Bangkok

Eight million people live straddled along the Chao Praya River, the River of Kings. So it is along the river that Valerie begins her trip to Venice of the East, on a water ferry that in Bangkok serves as rapid transit. As Valerie finds, Bangkok is a city of extreme contrasts; the cacophony of gridlock traffic to the serenity of Wat Aran, the Temple of Dawn; from the delicacy and tranquility of ritual dancers, to the exotic dancers and sex trade of Sukhumvit and Kao Sanh Road. Valerie tries the local fare and discovers that authentic Thai food is more than a little spicier than back home.