Arriving in Southeast Asia

Bangkok 6/9/11

I arrive in Bangkok at 9:30pm. It's pouring rain and lightning outside as we disembark the plane and enter a cramped shuttle bus. Outside is cooler than I expect, but my glasses fog up due to the humidity. Despite being half the distance of the global trip, the Thai Air flight is extraordinarily superior to AA. Attentive, numerous pretty Thai flight attendants provide endless free beer and wine (with smiles), plus more legroom, better blankets, AC, movies, and food.

I don't have a hostel booked, so I hop in a metered taxi to the backpackers enclave of Khao San Road. I have ideas from Lonely Planet and Let's Go, but that's it. The driver speaks no English, which is fine considering I'm quickly learning a few Thai words. Once we're off the highway, Bangkok comes alive, with rows of night markets, the roar and neon lights of tuk-tuks, small boys pushing wheelbarrows in the middle of the street.

Most of the hostels are sold out when I arrive in the pouring rain at 11pm. Others offer sweltering, windowless rooms, that while only a mere 150B ($5), evoke solitary confinement. After shopping around, I land at "My Guest House", a five minute walk from the main drag of Khao San. An extra 50B buys a $6 private room with fan, window, and private bathroom. Toilet paper and sheets are extra.

After dropping off my bags, I immediately tour the neighborhood. The scents of fish sauce, chilis, and tuk-tuk exhaust fill my nose. The chaotic traffic combining motorbikes, taxis, and tuk-tuks who weave through sea of thousands. Without any signs or crosswalks, the proper etiquette is to simply cross the street through oncoming traffic and hope you don't get hit. Khao San is filled with street vendors loudly hawking satay skewers, pad thai, fresh fruit shakes (made with coconut water and sweetened condensed milk), doner kebabs alongside Burger King and KFC. Fluorescent bars play predominantly American top 40 music with Western tourists to match. These foreigners ("farang") pack the bars, drinking cheap beer and cocktails out of buckets, laughing and smoking under signs reading "Strong Drinks, We Don't Card".

A 1/2 hour foot massage (100B ~ $3) is a great way to eases the stresses of a new culture and further diminish the jet lag. Chiang beer in hand. As it's already early in the morning, I can sufficiently say this is the perfect start to my first day in Southeast Asia.