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Bangkok is a very interesting city for a tourist. It is the gateway to Asia, so sooner or later everyone arrives here. Some will leave the city as quickly as possible, and some will stay longer. Besides the heat, air pollution, traffic and the annoying distances between the interesting places, Bangkok has a lot to offer.

From the amazing Royal Palace, which can take the better part of a day to fully visit to the beautiful temples, and from a cruise on the river to people watching from a bar on Sukhumvit there is something for everyone. And of course, there are the famous places like Khao San Rd or Nana Plaza, and shopping opportunities for every taste.

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Last weekend I went to Vama Veche, for the first time this year. Although everybody thought the weather was going to be atrocious and that I was signing up for thunderstorms and rain, the weekend proved to be quite the opposite. While Bucharest or Constanta enjoyed rain after rain, I had to escape the sun. Yes, Saturday night there were a whole 2 hours of rain. Nothing that the new tent could not withstand.

So what changed from last year?
- some of the popular places rebranded (corporate terms and Vama Veche, heh) like Roata which became Control
- the concrete “bycicle” paths which everyone deplored – I found them quite useful when the road was muddy
- the prices are okayish, people are nice as usual, and fortunately Vama has not shifted even more into mainstream

I liked that there were not so many people, so the beach and restaurants were not crowded as usual. The same popular locations as last year are the entertainment venues: Ovidiu, Expirat, Frontiera, Bibi’s and so on. Still had the usual cheap and delicious “hamsii” at Rogojini.

A very nice improvement is the camping on the beach, which now has a 1ron / night tent tax which noone seems to collect. It’s a great feeling to stay on the beach, with entertainment 20m away, with the sea at a few meters and still pay what amounts to nothing. I did have the misfortune and lack of wisdom to pitch the tent too close to one of the pubs, so I had non-stop music. But Vama without some rock waking you up at 4am wouldn’t be the same…

Pluses:
- my new Quechua tent is brilliant, I love it!
- got by car, I hate buses most of the time
- good food and entertainment
- met a LOT of old and new friends
Minuses:
- slept about 6 hours total (or is this a plus?)
- caught a cold
- I look a bit like a boiled lobster