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  Bangkok, Thailand
Friday, May 23, 2008

I'm sitting in a restaurant called [insert Japanese symbols here--they're in my notebook.] in Shinjuko, Tokyo admiring beautifully dressed Japanese women and reflecting on the past month or so while enjoying the second best bowl of rama I've ever had.  It has been amazing--Among many misadventures, I've been partying until all hours in Bangkok and Haad Rin; riding the roads of Koh Phangan on a moto, helmetless under the gulf sun with an irremovable grin on my face; walking the low-season, semi-crowded beaches of Phuket and partying in surreal Patong; eaten the best Indian food I've ever had in Singapore's Little India and navigated Tokyo's magnificent subyway system.  What a crazy trip it has been. 
 
Man it was good to get back into Thailand.  My first meal after nearly three months away was a plate of fried noodles, the fat ones that I like, at one of those cheesy bus stop cafes the tour buses always take you and it was just short of amazing, reminiscent of the first meal I had in Thailand when I arrive nearly four months earlier. 
 
At around 10 p.m., three hours behind schedule, our bus from the Cambodian border dropped us at Khao San Road.  The ride, although long, was mostly uneventful, except for the point at which during a discussion with the 18 year-old Brit sitting beside me I said I could easily live in NYC and he said well you are basically American anyway' and I had to tune him in.  Freakin' iIgnoramous. Sheesh, this guy needed a lesson and I gave it to him.  
 
Ordinarily I really don't like arriving anywhere late at night.  This time it was easy.  I knew exactly where I was when the bus dropped us off, back in the old 'hood.   It was an easy walk to Soi Rambuttri.  I knew the ropes.  I'm reminded of the time Kevin and I landed in London with our brand new backpacks, all fresh and clean, wide-eyed and ready to head out into the wilds of Europe and across from us sat this couple reading the New Dehli Times, long haired, dirty, weathered backpacks.  They been around and how I felt so green, like such a poser.  The stuff I'd done since having first been in Bangkok...  
 
I checked a few places out and settled on one I knew, right in the thick of things down one of my favourite little alleys, The Wild Orchid Villas, where a double room cost 550 baht or about 16 dollars. 
 
It was so cool coming back to BKK after nearly three and a half months on the road.  I felt right at home and it was amazing how easy going the tuk-tuk guys seemed after what I'd put up with.  Thailand really does rock.  Plain and simple.  It is good to get some perspective.  This time I pretty much just hung out in Soi Rambuttri.
 
I've talked about Bangkok before so I'll keep it simple here--what I love about BKK:
 
Soi Rambuttri - probably the coolest backpacker ghetto anywhere.
Khoa San Raod - just go and see for yourself, really.
The Chart Terrace - a bar they set up every night with folding chairs and tables on a patio in front of the Rambuttri Village Inn, from 18:00 to midnight.  It sits next to a cool little cd stand that plays the best techno and electronica and alt-rock anywhere--loud.  Big ice-cold Singhas are only 80 baht ($2.60--cheapest anywhere in BKK) and the people watching doesn't get much better. 
The Ghecko Bar in Soi Rambuttri for (at least two) 75 cent cappachinos every morning.
Sukhamvit - for the best real-life BKK vibe and street food.
Street food.  Tastes amazing.  It's cheap and it's everywhere
The rock n roll bar at the Burger King end of Khoa San Road.
Cheap knock off sunglasses.  MBK centre.
Riding the river boat.
 
Claudia from Zurich whom I'd met on the Halong Bay cruise in Vietnam about six weeks earlier would be back in town to celebrate her 27th birthday.  Heath from Oz who I met in Hanoi through Claudia was there too.  Jen and Andrew were also in town.  After a damn fine Thai meal of Massoman Curry, we partied until all hours in a place called Gazebo where 'caucasions' cost $6.  By 5 a.m. I couldn't keep my eyes open.�@�@
 
We saw the movie '21' at Siam centre.  We chilled.  Everybody rendezvoused everyday at the Terrace for cocktails at around six and sometimes we didn't leave until late. It rained every day for a couple of hours, usually in the afternoon.  One time at around 10 at night it rained and poured and eventually we had to ditch our sactuary under the awning by the Terrace, give up our night out and run home in pouring rain through six inches of water on the street.  It was bathtub warm. 
 
I stayed an extra day for the opportunity to meet up with Mike and Margo, a really cool couple I had met in Copacabbana, Bolivia back in October. They are doing an RTW trip and it turned out we were going to be in BKK around the same time.  How cool is that? It was another late night. 
 
I bought stuff, including a little speaker outfit for my iPod.  I thought I was pretty good knocking the guy down from 900 baht to 500 baht (It would quit working properly about three weeks later so I left it behind.)
 
So long Bangkok.  Time to do some island hopping and see a bit of the south. I need a break 'else I'm gonna loose my mind. 
 
I'll be back. 
 

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