Bangkok, Thailand

Wow.....

Okay, this has been the craziest most intense day of my trip. Not so much because of anything that happened, but just because Bangkok is an intense, crazy place.

I got in last night and made my way through customs and all that, took about an hour and a half, no worries. Got out into the airport proper and laid my hands on some cash from the ATM and did some halfhearted haggling over the taxi fare before going to my hotel. It's the Viengtai Hotel, a pretty snazzy place for $60 a night. I could have gotten a place for much cheaper, but I had heard that Bangkok is a little crazy, so you might just want to stay some place a bit more opulent your first time. I got to the hotel and checked in, had a shower and a beer from the minibar and went to bed. Nothing too exciting.

This morning I got up and checked out and started walking around.

Bangkok is a hellion. Every moves so fast and everything is packed together, no one waits for anything. And the Thai can chat like no one else. Sometimes I'm bad for not talking to the actual residents of where I am visiting, but in the four hours (I can't believe it was only four hours... it really seemed like four days) I spent making my way around town I stopped and had serious conversations with about half a dozen people.

The first was a man who stopped me on the street, thinking my bag was open (it wasn't). He asked me where I was from and we started chatting. He recently bought a computer for his 4 year old son and works at the post office. He told me that today is a Buddhist holiday and that the new Prime Minister has waived the entrance fee on several temples and sites. He sat down with me and my map and made a little plan of what I should do today. He even waved down a tuk-tuk (more on them later) and told the driver where to take me and for how much. Driving around for four hours only cost me 20 baht (about 70 cents)!

So the driver took me to a temple and inside a man approached me and showed me around the temple, explaining the praying rituals of the Thais and the different Buddha statues. Then we segwayed into commerce and such, and we talked about getting custom suits and shirts in Bangkok.

So then my next stop was at a custom suit store. The salesman Mike really wanted me to buy two suits, three shirts and a couple ties for $400, but I eventually got it through to him that I don't have that kind of money, so instead I will have a couple custom tailored shirts to pick up in a few days for $70.

After that was another temple. It was just nice to walk around and sit for a while. Walking the streets in Bangkok, you get hassled a lot by taxi drivers (Not NEARLY as bad as Central American ones though. A simple "No, thank you" will usually be enough to get away, no yelling or pushing required.)

Then I went to the Golden Mount, a Buddhist temple built high on a hill, that offers good views of the city. Unfortunately, Bangkok is covered in smog, and getting up there just made me realize that I'm standing in filth. And that a lot of Bangkok is made up of ghettos right next to highrise luxury apartments.

After the Golden Mount I walked back to my hostel and ran into a teacher from a local high school. We chatted, he has family in Toronto. He thinks I look Thai. I actually got that a lot today. My skin right now is the exact colour of most Thai's skin, and the facial features aren't that far off either. It's hard explaining to Thais why I'm the colour I am. Most of the ones I met today walked away with the impression that my mother is from India. So anyway, he gave me directions back to my hotel, and now I'm sitting in a cafe, desperately wanting a shower and a nap, but I've checked out already so will have to power through for the next 7 hours till it's time to go meet May at the airport and head to Koh Phangan.

Oh, and the tuk-tuks! These are basically three wheeled contraptions. The driver sits in the front, and there is a bench big enough for two people in the back. It was a little worrying at first, for a few reasons:

1. Bangkok drivers take road lanes as suggestions only. The first time we veered into the other lane into oncoming traffic I nearly jumped out, but apparently that's just how it is done.
2. They're pretty flimsy vehicles. So if a tuktuk gets in a accident with a car, the car wins.
3. There are very few traffic lights. Right of way is determined by who ever gets to the intersection first.

But I didn't actually see any accidents, so I guess they now what they are doing.

That's all for now, next stop is an island in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Phangan!