Bangkok, Take Two

My first trip to Bangkok had been a luxurious whirlwind tour of the city. On our way to Nepal, Dad and I stayed at the world-famous Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where employees were designated at strictly door-openers or garland-distributors. We hurried through a few monuments, all guided by a hotel-supplied Mercedes and tour guide. Now, I had a different budget and with a different mission.

I took a public bus from Bangkok International Airport to Khao San Road. The streets looked familiar from before, but once on Khao San, neon lights and blasting music shocked the culture out of me. Life! Hundreds of other whities strolled the short street, taking in what this backpacker haven had to offer: massage parlors, hair braiders and dred-lockers, 20-cent Pad Thai, music shops, and curb-side bars. With every few steps, I heard different beats blasting from either night clubs or CD stalls. Street vendors sold slogan t-shirts and other Thai giftie items, from snakeskin wallets to bamboo chopsticks. Food vendors barbequed skewers of fresh soft-shell crab and calamari, while there were plenty of colorful papayas, guavas, and yellow watermelon in fruit carts. Better yet: everyone speaks English and there's internet and international phones on every corner.

For my first day, I laid out my map and tried to construct the best route to see the most monuments. But as soon as I started walking, two Thai girls stopped me and advised that I take advantage of Buddha Day, which meant a free tuktuk. Hmmm. I'm sure there's a scam somehow, I just don't know what it is quite yet. But, they assured me that it was free so I took the bait. It turns out that Buddha Day is everyday in Thailand. So long as you allow a tuktuk driver to take you into an export shop, the driver will get a free gas coupon and the passenger a free ride. So, I saw the Royal Palace, the Grand Palace, the Marble Palace, and Lucky Buddha all in one day. When the gas coupon was exhausted, I just went into another silk shop. Free gas for shopping, and I don't even have to buy anything! Unfortunately, when I tried celebrating Buddha Day the following day, the tuktuk drove me to the same silk dealer, and I wasn't allowed another coupon. She screamed to my driver in Thai: "This American is abusing Buddha Day! She was here already! No coupon for you!" Aw Shucks!

One evening, I just happened to walk by the Thai Independent Book Fair. In a small park along the river, hundreds of stalls were set up offering all sorts of handicrafts and Thai-written illegible books. A lame rock band was strumming their hearts out to noise, and an overly zealous aerobic instructor was leading participants in a twirling workout routine. I awkwardly sat down on a park bench, next to a young male traveler. He introduced himself as John, from New York, NY. New York! Me too! I lit up with enthusiasm. "Well, actually I'm from Virginia," he regretted. Oh. We get to talking, the usual conversation: What do you do at home? How long have you been here? Where else are you traveling? I said that I really wanted to go to the infamous Red Light district, a place I certainly could not have visited with my father. We lighted the town red! Apparently a veteran, he took me to Sukhimvit Road, but the live sex shows were out of my price range. Then, we tuktukked it to Phatpong for some (now I see where they get the name) ping pong tricks, but it didn't stop there. I saw some amazing talents: razor blades on a string, bananas, darts, straw-sipping from Coke cans, and ring tossing. I didn't know whether to be disgusted or to applaud. After, to the notorious Seven-story Whorehouse, where we entered 'Cascade,' a lady-boy dance-hall. These women, I mean men (?), were absolutely stunning, but John assured me with the official check. Planning to meet up again tomorrow, John and I wobbly hailed a taxi back to Khao San.

In the morning, or rather afternoon, I walked over to Dusit Zoo, the most remarkable collection of animals I have ever seen. Set around a tropical lake, Dusit has dozens of bird varieties, bears, crocadiles, hippoes, big cats, and nocturnal creatures. There was even a whole corner designated for various species of monkeys and langours. Having just seen "King Kong" two days before, I probably sat there for over an hour, imagining their thoughts. I witnessed a little quarrel between a young langour and an elder. The elder swung to the other side of the cage in a huff, while the younger one pretended not to care. When the young langour played aloof, the elder glanced longingly. Then, the elder looked away with pride, as the young one cautiously peered from the corner of his eye. They played hard-to-get for 15 minutes, inching towards and away from each other, like immature schoolchildren. I love how human psychology applies so easily to these little gremlin-faced people.

I met up with John, and we caught the local bus for downtown to see Harry Potter. Now I felt like the veteran; since my time in Bangkok, I have become pretty familiar with public transportation. Aboard the bus, we met Andy. He also came to Thailand for vacation, but met Joy and has been teaching English in Bangkok for the last eight months. It was great to pick his brain about teaching opportunities and he gave me lots of advice. Without any solid plans (isn't that the marvel of backpacking), we sat down at the Heineken Pavilion, and ordered a cooler of beer. A live band played great covers of Aerosmiths and Van Halen. I couldn't believe how this skinny Thai man sounded exactly like David Lee Roth, when "Jump!" echoed through the speakers. Joy met us a little later, when the cooler was almost empty, and I really enjoyed talking to an authentic Thai girl! After, we parted ways; John and I walked around the very modern downtown, packed with many eight-story shopping malls and state-of-the-art cinemas. The skytrain roared from up above and traffic-packed streets filled the city with gray gas. We caught a late screening of 'Harry Potter'; and having already seen a movie in Bangkok, I was not surprised when the screen prompted us to stand in honor of the King. Disappointed from this dragging series, we said goodbye and goodnight.

Getting a little tired of Bangkok, I thought about spending a night at the Floating Market, located about 80 kilometers from the city. All along Khao San Road, there are dozens of travel agencies that offered day trips, but I thought that I could find my way there on my own and probably save some money. I checked out of the Top Hotel and saddled up with my growing backpack. I caught the 501 bus to the station as advised, and stood with my backpack on the traffic-stricken bus for over an hour, sweating. To my misfortune, I was deflated whenI discovered that I arrived at the wrong bus station; I was at the East Bus Terminal while the bus bound for the Floating Market was just departing from the South Terminal. Tears. Kicking. Screaming. Breath. Addy, a saint of a woman with a friendly Thai smile , touched my arm and offered her guidance. In perfect English, she asked, "Why didn't you just take one of the tourist busses? You know, there is also a floating market here in Bangkok." At that point, I had lost all interest in the stupid, floating f@#$ing market shmarket. Just chatting with her calmed me down; she told me that she had family living in Queens and I told her how much I enjoyed her city. She even invited me to her home, if I would still be in Bangkok for the weekend. I gave her a big grateful hug before hopping the 501 back to Khao San Road.

With two more days in Bangkok, I was glad to have had more time to go sightseeing. I walked around Lumpini Park, filled with runners, kites, and paddle boats. I also saw Wat Po, and took a ferry boat across the river to visit Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn. For my last day, I ventured to the Snake Farm in time for the live feedings. Funded by the Red Cross, the snake hospital works to to produce anti-venom for the million of farmers, endangered by these predators. A four-fingered demonstrator gave a slideshow presentation and stuffed 20 raw quartered chickens into its mouth with large tweezers. They also showed how the hospital extracts the venom; I even got to take a picture with the lovely Boa around my neck!

Surprisingly, my solo week in Bangkok flew by. I saw so much of the city, but I'm still waiting to return so that I see a Thai boxing match and traditional Thai dancing. Next time. Sawatee Ka, Bangkok!