and you can feel the energy. And it’s a hell of alot nicer than New York. You are all welcome to my city! If you want any travel tips just let me know.

I loved this city because it was completely untouched by tourism. The government has kept this place so isolated from the outside world that when you go there you really feel like you are in a totally foreign country. I stayed here a week and I only saw a few other westerners the entire time. The Burmese speak english really well, I guess since they used to be a British colony, so it is easy enough to get around. That also means it is fun and easy to make friends with the locals. There are lots of people to talk to and they are all curious about the world outside of Burma. In alot of Asian countries most of the locals that try to talk to you want to sell you something, but Rangoon was different. Since tourists are still so uncommon, nobody bothers you because they aren’t used to seeing foreigners. I actually had little children stare at me and then start to cry and run and grab their mothers leg because they had never seen a caucasian person before. Everybody stared at me actually, they really don’t see many of us. It was crazy because I just walked around the city by myself or with my friend and just ate and drank beer at the local little tea shops right alongside the locals, man, they looked at us like we were space aliens or something. It wasn’t hostile looks, just curiosity. The Burmese are awesome to talk to and they are very articulate. If you want to talk to some locals the best places are Shwedagon Pagoda and Sule Pagoda. The monks there all know english and are real cool. Also near Sule Pagoda (or it might have been Shwedagon, I confuse the two, but it is the one right in the center of the city) there is a bar/restaurant called the ABC Pub where alot of upper class Burmese and also foreign embassy staff tend to congregate at night. I met some really interesting people there and I learned more about the country than any guide book could have explained.
Overall I would say that Rangoon is for experienced travelers of Asia only and is probably the least westernized of any big city in South Asia. But it is one of the most rewarding and interesting places to visit, especially if you want to go somewhere away from the hoardes of tourists you encounter in Thailand and parts of India. But just be careful, the Burmese government is no joke and all foreigners are considered to be possible spies. You may be followed or encounter bureaucratic problems, or even questioned by police or other gov’t officials. Always ask permission before you photograph anything!!! And don’t even think about trying to photograph any soldiers or gov’t/military/police installations. Be very careful about what books you bring with you. Research the local laws regarding foreign tourists and strictly obey them. If you run into any hassle just be very polite and friendly and smile alot and act clueless. Many foreigners have been arrested and many are still in jail there. Foreign governments diplomatic ties with the Burmese gov’t are shaky at best, and your embassy might not be able to help you. But just be tolerant, the government is like that for a reason. Foreign governments have tried to run the country for centuries and the people are sick of that. At least they have their own country.

I loved the atmosphere of this place. At times it seemed like a ghost town. There is the remnants of French colonial culture along with the chilled out Lao culture. There isn’t a whole lot to see, but it is worth a visit. I stayed at the Lane Xang Hotel, this dusty old colonial era hotel that reminded me of the hotel in the movie The Shining. There is alot of good food in Vientiane also from all different cultures. It’s a great place to visit if you like eating.

I lived in Kanchanaburi town for over a year and it was one of the happiest times of my life. Kanchanaburi province is a beautiful unspoiled land of wilderness and small towns rarely visited by western tourists. It is only 2 hours from Bangkok and there is plenty of accomodation and food options. The people are wonderful and alot of them speak english. You will discover that quite a few foreigners have settled down in this town. It is at the edge of a large mountain range and at night cool breezes blow down from the hills and are a welcome escape from the heat. There is ample nightlife and it is the perfect place to stay if you want to chill out in a typical provincial Thai town for a while and see what the country is really like outside of the tourist traps of Pattaya, Phuket, and Bangkok. I cannot explain how much I love this place. It will always be in my heart.

This is the most beautiful ocean in the world!!!! Absolute pure tropical paradise!!!

When you are in Chiang Mai or anywhere else in northern Thailand check out some of the hilltribe villages. You can hire a guide to take you there. Alot of the hilltribe villagers will try to sell you little trinkets or handbags. It’s nice if you buy a little something from them even if you don’t want it all that much because these people are really poor and tourists are one of their only sources of cash. And don’t bring any drugs with you or back with you! The cops often stop and search tourists coming back from the villages. Besides, you shouldn’t contribute to the country’s drug problems.

If you visit Chiang Mai and you’re on a budget try staying at the Pun Pun Guesthouse. It is cheap, clean, and quiet. The owners are really nice and they have really really good food. Tell them I said hello, they are my favorite people in Chiang Mai!