Bangkok

koh san rd ^

Bangkok bangkok bangity bang bangkok

I had been given good advice from someone i met while eating lunch (!!) that I could take a public bus to kho San road , the backpackers number 1 starting and ending point of Southeast Asia. Barely stopping, the public bus picked me up to the left of the train station entrance, next to a kfc. For only 7b it was a great way to get there and soak in the sights along the way. Always interesting, bangkok’s china town was in full hustle and bustle mode with flowers seeming to be the main item being dealt with in the area we drove through, with hundreds of stalls selling any kinds you could imagine. While I had wanted to book a room in advance my luncheon friends had assured me I could find a place. They were right and within about an hr and a half of getting off the bus( I took my time exploring) I had found an incredibly cheap room. Bare minimum but a place to sleep. There was another solo traveler from Switzerland already there and it was cool to be back in a multibed dorm again, the best way to meet people. After dropping my bag off I went back out to explore, passing on the idea of consulting lonely planet for advice and just deciding to go do. Passing by a guy reading a lp at a bench a little later I chuckled and mentioned to him that I thought that was a fruitless endeavor. He agreed (but was doing it anyway) and when I started to walk away he got up and followed along with me. He was an interesting dude. Kind of strange but whatever, I wasn't doing anything except walking through a mad world with him so it was ok. He told me a crazy story of how he ended up here. A few months ago he had traveled to Chicago. He had previously been in America for 6 months ( a monthh longer than his
passport allowed) surfing in california and still had some personal items in Cali even though his gf there had broke up with him and he had gone back to holland. ( a beat up van he lived in, some surf boards, clothing, tpys, etc) anyway when he returned a few months later to chicago at immigration and customs, when asked why he was back in the states he said he was going to be traveling and maybe looking for a job. Now, that was his mistake. Taken to a holding cell he spent a few hours waiting before a dutch speaking customs agent entered and told him he would be returning to holland on the next available flight. He wouldn't be allowed back into America for at least a few years unless he got a work or study visa. Just like that his American vacation had started an ended. Arriving back home he wallowed for a few weeks before booking a 3 week trip to thailand. Where I met him on a street bench readig a lonely Planet.

While walking with him I saw 2 guys with loaded bags. Offering to show them a cheap place to stay they were happy to get some good advice. I walked them back to my hostel and they were happy to have their bags off after their journey from London to Bangkok. 120 b was about 800b less than what they were planning on spending but they were nonetheless agreeable and glad to have met someone. Leaving the Dutch boy( Martin) waiting on the main road, he had disappeared when we got back. Regrettable but there wasn't much we could do. Hopefully he found something or someone he was
looking for.

The two Brits, myself and the girl from Switzerland went out for some drinks and some conversation. Never having traveled before the Brits were full of questions. The switz girl and I obliged and tried to relate to them but were in a clearly different agenda and frame of mind. We still enjoyed each others company greatly but it was a unique dynamic to witness. After a tower between us we walked -- back to the guesthouse and told her we were going to explore and see where the night took us. I wasn’t really wanting to have a wild night because I still was not 100% but I was going to carpe diem with some cool dudes. I hung out with alot of girls on this trip but it's nice to drink a beer with a dude and have dude talk. we ended up going all around the area and tuk tukked to patpong for some essential Bangkok story making. The kinds of story that the firepit crew will eat up after a few cold beverages. The kind of storey that would disgust and amuse William, make matty d howl, and Mickey ask ??. Joe and Andy will laugh, Joe will shake his head, And Dan Tom and Eric will just say only paul... I did not buy myself anything or anyone but saw a part of town that fat old russian men flock to and pretty much epitomizes all the stereotypical ridiculous things you might hear about Bangkok. I should have found a more eloquent way to type out this little event but Its much more of an in person story to be retold. Essentially, I didn't do anything I wouldn't tell my mother... ( but ideally she won't read this far down and ask for too many details. ;) but saw some really wild and ridiculous stuff.


