2-hour Thai Massages Rock
Trip Start
Aug 12, 2003
1
Trip End
Aug 18, 2003
Bangkok,
Thailand
Sunday, August 24, 2003
August 13th-18th
Sawat-dii khrap ("hello" in Thai)! After having spent an eye-opening week in Bangkok, I've finally made it to Hanoi, Vietnam. Sorry for the delay in getting this log posted, I've been on the move for the past 2 weeks since leaving Philadelphia, and am finally just getting settled. I've decided to start my logs out with a "first impressions"/introduction to the country or place I visited, then followed by what I actually did (i.e. For the impatient ones who'd prefer to just skip to the dessert, scroll down to the second paragraph). "Amazing Thailand" is definitely true to it's name. Though I set up basecamp in Bangkok and made only one excursion out of the city, I'm convinced that the Thai smile and hospitality extends throughout the country. This is one of the most polite and foreigner friendly places I've been to (not to mention the beautiful women!), I'll definitely be back for much more travel
A-Samut Song Khroa Mkt. WHILE Train Passes
. Having just finished my first week here in Hanoi makes me appreciate my time in Bangkok even more (*read next travel log for details of first impressions of Vietnam). Since the embrace of free markets and capitalism in Thailand, the city seems to be flourishing. From the women waking up at 4am to sweep the city to keep the streets seemingly devoid of trash, to businessmen/women walking around in suits (in 90 degree weather!) on their way to 40-story buildings, and taxi's at every corner, you'd think you were in a virtual New York City. Ahh, but wait. Juxtapose this scene with food stalls (most of which are extremely unsanitary, but damm good food nonetheless) lined end-to-end in front of the 40-story buildings and on every other side-street, put the businessmen and their briefcases on motorbikes, women dressed professionally sitting in the middle of the sidewalk on a cheesy pink plastic stool 12-inches off the ground eating a bowl of noodles before going to work, and throw in a few 3-wheeled Tuk-tuks for good measure. It's just amazing to see this country in economic transition. However, I've come to learn that the Thai government, like many Asian countries, prefer to boast their power to create a façade of idealism. Corruption is rampant - you only have to take a short train ride out of the city to see the disparity between the "haves" and "have-nots." The streets are no longer spotless and the living conditions become cramped. With huge companies like Citybank and J.P. Morgan operating in the city, you come to wonder how the average daily wage has risen to only 160 bhat/day ($4). My average meal cost $.75 (large plate of rice with HOT/SPICY curry or grilled meat-mmmm!), and most expensive was $10 when I took my friend out to a "nice" Indian restaurant. Granted these are huge generalizations and a poor simplification of an issue that has many forces driving the current socio-economic climate. But hey, I'm just a privileged 23-year old tourist who wants to have fun in a little corner of the world
B-Samut Song Khroa Mkt. AFTER Train Passes
. What gives me the right to come for 5-days and say this system is wrong just because it's not a Western system? We all know that the income gap between the very wealthy and poor is widening everywhere. Hmm, it's only 7am in the morning, I don't feel like thinking about all of this right now. Geopolitical views aside, the Bangkok I saw was beautiful, sassy, wild, religiously omnipresent, motley, and kind. The weather and smog, which I feared the most before arriving, turned out to bearable. The air is definitely hot and dirty, but you quickly become accustomed to the gallons of sweat you exude and noxious fumes spewing from cars/motorbikes/tuk-tuks. My first foray onto the infamous Thai roads was to my hotel from the airport. I was welcomed by my Expat friend Bill, who kindly came to the airport at midnight to guide me safely to my hotel room. Bill is an American who just recently got tenure as a professor of law at a Bangkok University. He was a first rate host, showing and guiding me to a complete smorgasbord of the city. Anyway, back to the traffic. Bill picked a random taxi... "b/c the man looked old, hence safe-"er" than the others," not quite. It's well known that the taxi drivers here often try to scam you, usually by inflating the price (no meter in car), or by taking you to a hotel that you Didn't ask for (some get commission from the hotels to bring customers)
Golden Buddha
. The taxi we chose was a dive, the old man almost senile, and his driving completely unpredictable. We made it back after about an hour, which was actually a good time. The 40 feet I walked to my room drenched my shirt in sweat - it's hot even at night. I stayed at 16 Soi Pipat House near Silom Rd. Wonderful place, though a little pricey (600 bhat/night = $15). You can get places here for around $5/night, but the fact that I was a 5 minute walk from Bill's place made it priceless. I didn't stay at Bill's b/c his place has only one bedroom (though it's an amazing apartment on th 15th floor that gives an almost 280-degree view of the city, beautiful). I also didn't feel comfortable crashing on his floor since he is the friend of my brother's partner Dave. And yes, Bill is gay. I tell you this b/c he showed me a side of Bangkok that I probably never would have seen. The first night I was there we went out to the Sphinx, a great restaurant on a gay strip off of Silom Rd. Since my host knew the owner well, the normal warm Thai hospitality was exceptionally nice. I think the green chicken curry was the best curry dish I've ever had, and it was "mild," aka HOT! Since the night was young, Bill decided to show me a seedier side of Bangkok. We first went to Patpong street, a bustling street full of vendors selling anything you could ever want. The funny thing is that this street is completely clear during the day until about 5pm, at which time dozens of workers come out to erect the tents and booths
Patpong night market setting up
. As you can imagine, the night life here is unbelievable. Patpong has turned into quite a touristy area, yet still retains it's "ambience." What gives this street it's ambience? The go-go bars and strip clubs. That's right, Western families with their young kids are constantly berated by Thai men to "come-come, free look, sucky-sucky, you like?" Prostitution has long been part of the Thai culture, it's normal for married men to have concubines. Well, after being explained this by Bill, I reluctantly agreed to go check one out. We went to the Wildcat Pu#$y, or some ridiculous name like that. We left after the second show b/c the girls kept hassling us for money, and neither Bill or I were very amused (Bill for different reasons:). It turned out that in return, I was to sit through a gay bar. Well, it's been a month since I started writing this entry, so I'll be brief with the rest of my entry... I of course visited the Grand Palace and Chinatown, all must-see's for any tourist in Bangkok. Bill also took me on a one day excursion to Samut Sakon, then onto Samut Song Khrao via a local train that very few foreigners know about (hence, we didn't see one foreigner the whole day, even at the two towns we stopped at!). These towns are on the delta, southwest of Bangkok. It was amazing to be able to ride with local people to such obscure places. Bill tells me that most Thai expats don't even know about this train line (which runs twice a day). Well, the whole purpose of our trip was to reach the second town (Samut Song Khrao), which reveals the most interesting market I've ever seen. As we rode into the train station, we literally went through a food market. The train track WAS the walkway. Food sat inches away from the track, while some baskets of food weren't even removed from the track (we just went over them). More amazing, if you run to the back of the train before passing the market (about 200yards long), you can see tarps/tent flaps flipping back down over the tracks (like dominoes) as soon as the rear of the train passes, creating a covered walkway over the tracks. Incredible. Bill actually got footage of this with his digital camera/camcorder, hopefully I can get online one day. Well, I'm just going to finish by saying that I ended my trip with a 2-hour Thai massage given by a beautiful Thai girl... that cost $8.00! You haven't lived until you've gotten a Thai Massage...
