An Assault on the Senses

Bangkok.

Hi everyone,
Its late Tuesday afternoon here in Bangkok. This place is nuts. Food, smells, noise, traffic, pollution, lights, touts, scams, heat, humidity, history, temples, and more prostitutes than you can shake a stick at. Bangkok has it all.

When I left you, I was in the Krabi bus station. I boarded the bus at 5 pm to begin an overnight journey to Bangkok. That ride was no fun. I couldn't stop thinking about the time when Andrew took the sleeper bus in China. The one upside of this trip was that it took 12 hours, even though they said it would take 13. It was really uncomfortable though. It was a "VIP 24 seat bus" with seats that recline far. There's a problem, if the person in front of you reclines, you have to as well. Additionally, there's no way I could move my legs (front to back). Also, the foot rest was too high up, even when fully extended, and caused cramps, and I couldn't close it. These things are built for Thai people, not Westerners (read: I'm too damn tall for Asia). Anyways we arrived at 5 in the morning. I went to a real hotel (not a hostel). It was still rather cheap. I had to take a taxi from the bus station to get there. I got completely ripped off by the driver. I was too tired and cranky to have my senses about me. I don't want to say how much, but I probably paid close 8 times the proper price had he used the meter (like they're supposed to). I mean, it wasn't an enormous sum of money by any means, but it still left me pretty irritated once I took another taxi ride (using the meter) and thus figured out what fair prices are for a distance. Now I know.

Still, I really like Bangkok. I headed out to find breakfast. I had a fried fish with rice and a bit of Thai curry. Very good and fresh. A great way to start my first day in Bangkok. My favorite thing to do in a city is walk around aimlessly. Really. I find that I stumble upon the most interesting things. It also gives me a sense of the neighborhood. So, I did that, all morning. I had a few little snacks too, nothing big. Some fried chicken feet which were pretty good. The outside was really good and crispy with all sorts of cartilage and connective tissue inside. I also had some taro. It was cut in thick rectangles and deep fried with scallions. the pieces were then cooked with sugar and seasonings in a large wok, creating a sort of crusty, candy exterior. Those were also quite good, the stall was really busy with locals.

Fish


Rice and Curry


Taro


Chicken Feet


I was aching a bit, so I stopped for a traditional Thai massage. You have to be careful about the massage places, the open air ones or ones with lots of windows are the ones to go to for the real thing (I think the other ones hidden away offer "other" services, more on that later). I had heard about the massages, and it lived up to its reputation. It pretty much consists of the body being stretched and pulled and pushed and twisted. I left feeling very relaxed, though the massage itself proved to be slightly painful at times.

I walked around more, getting used to the ambience of the city. It's hot, really hot. It's also very humid, I think maybe more than where I have been previously. I'm pouring sweat all the time. The locals keep noticing and handing me tissues and towels to wipe the sweat from my head. They sometimes ask in broken English about where I'm from (and thus they realize why I am in fact sweating so much).

I had a good, basic lunch. A bowl of noodle soup with 3 kinds of pork. There was roast pork, boiled pork and fried pork with mustard greens. I really enjoyed it. I went back to the hotel and took a nap.

After I got up, I walked around even more. I know with the tour I'll see the big sights, now, I just want to wander. I happened upon a small temple (also called a Wat). I went through the exterior gate and was walking around the perimeter. A Monk was sitting at a picnic table nearby and began talking to me as I walked by. He, like many others I have met, asked me where I'm from, and about my trip and so on and so forth. I took a seat and he answered my questions about the temple. He told me about travelling to Laos, his life as a Monk. He then continued to tell me all about Thai food. He also tried to teach me Thai, which went poorly. Nonetheless, it was a really cool experience to have a talk with him. We must have talked for 20 minutes. It was a unique experience.

The Temple



I had dinner of grilled shrimp and boiled clams. It was very good and fresh. The head juices are the best part of the shrimp (it's true). I also had some of the delicious Thai papaya salad. I took it pretty easy at night. I did find a vendor selling crickets (or grasshoppers, not sure). They had been fried and were sprayed with soy sauce. They were crispy, and tasted mainly of soy. The exoskeleton has the same effect as when you're eating popcorn and the bran gets stuck in your teeth.

Shrimp


Clams



Crickets





Yesterday, I wandered more. I had a fried noodles for breakfast. I really didn't like those. It was really heavy, and just generally not to my liking.

Fried noodles


I don't have much to say about yesterday other than the food. I saw really cool stuff, but nothing specific. Lunch was noodle soup, again. Very tasty. It rained buckets for a while, which was no fun. I can't even remember what I had for dinner. I did get a chance to call home, which was great.

This morning I woke up and found a breakfast of roast duck with rice and soup. That was good and basic. Later, was a little snack of these little sweet shells witha sweet filling (like Fluff) and something orange, I dunno. Here's a picture


The air quality is really bad today. I realized I have never really really experience living in that kind of air quality. It's no fun. I took it easy in the hostel for a while. It rained a bit too (which didn't help the air). That's really all for now. I wanna wrap this up. I'll be getting pictures for the previous posts up soon.

On Bangkok as a whole...
This place is unliek what I've seen so far. It, like the places I have been, is very developed. However, it's quite overwhelming at times. The traffic is mad. There's lots of noise. It's also a very large city. And, I feel it must be addressed, Bangkok as you probably know, is famous (at least in the West) for one other thing, prostitution. You really do see it all over the place. I don't know that much about it, but a few things are clear. The Thai, who are famous for tolerance, have a very different attitude towards it. In this culture, it's simply a job providing a service. They aren't second class citizens, seen as dirty or disgraceful or anything of the like. It's an established part of the economy. The mindset here is very, very different from the West.

There's an elephant in the room...
Protests. I'm sure you've seen or read about it in the news. I've known all about it. I didn't know how big it was in the news in the States, thus I haven't addressed it. I don't want to worry people. However, it's become apparent that it is well publicized there. The protests are the reason I took the bus, not the train, to Bangkok. Trains in the South were closed, as were some airports. I know generally where the protests are, and am avoiding the area. I'm completely safe, there's plenty of other tourists here. Neither the US nor Thai governments have said not to go to Bangkok. I am exercising caution. I really do feel quite safe, I haven't seen anything.

Well, that does it for me. I hope everyone is well back home.

Take care,
Mike