BANGKOK, THAILAND - Feb. 2, 2010
I had been flying 17 out of the last 23 hours that I had been up. So I splurged and took the easy $58 hotel near the airport. One king-size bed with A/C and my own bathroom and TV. But even that bathroom still had the shower-merged-with-bathroom so characteristic of low-budget Thai guesthouses. This makes it so every time you go into the bathroom the floor is wet because the shower floor and the bathroom floor are one in the same.
This morning it was 8:30am and overcast and already the margarine with my continental breakfast was starting to melt. I decided to head out to Khao San Road - a hectic, bizarre backpacker (read "low-budget") tourist section of Bangkok. The street might as well be officially closed off to traffic. A few taxis and tuk-tuks painstakingly make their way through throngs of bohemian tourists shopping for cheap clothes, jewelry, bootleg CDs and other fare. It is very much a carnival-like atmosphere. The temporary 'residents' there seem to on one hand, resent other people like themselves and on the other are comforted by the familiar- westerners. At least I don't think I'm the only one here that has that contradictory sentiment. Not a place one wants to hang out for too long. Fortunately I fly out to Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) tomorrow- early in the morning.
I had been flying 17 out of the last 23 hours that I had been up. So I splurged and took the easy $58 hotel near the airport. One king-size bed with A/C and my own bathroom and TV. But even that bathroom still had the shower-merged-with-bathroom so characteristic of low-budget Thai guesthouses. This makes it so every time you go into the bathroom the floor is wet because the shower floor and the bathroom floor are one in the same.
This morning it was 8:30am and overcast and already the margarine with my continental breakfast was starting to melt. I decided to head out to Khao San Road - a hectic, bizarre backpacker (read "low-budget") tourist section of Bangkok. The street might as well be officially closed off to traffic. A few taxis and tuk-tuks painstakingly make their way through throngs of bohemian tourists shopping for cheap clothes, jewelry, bootleg CDs and other fare. It is very much a carnival-like atmosphere. The temporary 'residents' there seem to on one hand, resent other people like themselves and on the other are comforted by the familiar- westerners. At least I don't think I'm the only one here that has that contradictory sentiment. Not a place one wants to hang out for too long. Fortunately I fly out to Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) tomorrow- early in the morning.
Hey Gary! So glad to hear you got there ok! Enjoy the heat...Dale tells me he's been getting used to it. He just got an apartment in Bangkok, and is going to Thammasat University.
ReplyDeleteHope you stay safe. I love the picture! Looking forward to reading more!
Hi Angie,
ReplyDeleteThe photo is actaully a link to an image online. I didn't take it. I don't want the waste any bytes on that kind of stuff.
Fun to vicariously - and voyeuristically - follow along. Buon Viaggio!
ReplyDeleteOh! Too bad I didn't know you were coming! My apartment is about a 5 minute (with no traffic) taxi ride from Khao San Road!
ReplyDeleteBe sure to let me know the next time you are in my neighborhood!!