Thailand Part 1

Pictures will have to come later but for now so that I can keep track of everything that's been happening and so that everyone has a chance to hear what I'm up to, you can read these blog updates.
First of all, I swore before I got to the airport that for such a long flight I either needed to be upgraded or have a row to myself. As it turns out, at first I had neither... but then since it wasn't the fullest flight I asked the flight attendant, and low and behold the entire middle back row of 4 seats was empty and so I parked myself across all four using 4 pillows, 2 blankets and my ipod and promptly slept. I don't think I've ever slept that much on a flight. It must have been 6 hours uninterrupted and another 1-2 hours waking up here and there. I missed the movie and dinner. It helped make the 11 hour flight rather short to say the least.


So, Bangkok. Hot, well no, muggy is probably better. People are friendly but mostly because they see you as a walking dollar sign. It's a shame. It's hard not to notice the many gigantic billboards on the way to and from the airport. I mean HUGE. And yet the city is this weird mix of dilapidation and sleek new high rises. Oakwood Residence turned out to be as nice as Keith and Charlene promised, and they even upgraded me to a one bedroom because I really needed the extra space, it being me, myself and I. So after exploring my new pad (for all of 3 nights), booking a Thai massage at Healthland for 7:30pm, and calling an old classmate from Bennington (Sara Syed) to arranging a meet up, I realized that i was in fact starving and headed to the restaurant downstairs to eat. I realized after actually getting out and about that it was greatly overpriced but with so much traveling etc I couldn't have cared less. Things were off to a decent start. The only thing decidedly missing was James. To get my mind off of things, I went for my first AUTHENTIC Thai massage. Good gracious! Nice price for sure (450 Baht translates to about $15) but I thought the slight lady working on me was actually trying to root my muscles off the bone. Hmm. And this mind you, is after saying she could go softer. That lasted all of 20 secs. In retrospect, though a little sore I was highly entertained, and more so when she actually asked for a tip and then when I gave her one, she tried to tell me what the Correct amount was. Cheeky lady. I said she could keep what I gave her or have none at all. I think if I go back she may actually kill me, so I will probably not.
Jet lag hasn't really hit me though to confess, I haven't slept well yet. Last night was the closest to a full night of uninterrupted sleep. I guess my mind was overactive with all the new stimulation.

On Friday, of all places to head to with Sara, we went to a crepe place called (this is very original) Crepes and Co. But, and I will say this with much experience behind me, it was delicious. We sat outside and got bitten by mosquitoes and caught up for about 3 hours. And from there we found our way to the night bazaar where we scrolled the stalls for interesting stuff. There's a ton of cheap and nasty stuff and some more well made things spotted in between. Afterwards she left and I took a walk down Silom Rd peering at this and that and stopping for some dinner. I had the displeasure of coming across Potang market (is that the name of it?) which is well known for it's numerous go-go bars. The doors are all open and all you see are very unhappy looking girls standing waiting at their polls. I don't know how anyone actually goes in there... UGH.
Later that night I met back up with Sara and her husband Khurum and 2 of his friends at a bar called Admakers. It's actually a kind of fun place mostly because of the live band playing covers of all the good stuff from 60's through the 90's. We laughed so hard watching the back up singer sing sounds that remotely sounded like English but definitely weren't..."bverouervvouu stayin' alive, stayin' alive, ah ah ah ah'm stayin' alive!" Too funny.



Saturday I explored a little of Sukumvit Rd - pricey area with many malls. My main spot was the Emporium Mall whose food court came highly recommended. I managed a day of food, browsing and even a movie for under $20. Pretty cool.

On Sunday I flew here to Chiang Mai. I had this strange sense of relief to be out of Bangkok truthfully. And landing in Chiang Mai seeing the mountains and green I was a little more at ease. Of course just till I arrived and found no one there to pick me up. No, actually it was fine. I just called the guy who was supposed to be there and he came in 15 mins. And so I arrived at Santitham Guest House. It's quite a sweet small place with lots of more personal details though privacy isn't one of them. Shared bathrooms. Oh well. I was told there may not be others there but apparently we are full! That means all 5 rooms, mind you. It's OK though because the people here right now are pretty cool and actually it was a nice opportunity to head out for a bit of sightseeing with them later in the afternoon. There's a Sunday market that we made our way through despite little dribbles of rain. And I have to confess that I have seen more temples and pagodas just wondering around Chiang Mai for 2 days than I did in my time in Bangkok. They're everywhere here!
So the rest I will leave for my next post since I'll be amazed if anyone even got this far. Stay tuned!