Wanderlust Heaven!

Spent half a day putting together a short story on Burma for a travel writing competition sponsored by an outfit called Solas, which I’d never heard of.  Seems there’s an annual travel writing short story competition, across various categories of travel, and I finally heard about it through my blog-hosting company Boots’n’All.  Was sitting on a few stories and this prompted me to get off (or on) my ass and pump one out.  Finished it and sent it in – am happy to share it with you at your request, but I do insist you leave a comment on this slog asking for it.  Haven’t had any comments in several weeks now and feel like I’m talking to a wall…

Second night in Bangkok, went to nearby Saxophone Bar with Bob, Kate, and her cousin (or something like that) Goong, which I believe means ‘shrimp’ in Thai.  I didn’t ask, but Bob (who speaks good Thai) didn’t hesitate to tease Goong about this and she was good-natured about her unusual name.  The music was pretty good – some Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf, not stuff you hear that often out here.  There are loads of jazz bars in Japan and a few in other cities like Saigon, but not many places play blues music and I was happy to fill up at Saxophone.

Watched the first two Red Sox-Indians games on MLB.TV.  Nice having in-room broadband here in Bangkok – am looking forward to the day when it’s ubiquitous.  The teams split the first two games, with the Sox losing the 2^nd due to an extra-innings single by a former Sox outfielder, Trot Nixon.  I wasn’t thrilled when we let him go last off-season and picked up a questionable replacement named J.D. Drew, who has not worked out.  Sox management is quite active in the trading market and in all I can’t complain, they’ve certainly raised the team to another level.  But I can question individual trades and moves and here’s where I’d do so.  If this series turns because Nixon got that hit, I’d feel awful, like a helpless minor character watching the world go to pieces in a Greek drama…

Next day, got around to some local sight-seeing.  I’ve written before that when in Bangkok I tend to recharge my batteries and take care of lingering errands and travel plans.  Still a bit of that to do…but I don’t want to short-change this wild city and its offerings.  So decided to make this week or so at least partially focused on getting to know Bangkok.  Went to the weekend Chatuchak Market, which spreads over several km and I have to believe is the world’s largest outdoors market.  Very organized, clean place – sectioned off by type of goods sold.  I dislike shopping, so just spent 45 minutes there.  The merchants must have been disappointed in my spending, or lack thereof – all I bought were two facetowels (for cleaning my yoga mat) and a tiny incense burner, to replace one the maid tossed out in Manila many moons ago.  Total expenditure – 15 baht, or less than 50 US cents.  But that’s all I really need – I do recognize the benefits of retail therapy, but if you rely on that long-term it’s yet another chronic problem to contend with.  Better to live lean and have very occasional treats to stimulate the system…

Then took a veeeerrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyy long tuk-tuk ride over to the Grand Palace complex.  My map was compressed and it didn’t seem so far – but the ride took 45 minutes and I swear getting to the new airport would have been quicker.  Finally got there – it was a Sunday so lots of people.  It’s a massive complex with lots to see – I wasn’t really in the deep historical tourist mode so just strolled around…it was raining too so hot and steamy…went into onsite Wat Phra Kaew, which is unbelievably ornate and which houses the famous Emerald Buddha.  This object was taken from a Vientiane Wat (Phra Keow?  Si Saket?) around 1827 when the Thais sacked that city…so the Lao are pissed about that.  But I think that the Lao stole it first, from Thonburi in Thailand…so turnabout was fair play.  I have started getting a solid sense for the tensions between the various nations/peoples over here – they have the same pride and nationalism that we Westerners have in our own lands.

The Emerald Buddha is quite small, at least from the considerable distance that constitutes the viewing boundary.  But it’s beautiful – the green color is unusual in Buddha statues.  The Wat was packed with people gazing at the statue – certainly the most popular place within the Palace complex.

To be frank, I preferred the Royal Palace complex in Phnom Penh – grand as well, but less cluttered and more atmospheric.  And you can see more from the street outside – I always thought that part of the royal mandate was to awe the average person, not just surround yourself with endless glories (although I do like that bit too).  The Khmers (Cambodians) often say that the Thais stole much of their art and culture – but I won’t get into that tussle here and now.

Went out that night with Bob and Kate, to a nearby strip of go-go bars called Soi Cowboy.  It’s an infamous area in Bangkok, and I was surprised that Kate wanted to join us…but she’s never been there and was curious.  Started in The Dollhouse, a perennial favorite…then proceeded to check out many of the 20 or so joints on the street.  It’s a real zoo – BBQ vendors and elephants roam the street, promotion girls are grabbing your arm and dragging you into their bars (doesn’t take much force), etc.   We went into one place, Suzie Wong’s, and stayed there for an hour.  There’s the usual go-go dancing round poles…OK, but a little boring (compared with Class V white-water rafting, for example).  But at one point the lights went off for a couple minutes, and when they went back on there were 4-5 girls on stage, wearing absolutely nothing except exquisitely painted designs of birds and nature on their bods, courtesy of a fellow who roams Soi Cowboy with a little paintbox and brush.  The body painting was incredible…Kate called him over and got him to paint a very cool bird on her arm for a buck or less.

The girls on stage did a little dancing, but things got fairly wild soon enough.  They started kissing each other’s breasts, and then working their way downstairs, where they spent lots of time.  Plenty of contortions and groaning…I wasn’t expecting this on Soi Cowboy, this was more the sort of activity you find upstairs at Patpong, where a client of mine dragged me (seriously – I wasn’t keen to be seen there) years ago.  Bob had been surprised that there was topless dancing on Soi Cowboy – it’s technically illegal.  Now things had been taken up (or down) a notch and our jaws were in our laps.  This went on for a while…we lost count of our beers.  Finally things went back to ‘normal’ and we moved on.

