Bangkok

United Flight 881 This time my Japenese neighbor is a friendly student, on vacation with his girlfriend. I get some sleep and in no time, I'm in Bangkok. Chat with a cooky Canadian in line at immigration. Bing bang boom, Bangkok airport is pretty efficient.

Somewhere in here we cross the International Date Line and Day 2 fades into Day 1 in a kind of interlateral blur.

You will find throughout this blog that I steadfastly avoid taxis and all private jitney transportation services at all costs. I take public transportation, or walk, whenever I can. And Bangkok Airport has a snappy little train straight to downtown. However, it doesn't run at 1am, so I am forced to take my first (and so far, only) taxi. The price: $7.50. Not too bad, I suppose. Arrive at the Manohra Hotel, which my dad booked for me so I wouldn't have to worry about scrounging for a room my first night. A pretty drap business hotel, but it had all the creature comforts I'm used to back home. $31/night. Now although it's 2am I'm not feeling particularly tired (after all, for my body it's morning) and how could I arrive in a new city in a new country in a new continent for God's sake without going for a walk? So I walk down the road for a few kilometers. So far, in my first glimpse of Thailand, there's really no way to tell that this isn't a street in any city in Europe or America (the two places I have been up until now) except for the signs in Thai. But most of the signs are also in Englsh. And there's a 7-Eleven every block. I reach the Patpong area, famous for its go go bars, prostitutes, sex shows, etc. But as it's after 2am they have all closed down and all the nightlife sin-seekers have spilled into the streets and are devouring pungent food from the hundreds of street food stalls and carts. Pungent is a good word for Bangkok and street food. It could suffice in any number of situations. I am accosted by a tiny 30-something woman with a 50-something face in a tight black dress who wants to offer her services to me. She sounds like she is missing her larynx. I turn to the 7-Eleven instead and buy-fittingly-a Thai Iced Tea. At home they are one of the new trends, and they cost $2.50-3.00. This one came in a carton and cost $.30. Back to hotel to sleep.

Kelly Clarkson is playing in the background right now. Earlier it was The Beatles. Jack Johnsons is also a favorite here.

Day 2 I slept for about 4 hours, and woke up at 7, not needing any more sleep. The hotel was drab but it had a nice breakfast buffet with an interesting assortment of food: bean sprouts, toast, eggs, curry, papaya juice, cornflakes, french toast. Most of the hotel guests were Japanese. The bellhop wanted to know where I was going. I was going to find a cheaper hotel but I didn't tell him that so instead I told me my next destination after that: Ko Samet. He told me how it is impossible to get a room on Ko Samet this time of year ("very busy") and how I must go to a specific TAT (tourist office, which I'm sure is conveniently run by his friend or brother) and make my bookings. No thanks, bub.

Then I checked out and set off to find a better, cheaper hotel. I walked down the streets where hundreds of street stalls were set up selling breakfast to thousands of Thais, on their way to work I suppose. I don't know how many Thais eat their food in the streets but it seemed like they all did. And they don't eat french toast or cornflakes, either. I arrive at Skytrain. Bangkok is famous for its traffic. It's not quite as bad as I'd heard, but it's pretty bad. But that doesn't matter because Skytrain is awesome. It's an ultra-clean, efficient, fast, and fun elevated rail line that glides through the city and the gnarly traffic below, offering a splendid birds-eye view. And it has a/c. And it's not even that crowded. I don't know why more people don't use Skytrain. 95% of the passengers are Thai. This is odd, because Bangkok is FULL of foreign toursits (farangs). Yet there are virtually none to be seen on Skytrain. Those farangs I do see are probably expats. Bangkok is also FULL of expats. Young women are seen to be listening to iPods and other assorted MP3 players.

My new hotel is the Hotel Atlanta. The oldest budget hotel in Bangkok (founded in the 1950s). Gorgeous art nouveau-meets-art deco lobby. Jungle garden. Swimming pool. And perfectly decent single bedrooms with a/c and bath for only $12. While I wait to check in at noon, I walk down Th Sukwamwit a few kilometers. This is Bangkok's ritziest street. 5th Avenue, Wilshire Blvd, you get the picture. It's honestly just as fancy. Starbucks (with terribly overpriced coffee drinks at $2-3). The many Starbucks knockoffs have more or less the same menu at better prices. Malls galore. All air conditioned. So they make nice stopover points to catch relief from the heat and humidity. One mall has all the fanciest designer brands: Gucci, Armani, etc. Check the pricetag of a simply shirt at Armani: $130. Is that cheaper than the US? I have no idea. I've never bought an Armani. If this is aimed at Thai customers, there must be some very wealthy Thais indeed. Fouintains everywhere. And well-tended landscaping. Lush, green, clean, orderly. Policemen seem omnipresent. Nearly every block there is a Buddhist shrine, and people leave flowers, candles, and other knickknocks. These shrines are kept clean and well-respected even when they fall amidst grimy city streets.

I love grocery stores. You can find out a lot about a country by browsing its grocery store. A visit to the produce section reveals that a whole pineapple costs $0.50, while a small basket crate of Strawberries costs (I'm not kidding) $8!!! These strawberries are direct from Watsonville, California. Pint of Ben & Jerry's? Also $8. Mmm whets the appetite doesn't it?

