Jade sea-green, lemon-and-lime yellow and green stripes, banana yellow,
hot hibiscus pink, vermillion like wet palm fruit, morning glory blue,
shimmering beetle-wing green, orchid pink and white. These are the
colors of the taxis of Bangkok which navigate their maze of traffic amid frenetic paced motorcycles and mopeds, rooting around their larger
cohorts like insects marching around each other in the city-forest. Their smaller cousins, tut tuts, chugging around like rocket-powered golf carts with glaring ice
cream colors dancing around their delicate frames and wide seats,
begging for riders with promises of cheap fare, like a metallic beetle
mating dance, strutting their cephalothorax for attention and yelling,
smiling, competing, cajoling and gesturing at their potential matches.
Taxis are far superior, but there is something freeing and incredibly dizzying, not to mention invitingly semi-dangerous about having no protection as you speed around cars with no seat belt, sitting right behind a driver who will probably overcharge you far more than the value of the ride. Welcome to Thailand.
So far, the ferries along the Chao Praya have been the most enjoyable experience here. Just the lingering memory of a boat full of people chatting with bursts of laughter, sailing through the warm clouds of the electric-pulsing, skycraper gardens of night, the air enveloping you like an embrace of vapor, of careening through the canyons of temples and shopping plazas on a river of capitalist delights makes my heart sing.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Monday, June 27, 2016
Bangkok Adventure: A Whirlwind of a Cavalcade of a Maelstrom (of Fun!)
Well, I'm going to do a condensed version of the last week and a half or so, so strap in...first stop, Ratchaprasong!
This area of Thailand is basically where all the biggest malls in the country lie; Central World and Siam Paragon, one of which boasts its own aquarium. Unfortunately it was reservation only, and I can't commit to staying another week. I got a pair of trousers since I wanted to go looking at temples, which have dress codes. They tailored the legs for me since the ones I found fit me in the waist but were too long. Apparently, Bangkok is one of the tailoring capitals of the world, and in the areas near my hotel there are a dozen or so lining the main Silom road, with tailors constantly boasting theirs are the best prices. Here, if you say you aren't sure or aren't that interested, they will give you lower prices and special bargains. So if you come here and are looking for tailored outfits, this is good advice to go with. Wait it out and say you have to think it over and you'll get more stuff thrown in. Haggling is considered an art form here in Thailand. But since this was in a department store, I overpaid somewhat. It was still my first week.
I spent several hours navigating only through a small part of these enormous malls and I finally exited. Waiting outside under the Skytrain station was a group of junior high school students eagerly trying to get the attention of a native English speaker. It looked like Westerners were turning them down until I came their way. You should have seen their faces when I told them I was an English teacher! They were doing a video assignment. One student filmed me as I answered questions from students that were overjoyed to have someone to practice with, and they gave me a small keychain as thanks for practicing with them, which means far more to me than anything fancy I could buy in a store. Definitely a feel good experience. I felt so welcome and immediately knew that if I ever wanted to work in this country it would be a pay downgrade, but the people, culture and beauty would make up for it.
Lumphini Park was a lot of fun and to get there I knew the general direction but got a little lost along the walkway that stands over an entire street. The Skytrain stations are enormous subway style trains built above the various intersections. Eventually a tut tut driver pulled aside and told me it would only be 30 baht. In case you are wondering, a tut tut is a golf cart with a rocket motor attached to it (or so I surmise) that zooms through traffic as your life flashes before your eyes. The driver wanted to know where I'd go after Bangkok and then wouldn't stop talking about a travel agency I could go to right at that moment to make arrangements. He wouldn't stop and I kept telling him to take me to the park. A lot of drivers make deals with local businesses to push them, but I flatly rejected this offer, so he pulled over and asked for 100 baht. I gave him the agreed upon price and took off.
