STuck in Ko-RAIN + BaNGKoK

Pool View from Siam resort looking at the angry churned up ocean.


Sometimes even the most seasoned travelers need to backtrack, and today is a really slow day. Since my scooter mishap four days ago the weather here on Ko Chang has taken a turn for the worse and gotten progressively hotter, rainier, and more humid each day. Its about 1 o' clock in the afternoon now and it has been raining nonstop since 6:30 or so yesterday evening. Not just a drizzle mind you but full-on monsoonal frog choker with occasional spurts of mere heavy rain. Prior to my scooter injuries and the onset of the really fierce tropical humidity I was pretty content in my simple little bungalow but when you've got wounds that are oozing and you're chocked full of antibiotics and painkillers you grow tired of sweating and waking up covered in an icky film, plastered to your bedsheets. I made the excellent command decision yesterday to check myself into the nicer resort with hot water and air conditioning just down from the Nature bungalows and boy have I been happier. Its been nice to let my things dry out a bit (my new Nikes were beginning to sprout like moldy bread) and I think my scooter injuries are enjoying the dryer environment and the nice cool air conditioning as well. My friends who saw my arm today were impressed with how well my arm was healing. I slept like a drunk baby last night. It was lovely with the nice comfy room and the sound of the rain, lightening, and the waves outside. The comfortable room at Siam and the foul weather have also given me a chance to read and plan a bit more of my trip. I have just a few pages left in my book I began before I left. (Thanks Mom) A few more days on the mend here in Ko Chang and I shall depart once my stitches are removed and the ladies at the clinic give me the thumbs up.

WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO OF ARM WITH STITCHES BELOW.














On the Mend. Looking much better.

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NOW, JUMPING BACKWARDS a little bit a few thoughts and pictures from Bangkok. I hope my readers will please forgive this chronological aberration but better late than never right?


Typical Bangkok sidewalk eatery which only appears after dark.

My first stop in the "land of smiles" and I was not to be disappointed. Bangkok does not disappoint. It ham handedly plays to all of your preconceived notions but it has a few suprises in store as well. Yes it is wild, cheap, hot, humid, tropical, sex is for sale and prostitution is on display everywhere, there are a bajillion Buddhist temples, and yes the food is delicious.

Arriving fresh from Bombay I was surprised to find the touts, cab drivers and con-men really weren't that aggressive or dangerous and even would offer help and advice without an ulterior motive. (That really threw me after my run-in with a couple of illegitimate cabbies at the Mumbai airport.) Parts of Bangkok could easily pass for Tokyo or Singapore and bear no likeness to the post-war Bangkok of American cinema and TV shows.

I don't have a good photo to offer but the food court in the Paragon Mall was the most incredible food court I've ever seen. It was absolutely massive. You could wonder around losing yourself inside of it oohing and ahhing at all of the really slickly presented very delicious looking things to eat. Thai, Asian, European, African, Anartican; You name it they had it, and they had it for cheap!

I met a young Scottish Physicist named Mel in the hotel/hostel where I was staying who was a really wonderful human being and basically Mr. Thailand. Mel spoke a good bit of Thai, taught Thai cooking classes, was a fully licensed Thai masseuse and was also the defacto mayor of Khe Sanh Road. Mel was kind enough to show me the ropes in Bangkok and offer some real pearls of Thailand travel advice. He even shepherded me through the seedy streets of Patpong and I didn't lose a dime. Anyway thanks Mel for the free Thailand 101 course. Best of luck with your new teaching gig.

Aside from the quick tour of Bangkok I got from Mel I really didn't do too much in Bangkok outside of the back-packer area around Khe Sahn. I spent a large part of my time there glued to my netbook starting this blog and attempting to tie up some loose ends I left dangling behind at home. I will pass through Bangkok several more times before my SE Asia adventure concludes so I plan to delve a little deeper and see more of the Bangkok sights later.



The mildly gentrified back-packer ghetto of Khe Sanh Road



Khe Sanh Road: You want it - They got it



Does anyone want to be a pilot for Luft Hansa? I was told the Bangkok cops own these fake document operations and the only thing that is off limits apparently is a passport.


One of the many temples around my hotel.



Real Deal Pad-Thai before I rip into it.


After


The twin pillars of the Thai beverage universe: Singa and Chang



Gas station by day, night club/cafe at night. Very Bangkok. Notice the speakers atop the pylons.



Two girls waiting on the train in Bangkok's ultra modern mega-shopping district. They are unfazed by the smoke and light show being tested on the stage in the distant background.



Thais really do love to have their pictures taken. This food vendor spied me aiming my camera at her atop a bridge and shot me her best smile. Unfortunately my camera settings were a bit off and I had to settle for this one. If anyone knows how to turn off underline in blogger please leave a comment.



I just like this one. Reminds me of Wong Kar-Wai