Everywhere you turn in Thailand there are dogs, dogs, and more dogs. Unlike the Chinese and Vietnamese, I guess the Thais don't eat dogs. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many of them on the streets. Some of these dogs are pretty nasty. Mange, they call it. Yet surprisingly the dogs are complacent. They don't bark much. They don't attack or bite people (I wouldn't want to get close enough to test this however, even though I got a rabies vaccine before leaving). Mostly they just lie around sleeping. Cats are common too. As are rats. And human beings. Lots of those. There's a Thai version of every popular Western magazine, from Maxim and FHM to Cosmo and Glamour. Street food stalls are everywhere. Some of them make really elaborate food right in front of your eyes. None of it looks all that particularly appealing to me, but that's because it's been sitting out all day, attracting flies and whatnot.

I leave the fancy-pants district to get a better look at the "real" Bangkok. This Bangkok is not as clean as the ritzy district, but it's still pretty orderly. Everyone seems to have a job to do. Electric wires are strung up willy-nilly. But they work. Lots of ongoing construction. Lots of garbage piled up.

I decide to try a water-based form of transit, since Bangkok IS a city of canals. The canal boat costs $.30. This is a great way to travel. The boats pull up at the docks and in just a few seconds passengers jump on and off. I didn't realize how quickly this is done, so I missed the first boat and had to wait for another one. The boats zip down the canals, offering a terrific view at the water-oriented city life. Wooden houses. Shops. Walkways. Arbors and greenery. Since the boat is so low and close to the water, and since the boat splashes alot, the passengers put up shields to protect themselves from the canal water (not the sort of water you'd want to get on you).

At the canal's terminus I arrive, not knowing where in particular I'm going, and happy with that knowledge. I like to just wander...let the road take me where it takes me. I spot a gleaming golden dome in the near distance and decide to walk towards it. A tout interupts me, and tries to steer me in the opposite direction to see the "Big Buddha". He draws it on my map (my map which shows all the temples, and yet he draws it on a completely blank spot on the map) and tries to get me on his friend's tuk-tuk (like a taxi). But I'm going to the golden temple, says I. No, no, it's closed, says he. Rule of thumb: never trust anything anyone says when they are the one to approach you and volunteer information. I walk towards the golden temple. I'm glad I did, for it proves to be a splendid sight. It's actually liked the Golden Mount and it's an entire Buddhist city within a city: a school, community, monastery, and temple. The temple is atop an artificial mountain of 100 feet or so. I ascend a spiral walkway through a dense jungle and mystical shrines. At the top is the temple, where the suggested donation is a pittance ($.25) and the views are far-reaching. This is Old Bangkok, which is decidedly different than new Bangkok. Temples like this one dot the entire district, their high-pitched roof frames rising above the roofline every few blocks.

I go wandering through the Buddhist community. Monks in bright orange robes make their rounds and I walk right by their homes, simple affairs, but cozy, anchored around courtyards, with plenty of dogs to go around. At one point some dogs started following me, but a monk shooed them away. There are more temples down at ground level. Fantastic irredescent paneling. Golds and saphires and rubies and all sorts of wonderful shiny colors. And the Buddhas. There are 100s and 100s of golden Buddhas, all in a row. I don't know why they need so many, but they are quite a sight.

I wander more through old Bangkok, past more canals, shops, homes. I enter what I can only describe as the "Buddha district", where store after store sells Buddha statues, large, and small. Some are more than 10 feet tall. Buddhists certainly don't have any hangups about idolotry, like a certain other religion does. I should note that thought this area is very busy (and afternoon rush hour is coming on), it is almost entirely populated by Thais and only Thais.

I continue walking and find a great big street, like a Champs-Elysees only with more car exhaust, with a great big monument to Thailand's democratic fouding in 1932. In a region where most countries were, or still are, autocracies, Thais take their democracy very seriously and they are proud of it. Hundreds of vendors along this street sell little pieces of paper. I later learn these are lottery tickets. And with democracy comes the right to throw your money away.

What I come across next absolutely blows me away. And not in a good way. I come to Khao San Road, the famous backpackers ghetto of Bangkok. This is where most people like me (20-somethings, white, student-ish) stay when in Bangkok. I am glad I didn't. It is 95% white, and the 5% of non-whites are the Thais who sell things to the whites. It's like the white kids have come to Bangkok and created this whole separate little world for themselves where they can interact with only themselves. All the shops are total tourist traps. They sell American flags and American CDs and DVDs. And I'm feeling incredibly embaressed to be American. And then, it hits me: these people are NOT American. Well, the vast majority of them, anyway. They are English, Irish, Australian, Israeli, Russian, French, German.... European backpackers have been coming here since the 60s, and this is their hangout. Here, the most Thai food you can find is Pad Thai (although I do admit it's neat how they prepare it right in front of your eyes from scratch in a giant street-side wok). Oh, but what a weird place. The strangest thing is that I NEVER saw any of these people anywhere else in the city. They all come here and they apprently stay here, thinking "this" is Bangkok. You can also buy Student ID cards, press passes. Heck, even degrees and "diplomas" are for sale. I'm outta here.

I head for the river and hop on a river boat. $.25. Like the canal boat except bigger, and the river is much wider. The breezes on this boat are a natural form of air conditioning. There's a little Chinese man in a Mao Suit. I meet a friendly Danish couple and we talk about the cartoon scandal. They were going to go to Indonesia but changed their plans.