One night in Bangkok

Welcome Friends and Family!

Thank you for your interest in my very first travel blog. Over the next 2 1/2 months I hope to give you a peek into the backpacking world of Southeast Asia and my experience navigating the trials, wonder and humor of traveling alone through a very foreign and very beautiful region. Enjoy!

I arrived in Bangkok last night at 3 am after a 24 hour travel day of flying forward in time and crossing through two time zones. We flew over the Pacific from SFO to Seoul, where I had a few hours to walk off the 14 hour flight and prepare for the next 6 hour leg. I slept a couple of hours and deliriously boarded a waiting taxi upon my entry into Thailand. 30 minutes later and a few sentences exchanged broken English, I was dropped off on the outskirts of KhaoSan Road (aka the backpacker ghetto of Bangkok). Luckily, I had the forethought to book a room for my first two nights stay in the city of angels. Finding the room, however, proved to be a bit of an ordeal. I strapped my obnoxiously large pack to my sweaty back and started trudging through the crowded streets full of drunk tourists and hawkers stalls. I was amazed at the life and chaos of the city, even at 3 am. It felt like an "anything-goes" festival of sorts, and I was the odd man out. After an hour of aimless wandering and several sets of bad directions, I finally found my home for the next two days. NapPark Hostel had a 24-hour front desk attendant who let me in and showed me to my bed (the bottom bunk in an 8-bed female dorm). I took a refreshingly cold shower and tried to fall asleep....

6 hours later... I woke up to the sounds of fireworks and the smell of fish-sauce. Morning already? I took another crucial shower and headed out to meet up with some friends of friends who I had heard were in the area. We shared a delicious breakfast of banana pancakes and iced coffee for about $2 and made a plan for the day. A bike tour sounded fun, but after several boat rides and a walk through Chinatown, we decided the heat and traffic were a tad daunting to navigate on a rickety bicycle and instead chose to site-see. We stumbled upon Wat Pho and entered to follow the herd of tourists incessantly snapping photos of hundreds of enormous gold Buddhas in every contorted position possible. The highlight was the Reclining Buddha which stretched the length of a football field and was built of solid gold. Truly impressive. After that we attempted to take a tour of the Grand Palace but were told that our exposed legs and shoulders were inappropriate attire for such a regal atmosphere. Maybe tomorrow... Lunch was eaten standing roadside at one of the numerous street vendor stalls. I had a delicious (and spicy!) green papaya salad and meat on a stick (chicken? pork? dog?) for 40 baht (about $1.30). Now I am back at NapPark attempting to get a nap in before the chaos of the evening descends. I met a girl who shares my bunk, she's from Holland and her name is Judith. She is trying to convince me to take a train north to Chiang Mai tomorrow, but I am aching for the warm, tropical waters of the South of Thailand. Did you see "The Beach"? I want to go to there...

My first hours of Bangkok have been sweaty, polluted, beautiful, delicious and all around over-stimulating. The sights, the smells, the chaos of so many people living daily lives with the odd and random color punch of a monk clad in a fluorescent orange robe seems so absolutely contradictory, but somehow, it works. Tonight I will dine with Jekka and her friends and try to compose a plan for my exit tomorrow. She tells me that I must experience a Thai foot-massage while I am here. Apparently the highlight is submerging your dirty travelers feet in a bucket teeming with hungry minnows that chew at your callouses and filth leaving your skin soft and fresh as a newborns! Sounds bizarre and like the ultimate torture for my ridiculously ticklish feet, but I might have to try it. It's all about the adventure, right? A wise friend once inspired me by attempting to "do something that scares you" every single day. Maybe today's challenge is the foot-eating fish. Today: minnows. Tomorrow: the world.