Bangkok

Well, this sure is one big city. It's a far cry from everything I've seen and done up til now, possibly excepting Beijing though this place feels quite different than the large Chinese cities I've visited. There are lots and lots of westerners here for starters; not only westerners, but foreigners in general. In Beijing they were around, but many locals were still mildly surprised to see me and would look. Here, hardly anybody looks. Bangkok is enormous as is Beijing, though the distances aren't quite as insane here and the city is at least marginally walkable. They have a bunch of interesting mass transit options including a subway, an elevated 'skytrain' which is fancy schmancy and brand new, and like 5 different kinds of buses ranging from cheap with the craziest driver and least reliable vehicles with no doors, to the expensive with a/c and windows and everything. I have taken the two former ones and they're both efficient and clean. I haven't ventured onto the buses because as far as I can tell nobody actually knows where any of them go. At each bus stop there is a list of numbers telling you which buses stop there, and that's it. No list of subsequent or prior stops, no map, not even a final stop or destination on the signs or the buses themselves. Just one lonely number. Anyway, that being said getting around feels easier to me than in Beijing and the traffic though bad at times is nowhere near the insanity level in Beijing.

So the city is huge and feels newer and more western than any large city I've visited in Asia with the possible exception of Hong Kong. There seems to be tons of international business going on and along with that a whole lot of international restaurants, shops, and people. It feels incredibly modern and huge compared to the places I visited in Cambodia where the capitol still pretty much feels like a recovering war zone.

I've wandered around through some different neighborhoods. Some are old and filled with temples and small markets, others are bright and filled with brand new multi-story shopping malls. I've been bouncing around between vegetarian restaurants for meals, there's tons of them here, something like 40 on the list I have. Most of them have been decent though so far nothing truly standout but I still have a few days left.

Oh, in Thailand all of the toilets have these spray guns attached which I have heard referred to as "bun guns." It's kind of like the thing on some sinks you can use to wash dishes, but the pressure on the ones I've seen is a lot like a fire hose. I will refrain from being graphic but figuring out how to best approach its use was an interesting experience which I think in the end I ultimately approved of but have not yet rendered a final judgment.

Now I must sort out my next destination. I'm still trying to figure out where I can from where I'll be able to fly to China afterwards without too much hassle. Things are a little too sketchy in Burma right now and I don't want to have to think about that while I'm traveling there, so I'll save that for another time. For those of you not following in the news, the government raised fuel prices, people protested, the government arrested some people and beat up a bunch of others including monks, then monks are pissed and want an apology among other things, the monks have begun refusing alms from soldiers, the government locked the monks out of temples and monasteries, and in general it's not a good scene right now. I hope things will resolve without too much violence. So as far as my trip goes, I'm thinking something involving Laos but I have to figure out how to get from there to the Yunnan province of China sometime around next weekend and direct flights are a little limited. I'm sure it'll work out soon enough, just need to do a little research.

I'll be in Bangkok for a few more days and next time I will write a bit about the backpacker street here called Khao San Rd filled with fast food, dreadlocks, and tattoos and perhaps by then I will figure out how to articulate why it nauseates me so much.