Lumphini Park is to Bangkok what Central Park is to New York. Cityscape alongside a peaceful lake and plentiful trees in lackadaisical harmony. Did I mention monitor lizards? Well the park is crowded with one of the largest reptiles in Asia, which hiss their disapproval at the tourists and then often scamper into the lake or the many drainage trenches they hide out in. It is a surreal thing to see to say the least, and I spent a copious amount of time trying to get shots of these guys. It was my day to be a monitor lizard papparazzi and it was their chance to say, "Get out of my face, bub! I'm a star!"
Several days later, I took a tour of the Grand Palace and saw the Emerald Buddha, a giant jade statue that no one is allowed to photograph. The sanctuary itself is gorgeous, with murals lining the walls of demons and saints, and candles everywhere along the front dais with worshipers solemnly praying. The complex has seen hundreds of years of kings add on to the many buildings with elaborate decor, covered with intricate carvings and every one of the outdoor murals are individually painted and amazing to behold. Especially if you love Asian art as much as I do. Equally enjoyable were my two tour guides, whose names were "Mr. Jackie" and "Mr. Chan". Quote: "Together we are action movie star!" Oh, Thailand.
Several days after this, I found myself exploring the beauty of Ayutthaya, an ancient Khmer ruins just north of the city that is situated in its own historical park. Let me just say, I have been to few places as beautiful or as moving and I have waited most of my life to see ruins of the Khmer empire, which has captured my imagination since I was a small child. A truly amazing day was had there!
The last thing to check off on my tourist bucket list was to visit the infamous floating markets. These are a series of canals and a small town made entirely out of stilt houses, nicer houses built along the quay, or shacks that comprise a maze through which hundreds of boats accompany tourists. I was surprised when my boat guide stopped at a certain shop that just happened to be owned by his wife. Note: bring plenty of money if you do decide to do this. I didn't have much more than what I was paying my taxi driver who I hired for the day (for a stunningly cheap price) and the money I paid for the boat tour itself, but they really don't want to let you leave unless you spend a certain amount! There was one shop I made the mistake of having him pull over to, and either it was considered rude not to buy something at that point or they were desperately stubborn, but either way I understood these people are poor and this is their livelihood. I bought just enough to keep the boat going. We zoomed past hundreds of people selling mostly the same array of Buddhist or Hindu related statues, paintings, etc. Not to mention clothes, toys, fruit, straw hats and more things with elephant motifs than I've ever seen in my life. Oh yeah, and there were elephants.
Now when they showed me photos I thought, oh there are elephants in a petting zoo. How nice! I'd love to photograph some elephants. As it turns out, I misunderstood exactly what I was getting myself into, and as I got in line, a line that led up to a wooden structure that overlooked said elephants, I got the jist. This was actually to get ON TOP OF said elephants. Which I did, because the boat driver was waving to me, indicating happily for to get on the elephant. So I did. How to describe being on an elephant? It's a lot like being on an ab machine at the gym. Only you might fall off, so there's a bar attached to your seat, and a tremendously elephantine smell. At one point the elephants get down up to their stomachs in muddy water, immersing themselves in a squelching miniature wetland. Which they tend to enjoy doing, because it's an elephant thing. It was honestly one of the most surreal experiences of my entire life.
The last thing I want to mention is Asiatique, which I explored with my new friends from the hotel room next door to me. It's a big outdoor shopping area along the riverside complete with tons of open restaurants and bars, and even a Ferris wheel. The night smells of the river combine with vendors selling popcorn, ice cream, bean sprouts and pork being cooked on woks and various other goodies. I was full but I tried a fresh coconut, which you can scoop coconut flesh out of with a spoon for the equivalent of two dollars. The bar and restaurant we went to served grilled cuttlefish, whose mere aroma made me hungrier than I anticipated. My new friends took me back via a free boat ride that the city provides. Yeah, you heard right, as in no charge. The lights of the city skyscrapers floated by along with the lights of various smaller shrines and houseboats, lit up with electricity dancing along their sides and an occasional dragon head prow crisscrossed under various bridges before we docked. We ended our night with our Thai friend explaining to us stories about the Ghost Hotel that oversaw the riverfront, a place that was supposed to have collected the souls of many suicide victims over the years. Originally a huge hotel investment, a fire on the upper floors halted construction 20 years ago and it was never finished, but legend says a lot of people that go in never come out...sounds like a great Thai horror movie waiting to happen.