That night back at the guesthouse it turned out to the coldest night in Thailand in like 10 years for some strange reason. It was nice to bundle up with blankets and wear pants and longsleeves the next day. One of the British guys stayed out a little later than the other one doing things he probably would t want to share with his mum but that was all up to him. He was out until 7 or 8am and eventually slept most of the next day.

When i woke up that morning I was feeling better and went out for some fruit and a drink. While perusing I walked into a tailors shop and began talking with an Indian man nicknamed Papa Jim and his 2 sons, Raja and Andrew. I was in a Thai tailor shop and was falling hook line and sinker for everything they were telling me. Not that I was being had, but I had thought about maybe buying a suit and I could
only be awed at how easy it was and how good it felt. Draping fabrics after fabrics over me I felt like a king being waited on by the three of them. Endless colors and design choices it was tough to even find
a place to start. Eventually i decided on a silver and a black suit, along with a variety of shirts and ties. Before I left though I tried on a suit that somebody else had ordered and was picking up later that day. When I tried It on I got that feeling that only a guy can understand when he puts a nice suit on. It's magical really, how it feels like you just put on a jacket made of success and power. I immediately disregarded the silver and went with the brown. It was that awesome. One of the neat things about buying the suit (besides that try took a visa card) was that I went back to the tailor 4 or 5 more times over the next two days to get fitted. Each time was a new experience with a tea or a water or a pepsi or whatever to add to the moment. It's the little things that make it special and it was a great experience. Watch out world-I look fresh to death!

We got to know each other pretty well throughout the day and definitely had a good time getting lost. In Bangkok wherever you go you are solicited by tuk tuk drivers asking if you want to go to a certain place. They are all the same spiel and it's unbelievable how many times you'll hear the same things. 10 baht each, standing buddah special opening today, grand palace tour, 1 hour anywhere you want to go! It's all the same and it's all just a ploy to get you to buy some fake gemstones from a professional scam artist. We wandered around all day and I splurged on a ridiculous laser pointer that I had been eyeing at every market I stopped at.

To get back to our guesthouse around diner time we decided to try and take this boat taxi thing. We didn't know where it went or anything about it but that just intrigued us more and it turned out fantastic in the end, almost right where we wanted to be. We met back up with –- at the hostel and all grabbed some dinner together. the British guys were off to star heading north the next afternoon , but I decided to stay an extra day and see another part of the city. Although koh son road was a pretty unique place I knew Bangkok is a major metropolitan city and I wanted to get out of the one corner I was in. I was given some advice to head to a part of town called the Sukhomvit road area. More upscale and commercial it had a pretty different flavor to it for sure. After bid adeiu to the Brits I headed to the Sukhomvit for one more night and day in Bangkok. Although the guesthouse prices were more than triple what I had been paying I tried not to let it bother me too much. I found a hostel called soi1 hostel and , although expensive, it had a tremendous vibe to it when you walked in the door. notes and directions all over the wall, pictures and advice, big communal area, made the decision for me.

It was about midday on the 18th when I arrived to soi 1 and after a little while I went out for a little exploring with two Canadian girls on holiday for two weeks from med school in Canada. (you keeping dr. count Travis) they were pretty cool girls. It's wild when you meet people traveling so differently from you yet still with so many similarities.

We wandered for awhile and had some noodle soup for dinner. Nothing special except that the soup had some chicken feet in it which was a new experience. The desert was the topper though. An egg, nutella, and banana pancake smothered with cream and chocolate this thing was a sight to behold.

I hadn't eaten one my entire trip but this one made up for anything I might have missed. We were originally going to get one to share but made the very good decision to each get one as we watched it being made. After dinner and desert we kept wandering and made it over to soi cowboy, a spot notorious for old men to relive the glory days persay. Err I dont know how to put it. It was a wild street of fluorescents and girls inviting you to have a drink with them. It was so overwhelming that I totally forgot to take out my camera and take a picture. Woah.

