SE Asia Trip - Bangkok

After college graduation and a straight week of partying with friends and family, I set out on my adventure. The flight was nothing particular, long, sure, but not bad. I arrived into Bangkok around 1am, looked at the Amani Hotel, which was about $200. A man says to me, Do you have reservations? I say, No. He says, I have hotel for you, 30 dollars.

I'm certainly a little reluctant, but agree. So I pile into his tiny car with one hand on my bag and the other on the door handle, but what I would have done in the circumstance that something happened, I don't know. What made me feel better is the fact that he had only one hand. But I spend the night and all is fine.

Next day I'm waiting for the train to town, and as other trains pass by, I notice the rails bounce up and down like a slinky as they pass, and the railroad ties move with them in a strange sort of snake wave. But I board the train, sit for an hour, then finally arrive. There are, of course, an excessive number of tuk-tuk drivers waiting for you and just hanging around, possibly because they have nothing better to do with their time. One comes over, and I get the tuk-tuk, as I later discovered, at an enormous price of 120 bhat, or 3 dollars. My guesthouse, the Shanti Lodge, is fantastic for me. Shared bath, private room with fan, $5.

I pretty much sleep that whole day, but the next one I started going about town. There were signs about the guesthouse warning of well-dressed men speaking fluent english that offer to take you on a tour, because they will take you to jewelry shops and such instead of the sights. So I start walking through town, find Khaosan Road, where all the backpackers under the age of 30 are, keep on moving through.

The strange thing that I recall was the prevalence of Buddhism in their daily lives. Men in suits walked hand in hand with monks in orange robes. The temples were not empty, but full of practicing monks, both young and old. This was nothing that was dying out, in my mind, but rather something that managed to stay current with the culture while persevering as the cornerstone of tradition. Viewing this in contrast to the religious air of the US where religion is viewed as an anacronism by many and a stalwart against change by many others, astonishment came flowing like water from a hose.

The most fortuitous event of my trip was meeting Guy and Lorraine in my guesthouse. British guy, mid 40s, Australian lady, early 60s who had been together for 20+ years. She was ballet, he was construction then moved on to start a sailboat touring company in the Sydney Harbor. He made a killing in the 2000 Olympics there through some luck, foresight, and hard work. Seems to be the way those things work. They basically took my hand and helped me out. We talked for 3 days straight. I soon realized the folly of being outside from 1pm to 3pm, as the heat was too much to take. It simply wore you to the bone so quickly you couldn't move later that day and would be taking naps all day long.

The last night I was there, I randomly found myself a date for the night. I was hanging about the guesthouse, when a loud music started coming from down the street where the wat was. So this girl in a masseuse outfit comes from around the back and says, Hey, come around here! So I do, and we walk into the massage parlour. I asked her what all the music was about, she said the monks would come and ask/demand for money. I said, cool, you just saved me a few cents.

So I lay down on a mat, she's on the next one, then theres another actually giving a massage on the next one. So were all being very quiet. When the customer leaves, we all start hanging out. I find out that the one who spoke to me was Pea, and the other was Em. Were talking about sweet nothings, throwing towels and pillows at each other, just doing passing time. Em speaks no English, so through Pea she asks me if I like to dance. I get up and give a little demonstration of my dance moves. She was obviously impressed, because then she asked if I wanted to go dancing that night. I said sure, of course, but was a little worried, since I didn't exactly know the protocol, and Pea would have to come to act as a translater, which she didn't seem too happy about.

I ended up talking with David, an American expat with a Jasmine farm up by Chiang Mai, currently working as a consultant for the UN. He's married to a Thai, so I figured he'd know what was what. He did. They know whats up, apparently. They weren't looking for marriage, just a night out on the town. I said I'd help them paint the town red.

We went to Gulliver's, a terribly farang bar on Khaosan Road, which is where all the backpackers are. We have a couple drinks, then it become fairly obvious that none of them are actually big dancers. So I kind of force them onto the dance floor, finally get them moving, they're acting like country girls in the city. But whatever, it was fun.

So then we decide to head out, its around midnight now. I say hey, do we walk or take a cab, they say walk, I say okay. So we start walking back, Pea stops and says to me, hey, now you and Em go to hotel for night. I do a little double take, politely say no, say that I'm leaving the next day at 7am, I'm fine, all that. She takes quite a bit of convincing. In hindsight, I know Em wasn't asking for money, just some fun, but it sure wasn't as clear that night.

So we continue walking, and as we pass under the King Ramanandana II Bridge, Pea stops again and mentions that we should just spend a couple of hours there under the bridge. By this time Im wondering how far this whole thing is going to go. Luckily, that was about the end of it. Em headed home on a tuk-tuk, Pea and I continued to walk back toward the guesthouse without incident. I never saw either of them again.