Ridiculous.
The flight went quickly; I was asleep for the first half of it and they had built-in TVs on all the seats so I caught various movies for the remainder of the flight.
After customs and all that jazz, I took a bus to Bangkok. I knew which Skyrail (light rail) stop my hostel was closest to, so I took the bus there and figured I'd be able to ask for directions since I'd written down the address and all. Unfortunately, everyone was pretty clueless to its location. After wandering around fruitlessly for 1/2 hour or so I asked a tuktuk driver (basically a three-wheeled scooter that's a cab) and he seemed to know. So I loaded all my luggage in and went for the ride. The scooter died twice on the way and it took him 5 minutes each time to get it started. The cabbie (tuktukie?) is chatting with me in Thai the entire time. It sucks not knowing the language. After driving for about 20 minutes, we come to a clothing store. They help me with the directions and say I have to come in and look at some suit styles. I do for 5 minutes or so when I realize I left my passport in the tuktuk that was waiting for me, so I made an excuse and went back to the tuktuk. The tuktuk takes me to the aforementioned Skyrail station.
Back where I started.
I try to talk to a guy who looks like a security guard and he tries to call the hostel. No answer. I go into a hotel and luckily there's a clerk who can speak Chinese (I'm having a hard time finding people good with English here). She points me in the right direction and I find the Hostel. I get my room ready, convert some money, and take a nap.
After my nap, I start planning out the rest of my stay in Thailand. They have a bus trip to Phuket, an island area with a lot of beaches, but after signing up for it I find out it's only one way. I decide to search online for a plane trip and I find one that costs about twice as much as the bus but takes about one tenth of the travel time (and I'll end up at the Bangkok airport Tuesday evening which is where I'll need to be anyway to catch my plane to Dubai). I also signed up for an organized tour tomorrow to the various sights around Bangkok.
After the logistics-type stuff I started wandering around the city. I grabbed a meal at a fancy-type looking restaurant. Paad Thai. Delicious. Afterwards I hopped on the Skytrain near my place. The light rail system here is pretty convenient, but when you switch lines (from above ground to underground) you have to pay twice. First I went to Chinatown. They have a lot of sharkfin soup and bird's nest restaurants. Not really piquing my interest.
I leave Taiwan and the first place I think of going in Bangkok is Chinatown.
I then headed over to the Lumphini night bazaar. I looked around, realized I didn't want to buy anything, and a guy offered beer at his little outdoor patio food stand, so I had a beer and some more paad thai. He gave me a big bottle and I wasn't able to finish it before the paad thai, so I also ordered some chicken tom yam soup, which is hot, sour, and delicious. Then it started raining. Hard. Luckily I had a canopy over my head. I finished my beer soon after it started raining, and if that isn't the perfect excuse to have another one, I don't know what is.
The beer they have in Thailand is pretty strong.
I like Paad Thai.
Chicken Tom Yam Soup. Very, very good.
I had some companionship for dinner.
Glad I wasn't out in that.
Quite the feast!
After the rain died down I went and wandered around some more. They had a lot of people offering for massages. I kept refusing, but then I realized that it was about $3 US for 15 minutes, so...why not? It felt goood.
I took a few pictures, but right now I'm at a public computer and I don't think it has a SD card slot, so...you guys can wait. I think I'll go to my room, listen to the song "One Night In Bangkok" by Falco, and fall asleep. Yesss.
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