More exciting adventures to come!
This area of Thailand is basically where all the biggest malls in the country lie; Central World and Siam Paragon, one of which boasts its own aquarium. Unfortunately it was reservation only, and I can't commit to staying another week. I got a pair of trousers since I wanted to go looking at temples, which have dress codes. They tailored the legs for me since the ones I found fit me in the waist but were too long. Apparently, Bangkok is one of the tailoring capitals of the world, and in the areas near my hotel there are a dozen or so lining the main Silom road, with tailors constantly boasting theirs are the best prices. Here, if you say you aren't sure or aren't that interested, they will give you lower prices and special bargains. So if you come here and are looking for tailored outfits, this is good advice to go with. Wait it out and say you have to think it over and you'll get more stuff thrown in. Haggling is considered an art form here in Thailand. But since this was in a department store, I overpaid somewhat. It was still my first week.
I spent several hours navigating only through a small part of these enormous malls and I finally exited. Waiting outside under the Skytrain station was a group of junior high school students eagerly trying to get the attention of a native English speaker. It looked like Westerners were turning them down until I came their way. You should have seen their faces when I told them I was an English teacher! They were doing a video assignment. One student filmed me as I answered questions from students that were overjoyed to have someone to practice with, and they gave me a small keychain as thanks for practicing with them, which means far more to me than anything fancy I could buy in a store. Definitely a feel good experience. I felt so welcome and immediately knew that if I ever wanted to work in this country it would be a pay downgrade, but the people, culture and beauty would make up for it.
Lumphini Park was a lot of fun and to get there I knew the general direction but got a little lost along the walkway that stands over an entire street. The Skytrain stations are enormous subway style trains built above the various intersections. Eventually a tut tut driver pulled aside and told me it would only be 30 baht. In case you are wondering, a tut tut is a golf cart with a rocket motor attached to it (or so I surmise) that zooms through traffic as your life flashes before your eyes. The driver wanted to know where I'd go after Bangkok and then wouldn't stop talking about a travel agency I could go to right at that moment to make arrangements. He wouldn't stop and I kept telling him to take me to the park. A lot of drivers make deals with local businesses to push them, but I flatly rejected this offer, so he pulled over and asked for 100 baht. I gave him the agreed upon price and took off.
Lumphini Park is to Bangkok what Central Park is to New York. Cityscape alongside a peaceful lake and plentiful trees in lackadaisical harmony. Did I mention monitor lizards? Well the park is crowded with one of the largest reptiles in Asia, which hiss their disapproval at the tourists and then often scamper into the lake or the many drainage trenches they hide out in. It is a surreal thing to see to say the least, and I spent a copious amount of time trying to get shots of these guys. It was my day to be a monitor lizard papparazzi and it was their chance to say, "Get out of my face, bub! I'm a star!"
Several days later, I took a tour of the Grand Palace and saw the Emerald Buddha, a giant jade statue that no one is allowed to photograph. The sanctuary itself is gorgeous, with murals lining the walls of demons and saints, and candles everywhere along the front dais with worshipers solemnly praying. The complex has seen hundreds of years of kings add on to the many buildings with elaborate decor, covered with intricate carvings and every one of the outdoor murals are individually painted and amazing to behold. Especially if you love Asian art as much as I do. Equally enjoyable were my two tour guides, whose names were "Mr. Jackie" and "Mr. Chan". Quote: "Together we are action movie star!" Oh, Thailand.
Several days after this, I found myself exploring the beauty of Ayutthaya, an ancient Khmer ruins just north of the city that is situated in its own historical park. Let me just say, I have been to few places as beautiful or as moving and I have waited most of my life to see ruins of the Khmer empire, which has captured my imagination since I was a small child. A truly amazing day was had there!
