Bangkok and Salaya

I'm on day 3 in Bangkok and more than ready to get out of the Khao San Road tourist trap. I spent my first day with the the BAM girls, wandering the Royal Palace with a dead camera battery and wishing I could take pictures to capture the amazing detail in the architecture and art throughout all the buildings. The girls were a blast to hang out with while we took the river boats down the Chao Phraya to and from the temples before returning to Soi Rambuttri for some street food and downtime by the pool. In the evening we went out and loaded up on cheap backpacker clothes for the next few months. I really wish I hadn't brought any clothes (I didn't bring much) so I could justify getting some more stuff, but I don't want to haul around much more for the next 3 months. The Khao San road was packed and noisy as usual, with every guy trying to sell you a custom-tailored suit or get you to check out a bar, a ping pong show or a cheap ride in a tuk tuk to somewhere you don't want to go. Like I said, I'm ready to get out of here and onto a less beaten path. I bunked in with the girls at the Rambuttri Inn and crashed early, still tired and jet lagged from the night before.

I'm surprised at how little has changed since I was here just over a year ago. Everything is exactly where it was, the Tailor shops have the same skinny guys outside and my hotel has the same snobby receptionist at the front desk. This time, however, I'm mostly on my own, and I'm finding that the guys outside the tailor shops harass me less, seeing as I'm without a male companion to wear their suits. The Thai ladies on the street don't pull me aside like they did with Zack last year, to remark at his resemblance to the Thai people. It's a bit colder than it was in the fall. But the vendors (and their knock-off products) are the same, the same music is blaring from the stereos at the roadside bars, and the busy nightlife atmosphere hasn't subsided at all. When I showed up on this street I knew exactly where I was and where to go. It almost felt like coming back to home base again, after weeks of travel elsewhere. Weird.

Doyle met me the next morning and it was great to see him - it's been ages since we've met up. We sorted out my sleeping arrangements for that evening and then made our way out to Salaya to see Doyle's international school and Residence. I met his girlfriend Skye and together we wandered the canals nearby Salaya market. I thought that wandering around suburbia was a great way to get to see how an average Thai resident lives. The houses along the "Khlong" were dilapidated and shabby, but the people seemed happy and the little kids followed us on their bikes, laughing... though they might have just been laughing at Doyle's T-shirt which had Thai writing on it. Doyle didn't fully understand what all the laughing was about until a random tuk-tuk driver later that night translated it for us with a somewhat inappropriate gesture... My Grandmas might be reading this, so I'll leave out the translation. Anyways, the Canals were picturesque and the afternoon was hot and sunny, so I finally got to take out my camera and snap a few photos. After a motorcycle ride back to the International Student residence to pick up my stuff, we grabbed some ice cream at the neighborhood pool and caught a cab to the night bazaar near Lumphini Park and Stadium. We had some awesome local food and watched the live music show alongside a crowd of locals before shopping around and buying nothing. Doyle and Skye went to meet Doyle's parents at the airport and I went back to my luxurious air-con room back at Rambuttri for a night of well-deserved and much-needed rest and solitude. I've survived 2 long days with jet lag and am ready for a bit of relaxing and maybe a $4 Thai Massage...