Friday, June 19, 2009

6-17 Chiang Rai to Bangkok

We woke to thunder in the distance. Outside looked dark with rain on the way. As we packed up, it began to rain cats & dogs-- It was really coming down! Another tasty but simple breakfast of Thai French toast was followed by in-room Thai massages to kill some time before our flight to Bangkok. In Thai massage, you keep on all your clothes and it's all about stretching and accu-pressure. It's the true deep-tissue massage. It was pretty funny to look over at one point and see this 100lb Thai girl walk on top of Chris from the soles of his feet all the way to his shoulders! They also chuckled at how inflexible we both were. It was a great 140min for $9. These are the way to go, even if you do have to endure a few sharp pains when they decide to jab you with an elbow.
We caught a flight to Bangkok at 1:30pm for about 1,500B, which is about $45. It would take 15+ hours via train and bus to get back and it would still cost $35, so plane was the obvious choice this time. The taxi ride into the city was interesting. The poor guy was telling us in broken English about how his wife left him to marry an American and moved to the US, leaving him to raise 2 children. Right after that, there was a huge noise and the car rattled. There's almost no shoulders on the left side of the highway, so we pulled over, half the car still in the fast lane. It was a bit nerve racking to see big rig trucks struggle to change lanes before smashing into us. We kept the door open, ready to launch out in an instant. The problem was not a blown tire, it was the rear bumper that habitually fell off and rubbed against the tire. A bit of handy work with a bungee cord and we were back on the road. This time though, we were doing 35mph as the bumper continued to rub somewhat. Another 10min into it and 2 more adjustments, the tire blew out. The whole fast lane was shut down. Luckily an empty taxi was behind us and we were back on the road in no time. We paid the fare to the other taxi since we felt sorry for him.
We arrived at our destination in the center of Bangkok, known as backpacker central, a.k.a Ko San Road. The street was jam-packed with tourists, food stalls, vendors, internet cafes, bars, and anything else imaginable for sale. After a few tips from passersby, we ended up getting a room in the center of the strip at the D&D Inn. A 7 story hotel with rooftop pool. The hotel was loaded to the gills with young bleach blond backpacking women. Too bad for them; they were all obnoxious British women so we paid no attention. US travelers are few and far between, which is nice. This is turning to be a major destination for Europeans, Kiwis, and Aussies. The hallway to the hotel was lined with 4 suit shops, no kidding. This place has more suit shops than Seattle has Starbucks! We got pounced on each time we passed by. Chris had one of the guys really hopeful. At $34 for a suit, even I was considering it. Each time Chris would tell the guy, "ok, I'm ready-- just kidding". It was pretty funny to watch these guys in action. They're worse than car salesman with the hard sell, but seem nice otherwise so they're fun to joke around with.
Both Chris and Matt Martin have GSM cell phones so they've been texting each other to set up a meeting point today. Matt landed in Bangkok from Bali today. He's been traveling for 2 months through New Zealand, Fiji, and a bit of Australia. We met up with Matt that night over dinner & drinks at Aquatina, a nice restaurant on the Chao Phraya Riverfront. All along the river are docks for public commuter ferry boats. Basically, it's a 50 person floating bus system up and down the river with many stops along the way. We were all pretty tired from traveling so we called it any early night after a few games of pool at the rooftop pool & bar.

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