29 August 2008

Hi all,

I changed hotels today. I'm staying at Asha Guesthouse north of the Siam area (about 9 km north of where I was). Everything that was accessible from the last place is only another train ride by sky train and this hotel is about 1/3 the price of the other. I also am now sharing a multi stall/shower bathroom with the whole floor and my room doesn't have a/c or a phone. (I could get a room with a/c for 100 baht more). I'd rather pay less and save my money for fun stuff. :-) AND... the best thing about this neighborhood is that I found a salon and got a hair cut tonight for 150 baht ($5-6)! Although product or not - I'm in Thailand which translates to ... flat, sweaty hair. Great pics!! So much for style! But at least the mop is gone! :-) Yay!!! Oh yah... Internet is included in the room price so I'm saving even more (about 100-200 baht per day). All I have to do is go to the bar/pool table/swimming pool room with my laptop and plug in. I'm sitting at a table made of carved wood and drinking Schweppes Manao Soda (cost is 20 baht for those interested... the cold bottled water cost me 10 baht).

Today was spent getting to this hotel, answering e-mail, IM'ing and then shopping. For those of you that like inexpensive fun clothes, you might love Bangkok. Unless of course you don't like swap meets! Heh heh heh! There are a billion vendors on the streets and the malls are full of electronics. I could have bought a U2 cd today for 350 baht. Hmm... that translates to $10-11 USD - I think I could have bought it in the US! Ah well - it was fun hearing one of my favorite cd's playing in a foreign mall!! I trekked several miles today in search of umbrellas, shirts and who knows what else. So what do I end up with? Paper cd holders, elephant coin purses, sweet treats, a pork kabob, papaya, a hair cut and a hair dryer. Hmm... I need to learn where to shop! The umbrellas apparently can be found at 7-11 on every corner. Oh yeah... and slippers. I still need slippers!

As for local stores that are the same... there are 7-11's, the same car dealers (Honda, Mercedes, Nissan...), Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut... probably a ton of others but I'm drawing a blank.

Bangkok reminds me of India in some ways and yet it feels safer? Traffic is nuts - there are overpasses for pedestrians to cross streets, lots of people, traffic, the scent of garbage (although not nearly as prevailing as it was in India). There are a lot fewer beggars too and poverty is not so blatantly apparent or maybe it's not as prevalent. At least in the areas I've been.

It's beautiful here. I hate shopping and bartering, but I feel comfortable here. Minus the taxi ride to this hotel of course. That was a bit hair-raising as I wasn't sure about the taxi driver. We argued over the meter and price after I was on my way. I kept thinking... if I need to jump - what do I have to take with me? And then he didn't know how to get to the hotel which did not relieve my concern! Poor guy. I overpaid by about 25 baht - not much. (Mostly because we'd already agreed on a price before I got in and he ran the meter). He didn't speak English and I don't speak Thai. Try following a map, watching street signs to make sure you're on the right road, and hoping the guy isn't going to take a detour and confuse you... and then he pulls over for directions! ARGH!! By the time I got to my hotel, booked my room and closed my door... it was time for chocolate and a nervous moment of sitting on my bed wondering why I bothered to save myself $60+ to go through all this. And what the heck was I thinking - traveling alone! Ah well. The rest of the day went fine.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a bit more fun with temples or some other sight seeing. I am NOT a clothes shopper so today was a bit challenging! Although it's fun to see the city. I also went to the 43rd floor of the Baiyoke Tower - view of the entire city, Pratunam Market, Pantip Plaza ( a mall for computers, cameras, DVDs, CDs...) and the billion vendors nearby. I'm looking at the map and now I'm wondering if I was at the Pratunam Market - there were a lot of vendors but I'm not sure it was the market. Hmm.... might need to ask about that.

I still need a cell phone which will require a detour to the MBK Center (one block from where I was staying last night). MBK is a 7(?) story mall with a full floor dedicated to cell phones and a ton of other stuff... cosmetics, clothes, strange looking dried goods and cooked goods. It also has a vendor with tasty treats that I'd like to sample again (pictured below for the curious)! The yellow coconut and the white is a cream/marshmallow, all on a taco looking flat thing that tastes like a sugar cone.










Hope things are going well for all of you.

Love and hugs,
jaz