The last thing to check off on my tourist bucket list was to visit the infamous floating markets. These are a series of canals and a small town made entirely out of stilt houses, nicer houses built along the quay, or shacks that comprise a maze through which hundreds of boats accompany tourists. I was surprised when my boat guide stopped at a certain shop that just happened to be owned by his wife. Note: bring plenty of money if you do decide to do this. I didn't have much more than what I was paying my taxi driver who I hired for the day (for a stunningly cheap price) and the money I paid for the boat tour itself, but they really don't want to let you leave unless you spend a certain amount! There was one shop I made the mistake of having him pull over to, and either it was considered rude not to buy something at that point or they were desperately stubborn, but either way I understood these people are poor and this is their livelihood. I bought just enough to keep the boat going. We zoomed past hundreds of people selling mostly the same array of Buddhist or Hindu related statues, paintings, etc. Not to mention clothes, toys, fruit, straw hats and more things with elephant motifs than I've ever seen in my life. Oh yeah, and there were elephants.
Now when they showed me photos I thought, oh there are elephants in a petting zoo. How nice! I'd love to photograph some elephants. As it turns out, I misunderstood exactly what I was getting myself into, and as I got in line, a line that led up to a wooden structure that overlooked said elephants, I got the jist. This was actually to get ON TOP OF said elephants. Which I did, because the boat driver was waving to me, indicating happily for to get on the elephant. So I did. How to describe being on an elephant? It's a lot like being on an ab machine at the gym. Only you might fall off, so there's a bar attached to your seat, and a tremendously elephantine smell. At one point the elephants get down up to their stomachs in muddy water, immersing themselves in a squelching miniature wetland. Which they tend to enjoy doing, because it's an elephant thing. It was honestly one of the most surreal experiences of my entire life.
The last thing I want to mention is Asiatique, which I explored with my new friends from the hotel room next door to me. It's a big outdoor shopping area along the riverside complete with tons of open restaurants and bars, and even a Ferris wheel. The night smells of the river combine with vendors selling popcorn, ice cream, bean sprouts and pork being cooked on woks and various other goodies. I was full but I tried a fresh coconut, which you can scoop coconut flesh out of with a spoon for the equivalent of two dollars. The bar and restaurant we went to served grilled cuttlefish, whose mere aroma made me hungrier than I anticipated. My new friends took me back via a free boat ride that the city provides. Yeah, you heard right, as in no charge. The lights of the city skyscrapers floated by along with the lights of various smaller shrines and houseboats, lit up with electricity dancing along their sides and an occasional dragon head prow crisscrossed under various bridges before we docked. We ended our night with our Thai friend explaining to us stories about the Ghost Hotel that oversaw the riverfront, a place that was supposed to have collected the souls of many suicide victims over the years. Originally a huge hotel investment, a fire on the upper floors halted construction 20 years ago and it was never finished, but legend says a lot of people that go in never come out...sounds like a great Thai horror movie waiting to happen.
More exciting adventures to come!
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Bangkok Adventure! Exploring Sathorn
Before delving in, I must say, the Thai people are so friendly. Everything I've heard about this country is true and I'm already in love with it. It's busy, it's hectic, it's noisy, and it's wonderful! There's something to see EVERYWHERE. It's never a dull moment here! At one point a school let out and several hundred students filed past me, a hundred or so in boy scout uniforms, swarming the streets. And I realized there were candy and dessert vendors waiting for them right outside the school! Now that is some smart thinking in terms of location. Also I am really trying to say no to the desserts here but it isn't easy. More on that in a special food review entry.
Right near my hotel there is a Hindu temple. It is called:
Got that? Awesome. Its Thai name is "Wat Khaek".
It looks like this:
Photography isn't allowed past the entrance. But I did take my shoes off as the sign directed and walk around on the inside. There was incense burning and many people were buying bowls full of flowers and fruit for the gods, complete with small bottles of water. I walked down a narrow carpet and was greeted by some monks. They bowed, I bowed. It is a far more recent temple than most, built in 1879. Inside I felt moved not by the statues of the gods, mainly Shiva and Ganesh, but rather by the fervency of the prayers of the faithful seeking help from the divine.
Here are some more pictures of the outside.
