Well hello again everyone,
Things are going well on my end (healthy, happy, and learning a lot) and I have now finished with Cambodia and I'm hanging out in Bangkok for another hour or so before I hop on another overnight bus to head down to Ko Tau, which is supposed to be the best dive spot in Thailand for this season. I've booked a PADI Open Water Certification course which takes 4 days and includes hotel and food and drink while on the boat, as well as about 10 dives for 300$ US. Not a bad deal, hey?
Bangkok is pretty intense, and to be honest, I think I might prefer Hanoi. There is just this massive tourist area here that screams "scam the foriegners for all they're worth," and while it would have been a fun place to come fresh out of high school, I kind of feel like its a little bit too much of a 'round the clock party town for me. That being said, the first night here I didn't get back to my hotel room until some where around 3 or 4 am. But it seems to me that Bangkok is kind of like Europe's Cancun, as this place is definitely geared towards the younger crowd, whith a number of places displaying signs out front that explicitly state "we don't check ids", "Buckets of alcohol; Buy one get one free!", and of course, my favorite "Fucking Good Beer!"
Yep, this is the land that law forgot, and you can walk into a shop with a picture of yourself and walk out with an ID, certificate of authenticity, GRE, pedigree, clean bill of health, or MD for a couple hundred bhat. I'm not sure how much it would help in a time of need, like say when you see a man impaled with a shovel and, remembering the degree you have framed on the wall, rush to his aid, only to have the realization that you were drunk at the time you recieved your "MD" as you are trying to "pump start" the man's heart by squeezing whatever organ you were able to grab through the open wound. Maybe its better NOT to get that piece of paper after all.
I know I'm planning on heading back home to finish up my schoolbook lernin, but I could just spend that cash on beer at this place for two years and then buy my degree when I leave. What a bunch of suckers! Actually studying! Ha! What do you guys think?
So that's Bangkok, and surprisingly enough, the yogi who read my palm this morning and wanted to squeeze a hundred bucks outta me might have been wrong when he said I would return here in a couple of years. At least not to spend any amount of time at Kao Sahn road.
I did , however, go to the palace today and saw the massive reclining Buddah as well as the national museum, both of which were pretty awesome, and then I wandered around the back alleys for a little while, taking in the sights and smells of fish, herbs, peppers, and just about everything else under the sun drying... under the sun.
And I must admit that the food here is the best so far on this trip. I can only imagine that it might be trumped when I go to India, but its gonna be a tough one to beat. Today I had an awesome red coconut curry at about midmorning, to be followed up a bit later by some kind of rice noodle soup that I ate just because the place was packed with Thai people and there were no other foreigners in the joint. It was DAMN good, and so far, I haven't gotten any kind of stomach bug beyond the basic "five second movement that fills the bowl". (Isn't that a Chopin?) Sorry I know you don't want to hear about my daily squats, but I figure if I'm gonna describe the expereince, you might as well get all of it. And I've been eating at some pretty "local" places. Its cheaper, and the food is generally tastier with more fixins, so I feel lucky not to have gotten too bad a case of the "Bangkok belly".
Which actually reminds me of the place I went to on my second day at Ankor (the noodles, not the belly) , which was this noodle joint on the way to this far out temple (literally; far. out.) that my moto dr iver told me was the place all the locals go if they ever pass by it as it had the best noodles in town. And they were possibly the best noodles I have ever eaten before in my life. As I was munching down, my moto driver walked over to me and took the plastic wrap off this potted plant that was growing on the table, ripped off about 3 (massive) sprigs of leaves and told me to put it in my soup. They were, to put it mildly, scrumtrulescent.
So thats where I'm at, and what I've been up to. Yesterday I didn't do too much at all, just hung around the touristy area and took the bus to this massive market where I bought nothing, but marveled at all the thousands of stalls and the millions of options for different things that you never needed in the first place, but find yourself drifting back to and nearly purchasing just because you know how much more expensive they would be in your home country (alot). And I kept running into this Israeli guy who I met on the bus, and who has been here a number of times and swears that its the best place ever. He also says that this Chinese girl he had sex with put his sperm in the freezer when they were finished because she wanted babies with light skin. He's a suiter!
And with that nugget of wisdom I leave you for the night, on my way to the white sand beaches and turqoise waters of Ko Tau, to chill out on the beach for a few days, spend some time breathing underwater, and generally have a w onderful time at it. I know I still haven't written about Tiger Leaping gorge, but I will do that at some point. Other than that, I think i've written a blog about pretty much everywhere I've been so far. As far as pictures go, it takes a REALLY long time to upload them from most of the places I've been using the net, so I am planning on posting a bunch of pics when I get back to the US.
Much love to you all.
Martin
