Return to the Land of Smiles

August 25th, 2003 at 12:00am

Can’t believe I am back in Bangkok! Seems surreal, like going back in time or something. I arrived here yesterday straight from Sydney, and after over 9 months in NZ/OZ, I was feeling a bit of culture shock. It really hit me in the Kuala Lumpur airport when I saw the Asian-style toilets! They used to be my public toilet preference, and now they seem so foreign again!

It’s quiet here in Bangkok in and around the Kho San Road area, the quietest I have ever seen it here. It’s surely a combination of it being low season as well as the drop in tourism due to SARS and terrorism. That, and the fact that the weather is quite cool for Asia (30C), is making it a nice welcome to the Land of Smiles.

And the food! I really forgot how much I enjoy the food here. When I was here before, after 13 months in Asia, I was so sick of rice and vegetables and I would have done anything for a decent piece of bread and some good cheese. Now I am loving the fresh fruit and the FLAVOR in the food – when everything is fresh it makes SUCH a difference! Today I had my all time favorite – fresh papaya and fresh-squeezed OJ, for a whopping 75 cents. Yum! then I had one of my other favorites, an Isaan dish, which is fried soya and tofu and vegetables, and the flavor of the caffir lime leaves and frsh corn and beans – yum-mie!

What really struct me coming back here though is how GREEN it is here in Asia. Flying into Malaysia, all I could see was rubber palms as far as the eye could see. What a shock coming from Australia, where it is red and dry and brown and dry. You can immediately smell that damp basement-y smell which is so typical in Asia. It’s such a great smell after being in such a dry place. You all must think I am crazy. Travelling this long, I must be!

Entry Filed under: Bangkok,Thailand