2 weeks in Bangkok???

So, I survived the food poisoning, made it out of Trat (by bus), and have been in Bangkok for almost 2 weeks now. Lots to catch up on – where to begin? Well, for starters, I managed to meet up with Peter (my cycling partner in Cambodia) for a nice reunion in Bangkok before he went home to Sweden. We settled our differences through a few emails after Sihounakville and we both felt bad about the way things ended and wanted to meet again to set everything straight. It’s good to know that I didn’t lose him as a friend after all and we might actually cycle again together someday. And, well, there might be a little bit more to that story but I am changing the subject now…

So Peter left last weekend and I wasn’t planning on hanging around Bangkok too long but I’ve managed to keep myself pretty busy and the days are flying by. I’ve been shopping a lot, seeing films, and frequenting the beauty salon on a daily basis. It’s the only time in my life when I can afford such luxuries – a pedicure for $2, leg wax for $4, hair color for $15 – who could resist such bargains? I also had my bicycle tuned at the bike shop in town and it is safely in storage for when I leave Bangkok to head south.

I had a fun evening out the other night with a friend of the family who is living and working in SE Asia. I won’t divulge any further details about him because of the information I am about to reveal…yes I could be deported for what I’m about to tell because it’s ABSOLUTELY forbidden to say anything bad about the King (of Thailand that is, not Elvis), but all the more reason why I can’t keep it a secret…Are you ready? Well, rumour has it that the King only has one eye! That is why he’s always wearing dark glasses in photographs. Well, from what I’ve been TOLD, he lost his eye in a car accident in his youth while fleeing the royal palace with his girlfriend at the time. This is only so fascinating to me of course because it’s such a huge secret! Well now you know.

Other than that, I’ve been keeping to myself and generally trying to avoid the dirty backpacker Khao San Road scene. I was looking at t-shirts yesterday at one of the street vendors and there was a backpacker there – an American guy, telling the vendor how he’s been drunk for 4 days and how he’s been in Bangkok 10 times and nothing bad has ever happened but he was in a cab and had his passport and wallet in a bag and got out to use the ATM and when he turned around the cab was gone. Now he’s drunk and has no money or passport and is stuck in Bangkok. Freak! This is not an isolated story mind you…Bangkok is full of penniless drunk outcasts from Western society. It’s really weird. I guess the guy thought he was the cool, experienced traveller having been here 10 times, but how could anyone be so stupid to leave their passport anywhere, yet alone in the back of a taxi? Please.

Now my main task at hand is sorting out travel plans for the next 4-5 months. I have to admit that I’m not so keen on making plans and buying tickets so far in advance because the whole point of this trip for me was not to have a plan. But it’s getting into the summer season (ie high backpacker volume worldwide – ALERT) and it’s going to be difficult to book tickets later because everything is filling up fast. I’ve agreed to meet my family in Cairns, Australia in August during a piece of the Happy Family Vacation so I know I’ve got to be heading that way in the beginning of August. (Despite how it sounds I am looking forward to seeing them). But other than that the next 4 months are wide open. There is no better feeling than to be sitting in a travel office, looking at a map of the world, and saying hmmm, how mush is a ticket THERE? I am having a blast just toying with all the possibilities. Hope to have forged a plan over the weekend and have tickets and dates sorted out by Monday. In the meantime I am hitting the big weekend market tomorrow and hopefully meeting up with my friend Brent and his brother here in town on Sunday. Then, on Tuesday it’s off to the south to hit the beaches!!

River view of Bangkok

Shopping…

The infamous traffic

Add comment March 21st, 2002