One or Two Nights in BKK

Sunday, July 09, 2006
Third Night in Bangkok

Jetlag awoke us as the sun rose this morning, and Khao San area was nicely untouristed. though we're staying off KSR properm we're still in the backpacker ghetto. Streets crammed with stalls selling fried bugs and scorpoions, the same bootleg t-shirts, bootleg adidas sneakers, bootleg dvds and even bootleg bestseller books everywhere, crawling with red faced brits and europeans with fake braids in their hair. But this morning, we were awake well before their hungover selves clambered out of bed.

We headed to the docks and hired a longboat to tour the canals, which was a kind of touristy, but ultimately very cool. Incredivble number of houses and wats backing the canals, with people sitting on their teak docks and porches drying their clothes and fishing. The houses looked like you could kick their pilings over and they'd tumble right into the canal, but the people didnt seem to even notice.
From there we visited the Jim Thompson house- an American Antique Collecter / CIA agent / general expat weirdo who had an amazing home on a canal that was assembled from six traditional teakwood houses from all over thailand, and filled with antiquities from all over southeast asia and China. It was somewhat Frank Lloyd Wrightish feeling, or a bit like the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston.
Onward we took the bizarrely futuristic blade-runner-esque Skyway to Chatuchak Market, sprawling stalls of food and all the bootleg anything your heart could desire. They did have some good silk things and trinkets, so perhaps a stop again on the way out of town in August. And now, off to Siem Reap Cambodia......

Saturday, July 08, 2006
Two Nights in Bangkok

Enter tin can in New York, walking past HSBC advertisements. Exit tin can after 16 sleepless hours in Tokyo, walking past exact same HSBC ads. Its strange that the worldc is so small that the advertising is the same, or perhaps the jetsetters between New York and Tokyo are just the ultimate demographic. By the way, for the record, Japan Airlines kinda blows. And Narita airport is more like the 1970s than the future- frankly, I was a bit disappointed with the small amount of Japanese culture we did encounter.

But Thailand- when we finally arrived after a minor taxi fuckup, is pretty cool. I can very easily see how people would love it, much the same way people love Costa Rica. Its easy, beer costs nothing, people speak English, there are plenty of other Europeans and Americans to party with, and it is a truly beautiful country, in spite of how crowded it is with tourists. The hassle factor is also waaayyyyyy less than Morocco, though everyone is constantly telling you the monuments are closed so that you'll get in their Tuk-tuk and get their tour. But the city is cool- not much different from the typical diesel choked, low lying cement blocks that you see in any third world capital, tangles of electrical wires, the streets crawling with toyota corollas, overstuffed busses belching out black smoke and more motorbikes than seem possible. Not too many American fast food joints, though there does seem to be a 7/11 on every single corner strangely eenough. The traffic is insane- an hour back from the meeting last night, and you can watch the light change and see how much time you are losing because they count down the time on the stoplights. Enough time to turn off your engine, run into the store and still make it out well before green.

So: what have we done....

New Siam Guesthouse is off of Khao San, which makes it moderately more mellow, and is perfectly adequate place to stay- I think a bed of nails would have felt amazing though after twenty something sleepless hours in airplanes. Woke up yesterday, breakfasted across the street of fruit and yogurt, and explored the neighborhood. Took a tuk tuk tour of a few minor temples, and stopped by a tailor to get a suit made for my sister's wedding, which was quite a bargain in gray cashmere, though I spent much of the day stressing about it. Went to Thom Yun Kung for lunch (recommended by rough guide) for incredible roasted duck salad- ingredients, roasted duck, cilantro, mint, scallions, shallots and fried shallots, in a fish/lime sauce. Delicious, and a green curry to go with it.

The afternoon was good- took a water taxi from near our house to Wat Pho, after waiting out th sidden downpour. The taxis pick you up at the dock, and thenzip from stop to stop on the river not unlike a typical cab driver elsewhere, smashing their tails into the dock as everyone from thai children to euro backpackers to elderly monks try to leap onto the boat before it zips off again. Walked from the stop to Wat Pho, an incredible temple / monastery complex with enomous tiled stupas, and the well-known giant reclining buddha statue. It was a very peaceful spot in the center of a very busy city, and really felt removed from the chaos and filth of the third world city. We wandered around, with very few other tourists as it was almost closing, and missed our massage opportunity.

From there we took a tuktuk to downtown to find a meeting, and encountered some memorable traffic, though got to see some amazing streets in what must have been the buddha statue factory district, zipping past rows of shrink wrapped eight-foot golden buddhas, ready to send to... wherever giant golden buddhas statues are sent.

Woke up today, breakfasted at Ricky's Cafe, a surprisingly decent little coffee shop not around the corner, on herb omlets, which were quite tasty, along with some excellent coffee. Water taxi'd over to Wat Pho, where we ignored the men telling us it was closed, and got our massages. Wow, I don't know if I would say I exactly felt relaxed by the massage, so much as beat up. I may well have bruises from the stretching and beating I received ast the handfs of a petite middle aged thai woman who manipulated me into knots with her hands AND FEET to apparently relieve muscular tension and correct the flow of energy in my body. All in all, it was a cool experience, and well worth the few bhat spent. We skipped the pricey palace tour, and lunched at a nearby market on vegetables and incredibly gingery rice. From there we returned to get re-fitted for my suit, and climbed up the Golden Mount, some sort of temple -stupa- phrang thing, that really had an incredible view. Bangkok is incredibly extensive, reaching miles into the distance with half completed skyscrapers, and miles of low cement slum-like buildings, interspersed with the bright orange of the temple and monastery complexes everywhere throughout the city. Had dinner at Hemlock, (yes, a bit of an odd name choice for a restaurant) which was a nice setting, though we ordered poorly a curry and shrimp paste thing.