After this, I visited the Bangkok Seashell Museum, which has thousands of seashells from all over the world on display by grouping. It is a fantastic little museum, but I accidentally paid for the couple from Barcelona behind me because the clerk thought we were all together. The friendly older woman embraced my hands and said "thank you, my new son!" and laughed a big belly laugh before the clerk refunded me for the cost of their tickets. I said in Spanish I thought the Spanish language was so beautiful. Because of their accent I thought at first they were Italian! "Por supuesto!" she replied animatedly.
I then went on to see all the seashells you could possibly see. I saw seashells in Sathorn.
I did some window shopping along the streets and there are so many massage experts, tailored clothes shops and tour guides! I'm definitely going to get a tour soon but I keep looking up all the places I want to go at night and not sleeping, or sleeping during the day. I am new to this whole thing. I won't say what I'm planning because I want it to be a surprise but there is no lack of places to go see! Bangkok has a myriad of temples galore and a number of gorgeous places just on the outskirts of the city.
I rounded off my evening with a visit to Wat Suan Phlu, which is a Chinese Thai Buddhist temple not too far from my hotel. On the way I made my way through the crazy traffic and prefer to follow Thai people when they cross because they seem to know the best times to not get killed. I love how whenever I have the thought come to me that I need a cool drink there always seems to be a vender with ice-chilled fruit juice within eyesight.
I found the winding road up to the temple, and it includes a koi pond underneath one of the temple structures! I saw a few devotees of Buddha praying fervently and kept my distance out of privacy. I found myself bowing to statues of Buddha out of respect before taking his photo...the scent of spice laden incense filled the air as I watched the dozens of koi glimmer across each other as evening dimmed....
Right near my hotel there is a Hindu temple. It is called:
It looks like this:
Photography isn't allowed past the entrance. But I did take my shoes off as the sign directed and walk around on the inside. There was incense burning and many people were buying bowls full of flowers and fruit for the gods, complete with small bottles of water. I walked down a narrow carpet and was greeted by some monks. They bowed, I bowed. It is a far more recent temple than most, built in 1879. Inside I felt moved not by the statues of the gods, mainly Shiva and Ganesh, but rather by the fervency of the prayers of the faithful seeking help from the divine.
Here are some more pictures of the outside.
After this, I visited the Bangkok Seashell Museum, which has thousands of seashells from all over the world on display by grouping. It is a fantastic little museum, but I accidentally paid for the couple from Barcelona behind me because the clerk thought we were all together. The friendly older woman embraced my hands and said "thank you, my new son!" and laughed a big belly laugh before the clerk refunded me for the cost of their tickets. I said in Spanish I thought the Spanish language was so beautiful. Because of their accent I thought at first they were Italian! "Por supuesto!" she replied animatedly.
I then went on to see all the seashells you could possibly see. I saw seashells in Sathorn.
I did some window shopping along the streets and there are so many massage experts, tailored clothes shops and tour guides! I'm definitely going to get a tour soon but I keep looking up all the places I want to go at night and not sleeping, or sleeping during the day. I am new to this whole thing. I won't say what I'm planning because I want it to be a surprise but there is no lack of places to go see! Bangkok has a myriad of temples galore and a number of gorgeous places just on the outskirts of the city.
I rounded off my evening with a visit to Wat Suan Phlu, which is a Chinese Thai Buddhist temple not too far from my hotel. On the way I made my way through the crazy traffic and prefer to follow Thai people when they cross because they seem to know the best times to not get killed. I love how whenever I have the thought come to me that I need a cool drink there always seems to be a vender with ice-chilled fruit juice within eyesight.
I found the winding road up to the temple, and it includes a koi pond underneath one of the temple structures! I saw a few devotees of Buddha praying fervently and kept my distance out of privacy. I found myself bowing to statues of Buddha out of respect before taking his photo...the scent of spice laden incense filled the air as I watched the dozens of koi glimmer across each other as evening dimmed....
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
First Day in Bangkok
I'll take photos later. I'm a bit exhausted at the moment.
So I left Riyadh and the hotel there. They had good wifi but not a lot of food nearby. Only chicken burgers and a convenience store, so I was eating a lot of chicken burgers and peanut butter sandwiches, ramen, and canned hummus.
First flight was short, from Riyadh to Bahrain, and there my second flight was delayed, so I made small talk with a newly graduated couple from New Hampshire who were honeymooning in Thailand. I made them laugh as I described my life and just now realized how I miss making customers laugh at the video store. Then we were told to go to another gate and I found myself walking with a crowd of people trying to find the new gate and I just started talking randomly with this girl named Rachel and we hit it off. She is a biologist studying turtles, and she needs a paper to write to qualify for her PHD, and she will be studying a not very highly studied turtle species, which I find fascinating. Anyway, we spent several hours talking because otherwise it would have been totally boring. We laughed quite a lot. I remember the thrill of what it's like to make people I just met laugh. The flight to Bangkok I just couldn't sleep because I was so excited.
So I arrive and I got confused because I couldn't find a taxi that would take me anywhere, but apparently you have to take a number from a machine that queues you automatically. Cool! I'm already learning so much here. So I get a cab driver who is delighted I can speak even five words of Thai. The way to the hotel took me past a vast city filled with skyscrapers that looked not so different from other cities and I'm wondering if the part of Bangkok I'm staying in will be boring. Oh no. We pull off the highway and the urban landscape becomes increasingly interesting. I will go out photo hunting later. There was a giant billboard right outside the airport visible from the highway that said "BUDDHA IS BUDDHISTS FATHER. RESPECT IS COMMON SENSE." There are so many amazing buildings! Including a Seashell Museum. What? Oh I'm seeing that shit. You can bet on that. And the cabs here are every color of the rainbow. The cabs here are like a swarm of metallic butterflies zipping around the downtown area.
We get to the hotel, and the fare was 450 baht and I gave him 500, which is about $14 but it feels like I'm a big spender. WHY YES HERE IS 500, KEEP 50 FOR YOURSELF MY GOOD SIR. Ahem. So I get told I have to wait an hour or so for my room to be ready so I stow my suitcase and just walk around with my backpack on (since it has anything valuable inside it and I don't want to let it out of my sight) and I'm just walking around in jeans in 95 degree humid weather like a boss and/or nitwit. I found a stand selling chicken and another stand where I just pointed to some pork fried rice someone else got and all without saying a word in Thai.
So I trudge back and have just been like this at literally everything.
I get back and sit down outside the hotel and a man comes up not too much later and tells me my room is ready. He is Thai and I ask him for his name and he says Ben. I go upstairs and promptly collapse for a few hours. When I wake up its POURING rain and I realize oh yeah I don't have an umbrella with me, because I moved to Saudi and didn't think I'd need one. So I went downstairs to ask where I could buy one. The hotel clerk, a very nice young man, told me I could borrow his and I could buy one nearby at a 7-11. I thank him and he asks if he could borrow a minute of my time because he is very worried about Donald Trump becoming president. The look in his eyes was bewilderment and he told me Donald Trump doesn't like Muslims or Mexicans and he doesn't understand why, because they're just people. He says he is afraid Donald Trump will start a huge war. I tell him not to worry because Hillary Clinton will definitely win and I tell him some reasons why. His face lights up as I comfort him and tell him Trump won't win. I score brownie points around the world for this because people are seriously shitting themselves at the possibility of this happening, because they think he's so filled with hate. I'm just doing my part to make America great again.
I walk up and down random streets bustling with people on mopeds and stalls. It takes me back to Korea, only the smells are different, often a heavier scent of fruit and cooking noodles, and it has a poorer feeling in the side alleyways. I finally find a shop that is run by an older middle aged couple just selling whatever they can, and I decide to buy an umbrella from them and not 7-11 because they're nice. I get back to the hotel and I unfurl the umbrella to see the 7-11 logo on it. Hilarious.
I come back here, thank the hotel clerk for lending me his umbrella, go out and buy some pre-packaged dinner at 7-11 because I'm too tired to explore more (I'll do it tomorrow).
More to come!
So I left Riyadh and the hotel there. They had good wifi but not a lot of food nearby. Only chicken burgers and a convenience store, so I was eating a lot of chicken burgers and peanut butter sandwiches, ramen, and canned hummus.
First flight was short, from Riyadh to Bahrain, and there my second flight was delayed, so I made small talk with a newly graduated couple from New Hampshire who were honeymooning in Thailand. I made them laugh as I described my life and just now realized how I miss making customers laugh at the video store. Then we were told to go to another gate and I found myself walking with a crowd of people trying to find the new gate and I just started talking randomly with this girl named Rachel and we hit it off. She is a biologist studying turtles, and she needs a paper to write to qualify for her PHD, and she will be studying a not very highly studied turtle species, which I find fascinating. Anyway, we spent several hours talking because otherwise it would have been totally boring. We laughed quite a lot. I remember the thrill of what it's like to make people I just met laugh. The flight to Bangkok I just couldn't sleep because I was so excited.
So I arrive and I got confused because I couldn't find a taxi that would take me anywhere, but apparently you have to take a number from a machine that queues you automatically. Cool! I'm already learning so much here. So I get a cab driver who is delighted I can speak even five words of Thai. The way to the hotel took me past a vast city filled with skyscrapers that looked not so different from other cities and I'm wondering if the part of Bangkok I'm staying in will be boring. Oh no. We pull off the highway and the urban landscape becomes increasingly interesting. I will go out photo hunting later. There was a giant billboard right outside the airport visible from the highway that said "BUDDHA IS BUDDHISTS FATHER. RESPECT IS COMMON SENSE." There are so many amazing buildings! Including a Seashell Museum. What? Oh I'm seeing that shit. You can bet on that. And the cabs here are every color of the rainbow. The cabs here are like a swarm of metallic butterflies zipping around the downtown area.
We get to the hotel, and the fare was 450 baht and I gave him 500, which is about $14 but it feels like I'm a big spender. WHY YES HERE IS 500, KEEP 50 FOR YOURSELF MY GOOD SIR. Ahem. So I get told I have to wait an hour or so for my room to be ready so I stow my suitcase and just walk around with my backpack on (since it has anything valuable inside it and I don't want to let it out of my sight) and I'm just walking around in jeans in 95 degree humid weather like a boss and/or nitwit. I found a stand selling chicken and another stand where I just pointed to some pork fried rice someone else got and all without saying a word in Thai.
So I trudge back and have just been like this at literally everything.
I get back and sit down outside the hotel and a man comes up not too much later and tells me my room is ready. He is Thai and I ask him for his name and he says Ben. I go upstairs and promptly collapse for a few hours. When I wake up its POURING rain and I realize oh yeah I don't have an umbrella with me, because I moved to Saudi and didn't think I'd need one. So I went downstairs to ask where I could buy one. The hotel clerk, a very nice young man, told me I could borrow his and I could buy one nearby at a 7-11. I thank him and he asks if he could borrow a minute of my time because he is very worried about Donald Trump becoming president. The look in his eyes was bewilderment and he told me Donald Trump doesn't like Muslims or Mexicans and he doesn't understand why, because they're just people. He says he is afraid Donald Trump will start a huge war. I tell him not to worry because Hillary Clinton will definitely win and I tell him some reasons why. His face lights up as I comfort him and tell him Trump won't win. I score brownie points around the world for this because people are seriously shitting themselves at the possibility of this happening, because they think he's so filled with hate. I'm just doing my part to make America great again.
I walk up and down random streets bustling with people on mopeds and stalls. It takes me back to Korea, only the smells are different, often a heavier scent of fruit and cooking noodles, and it has a poorer feeling in the side alleyways. I finally find a shop that is run by an older middle aged couple just selling whatever they can, and I decide to buy an umbrella from them and not 7-11 because they're nice. I get back to the hotel and I unfurl the umbrella to see the 7-11 logo on it. Hilarious.
I come back here, thank the hotel clerk for lending me his umbrella, go out and buy some pre-packaged dinner at 7-11 because I'm too tired to explore more (I'll do it tomorrow).
More to come!
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