Bangkok, Thailand

Holy mother of God I am in Thailand.

After twenty hours in the air over the Pacific, three square meals (literally, they were compartmentalized into boxes) provided by China Airlines, and one very talkative Armenian woman, Gordy and I have officially arrived in Southeast Asia.  We flew in without mishap, and if I was suffering from any lack of media or televison after the grand canyon it was made up in all the complimentary movies provided in-flight.  A nine hour chunk seems so small when divided into four riviting American movies, none of which were actually good or bad, but great for wasting time.  The seats were perfect for my frame, but flying economy on China Airlines was a tight fit for Gordy.  It was going well until the man in front of him decided to recline, and pinned Gordy's knees to the seat-back.  Not a very enjoyable position, even from an outside point of view.

We arrived in Bangkok and got through customs without issue, even filling out an "on arrival" visa wihich we found out American citizens do not need.  Bangkok has a wonderful public bus service, but unfortunatly it does not run at 1 a.m. so we opted for a cab.  When I found out that it was metered I was slightly dissapointed, because I was looking forward to hagaling for the first time, but it got us to Khao San Road without mishap.  The driver talked with us, as much as we were able to understand eachother, and got confused when our reply to "where are you coming from" was "Los Angeles".  We tried "California"- no luck.  "United States"-also no luck.  Finally Gordy, half laughing, said "America" in a classic Dan Wardrop voice.  That was imdietly understood, and we had our first cross culture joke share expierience.  It might have been due to our minimal sleep during 20+ hours of travel, but as we drove into the city I felt calmer knowing that we were less then ten miles into Thailand and had already made a connection with someone who we don't share a language with. 

I would be lying if I didn't have a moment of terror with the cab driver dropped us off on the busteling street and waved towards Khao San Road before driving off into the rain.  At night, KSR is the hub of international parties and drunk Austrailians, which means Taxi drivers refused to drive through it after a certain time for their own safety and sanity.  Gordy and I, big packs on back and litte in front, weaved our way through the crowd in search of our hotel.  Luckily,  KSR is actually rather short, and we found the Buddy Lodge without trouble.  Checking in was interesting, due to the fact that although I had made reservations for October 14, the hotel doesn't recognized those reservations until 8 a.m.- meaning I had to pay another 1,900 Baht (around $65US) to get into my room.  FYI to future Thailand travelers, make sure you are aware of the checking in procedures before finalizing payments- it wasn't a huge issue, but something that could have been avoided. 

After waking up, Gordy and I have been wandering within the Khao San Road boundries, just absorbing the culture.  I already made a purchase from a vendor after realzing that I needed something other then my day-pack to carry simple things in.  I found a beautiful, simple green side purse for 200 Baht and am looking for a good tailor to have some linen pants made. The clothes I brought will serve me well, but alot of travelers that I see have loose fitting linen pants made to ease the heat and blend in with the locals to some degree.  Not many people here wear denim, and my jeans are a little sticky in this humidity.

Today and tomorrow are all about resting and getting things lined up for our next jump to Ankor Wat.

Cheers.