welcome to thailand

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goodness gracious. it feels like i've been holding my breath for about a week, and have finally taken a huge deep belly full of good sunny air.

i guess i didn't know what "concrete jungle" really meant until i spent a weekend in bangkok. it's a bit like a thriving post-apocalyptic community crafted from rebar, concrete, tropical foliage, and ancient ruins. unreal. it's huge. sprawling. no straight lines, no "center" of town. more like a tightly packed conglomeration of independent neighborhoods locked in a fierce competition to see who can create the most car fumes, sell the most liquor (literally by the bucket), and play the loudest music. it's festive, but a bit overwhelming.

i had planned to wait there for miss ladye, who arrives on wednesday, but realized at about 3am last night that i was going to need a break. i ducked in to my friendly neighborhood travel agency at 7:55am to see if i could grab a ride to the nearby island of ko samet, and discovered i could if i could go get my bags, check out of my hotel, and be back by 8am. 5 minutes, no problem. done, done, and done.

a 4 hour air-conditioned and luxurious bus ride followed by a beautiful 30 minute ferry trip south from ban phe landed me on ko samet. i made the right choice.

this place is so gorgeous i'm not even going to describe it yet because i cannot stand to stay inside long enough to write about it. instead, i'm going to go to one of the open air beachside reataraunts, order something with mango, coconut, and yogurt, and stare for a couple of hours at the surf which just cleaned the bangkok grime from my soul.

i'll be here for two nights. then, back to bangkok to meet my smokin-hot girlfriend. from there, anything goes.

i'll post some pictures when i can stand to come back inside.

love to all.

dave

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Comments

[sbailey]

Please send a bucket of mango home
Make sure to pack it in ice.