When I got back to the hostel I grabbed one of the few English books they had and gave it a go. Eat pray love. Although I only got through about 50 pages I don't think I was enjoying it very much. A good read, I didn't really like the main character as a person I don't think. Later that night I would end up trading the book for digital fortress, another Dan Brown thriller. Guys good man, I had to go for a third one!

Anyway there weren't to many people at the hostel but I started talking to hr owner, a guy named Dave. Dare I say infinitely interesting, Dave is a true personality. We talked about all kinds of big and small stuff and I eventually joined him for his late night dinner. He showed me all around on the walk to his favorite burger joint. Seeing how he lives there it was wild to see how many of the restaurant owners ad ladies of the night knew him. It was great hanging out with the guy for few hours and hes a personality I won't soon forget. Back at the hostel I talked with 2 of the girls that worked there and had a good chat before heading off to bed. Right before I went to bed though I started talking to the night desk worker about America and eventually sports. I got all riled up about NCAA basketball and probably went into 10x more details than he could possibly comprehend (cindarella, dickey v?!) as I was about to walk upstairs he turned on the tv above his head. Uh oh. it was about 2am in Bangkok so about 2 in America. It was first and second round action!!! Sure enough they got the international channel that was showing the games and mr. Gus Johnson himself was on the play by play. I was trapped within 10 seconds, and eventually stayed up for the entire thing to watching George Mason pull off the win. I love college bball man. March really mgt be the best month. Spring , pattys day, spring break, march madness, birthdays....

Anyway the next morning I packed my back and stored it I the closet. My plan was to head south to some island on the night train. I had hopped to find a friend to take the trip but to no avail. I went out for lunch but came back to grab a map. When I came back there was a German girl doing some stuff on her computer. I asked if she wanted to join me and we went off. She had arrived that am from chaing Mai and was just going to unwind and chill for a bit. Our lunch adventure took us a little farther than we expected but eventually we found a really nice street vendor who hooked us up with a massive plate of fried rice and veggies and tofu. We had to wait kind of a while to get our food but were having great conversation the entire time so it didn't matter at all. A Chinese man next to us kept doing his best to enter our conversation but his English wasn't that great. He was super super friendly though so we didn’t mind a bit. After he had finished eating and chatting with us he asked if he could write my name down in case he ever came to America. Of course I said, and gave him all my info. I took his down because he lives near guangzhou china, which is a big city that happens to be where two of my cousins were adopted from. Undoubtedly I think that our paths will eventually cross which is a wild thought that I love to think about. As he paid for his food and left he shook our hands, smiled and thanked us again for "meeting him" we later found out he had even paid for our lunches for us. So so cool, and just one of those minute details that make being a friendly, good hearted and open minded traveler so great. More than a few times I have alluded to how such a minute detail can influence a person’s life and this is another of those.

After lunch we continued walking and Jess and I stumbled onto a major Thai -red part democratic rally. Thousands of people all wearing red were listening to speeches and music and showing there support for the cause. It was a pretty wild site to behold and at one point we get to a coection of images that showed how violent and oppressive these rallies have gotten. It was a big time reality check to see the dates being only in the past few months of some major outbursts and scenes of violence. By now our quick lunch had been going on for 2 or 3 hours. I went back to pick up my suit from koh San rd. It fit like a charm and I can't wait for the first excuse to wear it. Taking the boat taxi back was another great experience. On the way I told Jess how cool it was to meet her and have "lunch" with her. I halfway jokingly said she should cone with me south to an island and the next thing I knew she was joining me in my dash to the train. Even though she had just been on a 9 hour bus ride and arrived in bkk that a.m. she was down to take a train 14 more hours south with me. Bad freakin ass. She eventually told me that she didnt really have a plan and that when something seems to be going right it's usually better to just roll with it. Still, I commend her on her random spirit because that's super rad. While she was packing her bag I talked to Dave the owner about the situation and he had no problem letting her leave and just letting her use the night she paid for in a week or two when she would return. So great.

in the middle of a rally you can stand in the middle the busiest road and take a picture. me and jess right after she told me she was going to team up for my next adventure.



and this dude is just something to look up to...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone