Advertisement
Published: December 29th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Hostel
Outside the hostel Here I am in Thailand. The journey was something else. Luckily I slept for the majority of the plane ride. However, it's very strange waking up on the complete other side of the World. It's as if I got caught in a tornado, which spit me out in Thailand. Ha. I connected in Japan. That airport is a sight to see. That whole country is weird. It's as if the airport is a microcosm of the surrounding land. The airport is just how you see Japan in television. Everything is very cartoonish, bright white, strange. It was immaculately clean. Their toilets are sooo weird. I took pictures of it which I'll show you. The toilet seat has this electronic panel on the right with like 100 buttons. It's funny. Posted on the wall were instructions; the english translation which was printed underneath was so funny. It had a heater on the seat, so that it could heat your ass. The instructions said, "Push to heat bottom for relaxing sensation." HA. They also had these water jets, that like sprays your asshole. I tried it, and I put it on the weakest setting; it started spraying like a rocket jet. So hard.
Mansion in Thailand
This was taken from the roof of the hostel. When I looked to my left I saw this, as opposed to the shanty's that I saw on my right. I bet the Japanese love that shit. They probably put it at the highest setting.
The plane ride was good. Very good service, just like everything Asian. My flight to Bangkok was delayed two hours, but I eventually got there. The airport is very nice and modern. It was strange. The airport is very quiet and relaxed. However, once you pass customs, its like a tsunami hit. So loud. I expected this from my readings. Everyone was trying to get my money. I can see how some people get shafted. Coming out of a plane after 24 hours of traveling leaves you very dazed, and just willing to go with anything as long as it gets you one step closer to bedtime. Three times, different people tried to get me to take a car service to the hostel. The cost was 800 baht, which is a lot for Thailand (but only about 24 dollars american). You have to search to find the public taxi, or what they call 'taxi - meter'. I paid only 250 baht, or 7.50 american. That's an awesome deal being that it took over 30 minutes to get there without traffic. I was lucky with
Shanty's in Bangkok
This was also taken from the roof of the hostel. This was my view to the right, as opposed to the luxurious mansion that was on my left. the traffic. I've heard horror stories about traffic for 6 hours. I didn't get in though until 2 in the morning.
After that crap in the airport, I was very wary for the taxi driver. But, he was very nice. In Thailand, they don't tip, or expect tips which is strange. So when I tipped the taxi driver 50 baht, or 1.50 american, he was so happy. After finally arriving to the street where my hostel was, the driver let me out. It definitely wasn't a 'tourist' area; the street was filled with locals munching on their food (mind you this was around 3 AM). It was very strange, almost surreal. Very interesting. The area I'm in is a nicer area, but known more for rich Thai people, and as I said, there aren't many tourists. At first, I had trouble finding the hostel. But, the people in Thailand are very very nice. They smile a lot. I'm extra careful, especially because of that first airport experience, but I figure that the con people target the airport.
The hostel is awesome. Very very nice. Lots of relaxing areas. My room is tiny, but I have a queen sized
bed. The hostel is also immacutely clean. There is a sharing bathroom, but that is so clean as well. I was nervous to even shave in there since there wasn't even a hair on the floor or the sink. What I'm in now is a youth hostel, which means everyone is under 30. The majority are about my age. It's cool. There are about 20 25 people here from all over the world. Almost all of them speak english though. There is only two other Americans. But there are many Brits, Australians, etc. There is also two Israelis, two Germans, and two Asian girls from Singapore who speak English. Luckily, everyone speaks English to communicate with each other.
The time change is rough. It couldn't be harder, 12 hours, the exact opposite of US. When I got to the hostel last night at 3AM, I wasn't even tired. I didn't get to bed until about 5AM. Then, I forced myself up at 10AM, so that I could get accustomed to the time change. That didn't work too well. At about 2PM I fell asleep, and slept until 6:30PM. I was still able to get adjusted to the city today,
and I got a haircut, and walked around a bunch. Thailand is filled with salons/barbers, however I feel that many of them are fronts for 'illicit' activities. At this place where I got my haircut, I came across my first 'lady boy'. Having spent much time in NYC I am accustomed to such sights; however, the frank nature to which these he she's operate within Thai society would probably be surprising to many from other places in the West. They don't have the same attitude though as do we in terms of such phenomena. Deriven from their Buddhist religion, they believe that God created them as the third sex due to some bad act that they committed in an earlier life. Aside from the haircut and some random vagabonding, I also managed to get a skyway pass, which is like a raised subway which takes you everywhere. That is supposedly the best thing about this hostel, the proximity to the skyway. Bangkok is pretty spread out, so you have to take it to each of the 6 or 7 main areas. It is kind of spread out like NYC if you think about it. It's very big.
Right now
Skytrain
Entrance to the Skytrain its about 9:15. I'm going to just go walk around a bit, but then try to get back so that I can force myself to bed by 11:30. I want to try to get adjusted as soon as I can.
Talk to you soon.
Dan
Advertisement
Tot: 0.134s; Tpl: 0.033s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0907s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb