Bangkok

I decided to leave the last post as is, for the simple fact that new posts generate more traffic to the blog. Plus, new content doesn't run the risk of being overlooked as editions to old content do. So let's dive right in to my Bangkok experience.

I arrived at the Bangkok airport from Luang Prabang two days ago around 9:30 a.m. I made my way to Khaosan Road using as much public transit as possible to minimize the cost. I chose this part of town, as hectic as it is, because I know it's pretty cheap and I'm somewhat familiar with it. I walked around the back streets until I found a guesthouse that satisfied my wants. Still feeling very weak, I rested there until 1:30 or so, at which point I decided to make my way to the hospital where I had made my appointment. I wasn't scheduled until 4 but I didn't know how long it would take to get there and check in and all that jazz.

I didn't leave the hospital until almost 6. It was a pleasant experience, all things considered. It was nicer and more modern than any hospital I've been to; on par with the newest parts of the U of U hospital. It's supposed to be the best one in Thailand. Even the taxi driver commented on it. " Numba one. Numba one in Thailand." The bill for the checkup, two visits with the doctor, and blood tests was right around $120. Not cheap, but not terrible either.

I made it back to the guesthouse and cleaned myself up to go out for dinner. I was too tired to wander so I settled for a place across the street. I ordered some curry that usually isn't spicy so I said, "spicy." The asshole server looked at me, raised his eyebrows and repeated, "spicy?" I nodded. He nudged a fellow server that was walking by and repeated, "spicy" to him. They both looked at me this time, eyebrows raised, with shit-eating grins. I was in no mood to explain to them that I wanted to make it through this meal with all taste buds in tact. I opted to say nothing and deal with it. It was exactly what I expected. If it weren't for my head being a little stuffy, it would have been unbearable. By the end, I couldn't feel my lips or any part of my mouth. When he asked me how it was, I just smiled and nodded, and gave him the is-that-all-you-got look. I paid and went back to my room to pass out.

I woke up around midnight to the sound of music blaring outside my building. I tried to ignore it for a while. Impossible. I also knew that I had gone to bed way too early to have any chance of sleeping through the night. I was feeling noticeably better though, so I thought, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." I got dressed and walked around for a for a bit. Everything about Khaosan Road is entertaining to me. There is just so much going on, it's bananas. I walked around like I was at a zoo, pausing to look at the animals and take note of the quirky things they were doing. In one area, a bunch of them were dancing around to loud music, taking turns spinning on their heads and doing flips and other stunts. Instead of peanuts, people gave them money.

From there, I got distracted by an all out brawl that erupted on the street not fifty meters away. It started off with just fists and belts swinging but turned into bottles and objects flying everywhere. It was a pretty good show. When it ended, since obviously nothing was going to top that, I called it a night.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. Although, in my search for a chiropractor, I did discover a side of Bangkok that I never knew existed. It was the high-end, ritzy part of town with all the super fancy resort hotels and shopping malls and modern buildings. I had always thought that Bangkok was a big dump because that's all I had ever seen. But this place, although it retained many of the dirty, trashy, polluted characteristics of the rest of the city, was extremely wealthy. It didn't really seem right to me, how it blended in so well with the rest of the city. On the cab ride there, I only barely noticed the gradual appearance of more and more expensive cars in the mix of taxis, tuk tuks and motorbikes. It was pretty trippy. The traffic was terrible everywhere. I was grateful to not be at the wheel; however, I was also frustrated at the time it took to get there. Especially when I found out the chiropractor was closing up as I arrived. He turned out to be extremely overpriced anyway.

I explored that part of town for a while, in absolute awe of its difference from the Khaosan Road neighborhood that I had come to accept as Bangkok. When I was ready to head back, I decided to have some fun and make an adventure of the ride home. I was determined to not get stuck in traffic, which was even worse now than when I had arrived. I had noticed some guys on scooters earlier with orange vests taxiing people around, so when I saw a couple just waiting on the corner, I asked if they could take me to Khaosan Road. They said yes. We negotiated a bit and off we went. It was hilarious. We swerved in and out, between cars, over the river, and through the woods. Wait, no woods. Virtually unaffected by traffic, I was back to the guesthouse in no time! That was the highlight of my day.

Today, I did nothing of the sort. I mostly just contemplated my next move. I considered going to straight to India, but after reading up a bit on the country and travel conditions, I opted against it. I'm looking for a more something a little more low key. My tentative plan as of now is to spend 10 days or so going through Cambodia into southern Vietnam then work my way up the coast to Hanoi, where I would have been right now had it not been for this precautionary detour. My Vietnamese visa expires on December 12, so I'm somewhat limited on time. From there, I'm thinking back to China, and then who knows.