Just What the Doctor Ordered

Right now I am flying somewhere over the ocean headed towards Tokyo for our first layover on our way home. These past 11 days or so have been amazing. First and foremost I want to thank @roelandp for his exceptional job this year planning Steem Fest. I think everyone that attended will concur that it was awesome and we are all excited for the future of the blockchain. We had some truly amazing presentations this year.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

Bangkok is such a cool city. For a photographer, there is always something to take a picture of because there is so much going on all the time. It is a city that never sleeps. Many people get sensory overload when they visit a place like this and it can be very overwhelming with how much is going on, but I thrive on the chaos, so I felt at home amongst the busy streets.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

We spent many hours just wandering the city down the side streets and alleyways exploring all the different things that Bangkok had to offer, but we barely scratched the surface. One of the things I loved is how fresh all of the food was there. The fruits and vegetables tasted nothing like the stuff we have back in America. My wife and I were talking about how the fruit and veggies in Thailand taste how they are supposed to taste and are not modified and filled with chemicals and all sorts of other crap that they put in the food where we live.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

Street photography is a blast there because there is always so much going on and each scene is so unique from the last.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

I don't think I will ever get used to seeing people riding motorcycles or scooters with their babies or a full family on them though. That is just crazy to see.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

You never know what you will see when you turn a corner in Thailand. Each street holds a new surprise for you.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

As a photographer, I want to tell stories through my pictures and truly make a "picture worth 1000 words."

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

Walking isn't the only way we got around while we were there. We had plenty of rides in Tuk Tuks, boats and sky trains as well. @faitherz33 was scared of the Tuk Tuks before we got to Thailand, but she said that riding in them was one of her favorite things that we did while we were here. It is such a fun way to zip around the city and feel the breeze in your hair if you have any, but for me, it was nice to have a breeze blowing across my bald head to cool it off from the sun.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

Riding in the Tuk Tuks at night is a whole new experience. Traffic is a lot worse and the Tuk Tuks drivers get a lot more aggressive with their driving. So if you aren't into zipping around in between cars and motorcycles, you may want to not take the Tuk Tuks at night time. I had a blast in them at night, but Faith wasn't too fond of the night driving.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

The boats were a lot more of a relaxed way to get around. We took a boat tour around the canals and past some of the different temples. It was a really cool way to see different parts of the city.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

Even the boats deal with traffic jams every now and then though. The flow of traffic is like a synchronized dance though, where everyone knows their place and things just work. It is pretty cool to watch it all work.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

As we explored around Thailand, we saw some pretty awesome street art. This piece here is done by an artist that we saw all over the city and even in Pattaya. I am planning on doing an in-depth street art post with all of the street art that we came across because there is a lot of talent in the city.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

Another thing that we saw a lot of were stray animals. They were everywhere. The temples usually had cats all over the place and there were cats in different parts of the alleyways. Pattaya had a lot of stray dogs. One of the nights when we were walking back to our hotel, one pack of dogs must have came into the territory of another pack of dogs and they almost started a turf war. It was like rival dog gangs.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

Apart from exploring the city, we went to a few of the temples. Wat Phra Chetuphon is also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. It was pretty awesome to see it in real life and to see the magnitude of the giant Buddha.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

One of the best things to see while I was there was to see Faith taking pictures of everything. It was awesome to see her creative side coming in as she was trying to get different angles of everything. She took some really great pictures while we were there, so make sure you take some time to check out her posts she has been making at @faitherz33.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

The temples we visited were all so beautiful. It is crazy to think of how detailed the craftsmanship is for all of them and how long they have all lasted. They are all truly works of art.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

With 5 days left in Thailand, we decided to leave Bangkok early and head to Pattaya to relax in the sun for the remainder of our time and that was the best decision we could have made.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

Our first night in Pattaya was during the celebration of Loy Krathong. It was pretty amazing to experience this together and to see all of the lanterns being released into the ocean and up in the air.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

It was cool to see the joy on people's face as they took part in the festival.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

The Sanctuary of Truth was a super awesome experience as well. The temple is a massive wooden structure that is all carved by hand and has been under construction since 1981.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

They also had elephants there. We were excited to see them, but when we saw the conditions they were being held in, it was pretty sad. I am going to more in-depth in my post I will be making about the Sanctuary of Truth.

My Favorite Part

Over the past day or two I have been trying to figure out what my favorite part of this whole experience has been, but I can't narrow it down to one specific thing that we did.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

My favorite part of the whole trip is not something we went and did while we were here. It is just seeing my wife smile so much while we have been here. This past year has been hard for our family with everything that we have been through, with my health issues and almost dying and then almost losing our daughter, it was just so awesome to see my wife genuinely happy and smiling so much over the past two weeks.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

This vacation together is exactly what we both needed and we can't wait to be back to Thailand and let our kids experience the magic of that amazing country as well.

^{Photo taken by me @derangedvisions}

Thank you for checking out this post. You are awesome.