Sawadee = Sweaty

In Thai, "Hello" is "Sawadee". Every time I say it, I think Sweaty. Which is how I feel. Its darn hot here in Bangkok.

Bangkok is one crazy city. Reminds me of other third world major cities I've been to, like Quito and La Paz in many ways - the rudimentary but functional concrete building construction...the proliferation of street vendors with mystery meat grilling on their grills...the chaotic traffic. Still, Bangkok is decidedly unique. A few observations:

-Photos of the King are everywhere. He looks like a librarian, or an accountant, in most photos.
-Everyone is super nice. But I have had a couple Thai guys collar me and draw on my map trying to tell me where to go. I have a natural aversion to being collared by random people when I'm traveling, because I usually think they're trying to sell me something. I don't know if these guys were or not. They just wouldn't let me go...it was like being forced to say hi to the same person for 5 minutes straight. I kept trying to leave but they wouldn't let me.
-This is tourist season. They're everywhere.
-The creepiest is seeing a lot of older white guys. I don't know if they're here for what I think they're here for. But I imagine they probably are. And it creeps me out. Often, they'll have a young Asian girl on their arm - wife, girlfriend, I don't know. Its a common site.

The flight from the US is grueling. 1 hour flight to LA. 11 hours to Tokyo. 6 hours to Bangkok, arriving at 11:30 in the evening. Grabbed a taxi, 45 minutes into Bangkok and made it to my hotel. The stiffest bed I've ever felt in my life.

Today, I woke up and went straight to the famed Weekend Market. This place is serious chaos. Miles of connected passageways filled with Thais and tourists, hawking wares of every possible type. Shirts. Shoes. Bags. Glasses. Candles. Food. Knick knacks. Baskets. Lizards. Fish. Dogs....


Cats. Rabbits. Chipmunks. (CHIPMUNKS@!?) Back to the dogs again, they are very cute. Carvings. Lottery tickets. More shirts. Piles of garbage (not for sale). Just an incredible array of goods, and a rats maze of wandering around to see it. I wandered for about 4 hours, bought absolutely nothing except some excellent food - Pad Thai, wouldn't you know.

Then I switched hotels, and got a Thai massage. This is much like being a lump of dough in a baker's hand. The massage room looks pretty sketchy - much like you'd expect a hooker's room to look. But the masseuse was no hooker - she was a very serious, very good masseuse. I nicknamed her "Super Thumb". Between the thumbs pushing into my neck, and the acrobatic yoga moves she put me through, I couldn't tell if I was in more pain after the massage or before. It was invigorating, if nothing else. One hour for $8.50. Not bad.

I wanted to go to the temples (Wat Po and Wat Phra Keuw), but they closed at 3;30. So I got a haircut instead. My first foreign haircut.

Then back to my hotel for a shower. Now I'm out on Rambuttri Road, the quieter knockoff of Khoa San Road, which is backpacker central. I can't say I much like this neck of the woods - if you make eye contact with anyone, you'll get approached - for a massage, a haircut, a touristy knickknack, a tuk tuk ride, you name it.

On my way to Rambuttri, I witnessed a demonstration for democracy march by. Evidently, people are getting upset that the coup has not brought democracy back to the country very quickly. It was peaceful - just a march down a main road. It seems pretty chill here - no one seems to disturbed by the political situation.

Tomorrow, a 6 AM flight to Koh Samui, then a boat to Koh Tao. I'm ready for the beach.

When I figure out how, I'll post my photos.