Day 9 PM--Arriving in Bangkok

I arrived in Bangkok late last night from Tokyo. I had made a reservation from Tokyo over the Internet at a place just off Khao San Road (the backpacker ghetto) for about 9 $US. It was just for the one night until I could figure out what train I could catch to Chang Mai. Well, in the 1.5 days I've been here I've learned a lot about traveling in South East Asia.

The humidity hit me like a ton of bricks. Since I've grown up in a desert my whole life, any ounce of moister in the air is very noticeable. After clearing customs and making my way through the barrage of "Hey Mister, Taxi!", I headed to the airport express bus to buy a ticket to town. They run about every 20-3o minutes and stop in key locations across town. The a/c on the bus was a welcome relief.

With just about an hour and a half upon arrival, I was in the middle of the Khao San Road area. The KSR is notorious and legendary as the "backpacker ghetto". A lot has been said and written about this area. I found it to a homogeneous spread of banana pancake eating, tie-dyed, penny pinching backpackers. There is still no better place in Asia to get connected with other travellers and get in the swing of things. I was aiming to do just that and also explore the nearby Royal Palace and Wat Pho (Temple).

My hotel is located on a little Soi (alley) that runs parallel to KSR. Jack Spaun would have laughed upon arrival and called this place a dump. I reserved judgement until I saw the room. My room at the Sawasdee Smile Inn is about as wide as my arm's length. The bathroom is enough for me to touch everything all at once. The shower consist of a dingy plastic thing coming out of the wall. Who needs a shower wall or curtain or some kind of division from the toilet. The only thing I could think of is that I was happy Cathy was not there with me because she would have killed me for booking us into such a dumpy place. On the bright side, I now knew what $9 a night means in Thailand and the room did have a/c. It was now after midnight and had some business to take care of in the morning at the train station.

This was Bangkok and it was only the first nigh. I had yet to experience a full day here.