Next place, a girl came and sat with me.  She was cute and I bought her a beer.  But she had bad breath…I really hate that.  Bob and Kate were leaving…I asked him to get some mints for us…he did and I gave a couple (one at a time – you don’t want to insinuate much and make her lose face) to the girl.  But it only worked a bit and I soon moved on.

Bars were closing – it was around 2 a.m.  Meandered down Sukhumvit Road, one of my favorite in Bangkok.  Ducked into the infamous Thermae Coffee Shop, where the drink of choice is beer, or perhaps Sam Song whiskey.  Lots of working girls there – always fun to take a look.  Then went back out and walked down a few blocks.  Plenty of pros lining the street.  I imagined the reaction of a Western businessman coming to Bangkok for the first time, having dinner on/near Sukhumvit, and then seeing all of this.  Good-looking girls coming up to you, asking you to have a drink, asking you to take them with you.  Might be a bit too much for some guys to handle.  And that, dear readers, is probably the point.

But Bangkok is a first-world city, despite these decidedly Asian elements.  I tried to keep that in mind the following evening, when I walked down Soi Rangnam and a girl wheeled a cart fulled of fried insects by me.

I went over to Bumrungrad Hospital, to make sure I was up to date on vaccines, and also to find out my blood type.  I’m 40 years old and still don’t know it.  That may not be a big deal in the West, but in Japan and other Asian countries there’s an entire astrology associated with blood type and people are often asking each other’s type.  I don’t much care about that…but do want to know my blood type in case I ever need a transfusion and can’t wait an hour for lab work.  So I went to the hospital – which is far more pleasant, clean and organized than any Western hospital I’ve ever seen, and a fraction of the price.

I got 3 vaccines:  diphtheria/tetanus, meningitis, and influenza.  And I got my blood type too – it’s A+, which is quite common and means I don’t need to worry about having hard-to-replace blood.  Wrote down ‘A+’ on my wallet SOS card.  First A+ I’ve gotten in many years…

Total bill was US$118 – not cheap, but just seeing a doc in the States would have cost $100.  Here, probably the most expensive hospital in Thailand, it was $30…and I just walked in and was out of there in under 90 minutes, lab work included.  Brilliant.

Have been plowing through my latest stash of New Yorker magazines, then giving them to Bob.  Caught my first type ever in a New Yorker – ‘capitalist’ was misspelled ‘captialist’ in a James Surowiecki article (probably not his fault – he surely knows how to spell that word).  Other than that, the same superb articles and left-leaning sympathies I’ve come to love.

Called Phuong in Saigon – was great to hear her voice.  She sounds tired from work – tending bar and teaching yoga.  I’d like to see her just teach yoga, but the bar work pays fairly well.  I think I’ll fly back to Saigon in a month or so, from Mumbai, to see her.

Am still thinking of where to spend the 5 or so days after getting my India visa/passport this Friday.  Might head down south to Krabi and the island there, like Koh Phi-Phi…or might head north to historical area like Sukhothai and Phitsanulok.  Will have to figure that out soon.  Bob and Kate are keen to do the northwest loop I did last year – Chiang Mai, Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son, Soppong, and Pai – which is a great trip, but I did it just last year and might want to try something new.  Having spent a while in both Saigon and Bangkok, my sense of balance is calling out for me to check out a ‘fresh’ place.

On Monday it seemed that half the town was wearing yellow shirts.  And they were.  Monday is ‘the King’s day,’ yellow is the royal color, the King is beloved, and he’s also a bit ill so they were showing solidarity.  That’s nice – and I’m not being sarcastic.  I remember during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, Americans tied yellow ribbons round trees.  Is yellow the color of sympathy/solidarity?

Had drinks that night with an old client, who used to run China for his company, and now runs Thailand.  Nice change of pace…Thailand is a much more manageable and relaxed place.  The real challenge here is trying to make sure the government doesn’t grab all your HIV drugs and co-opt them.  Had a good time catching up with my client – he’s a great guy and quite worldy, and far warmer than the average corporate drone.  Prompted me to send a slew of emails to other former clients and see how they’re doing.  I’m usually good about keeping my networks warm, but have gotten lazy about some of my former clients and colleagues.  I guess work is far back in my brain these days…

Was near the Patpong area, so walked over there.  Patpong is (in)famous for its go-go bars and ‘live sex shows,’ involving ping-pong balls, bottle caps, and other nefarious acts.  I just went into a couple of the ‘normal’ go-go bars, which are on ground level (the wilder places are upstairs).  Patpong has actually gotten boring – it’s more of a tourist market now, it’s very crowded with bargain-hunters, and the bars themselves all seem to have come under 1-2 management wings which haven’t done much to keep them up.  Every place seems to be called ‘King’s Castle’ or ‘Queen III’ and they’re cookie-cutter joints.  And it’s all about money – you can scarcely sit for a  minute without a dancer coming up and asking you for a drink.  Even without bad breath, this gets annoying.

Didn’t stay for that long.  Wanted a good night’s sleep – was going to Kanchanaburi next morning with Bob and Kate.  Looked for a cab – walked by a 24-hour McDonald’s, where I was propositioned by a couple of hookers.  I knew that McDonald’s was expanding its menu and services – now I understand.

Got in a cab, headed to Soi Rangnam.  Cabbie spoke little English, but we managed to communicate.  I do like gabbing with cabbies.  At one point he broke into song…something about the Mekong River.  He had a shockingly pleasant voice, this raggedy-looking middle-aged fellow – I listened to him sing all the way back home.  And I enjoyed every second of it.  That’s what traveling’s all about – life sneaking up on you when you don’t expect it.  Escaping from your usual routine of taking the ride and paying the bill.  We all need to do more of that – myself included.  Over and out.

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