Bangkok Night 1

Like being reborn again after 21 hours of air flight, you enter a foreign land so different that your pulse begins to accelerate in anticipation of the events to come. You exit the airport to an intense heat that nearly takes your breathe away, then you realize it’s 10pm. The frantic traffic is like organized chaos with no rules, yet things seem to function as the cabby weaves at blinding speeds. Welcome to Bangkok.

The first night adreline is your only source of energy. Some how you manage to stay alert and yearn to check out what’s going on. You emerge onto the streets of Bangkok; sensory overload. The sights, smells and sounds overtake almost as much as the heat. Tuk tuks wizzing by at break neck speed, motorbikes skillfully negotiate solid traffic jams with precision.

The city is alive with people moving as one mass. Food carts line the streets with unique fare that tantalizes the senses. The tourist areas run amok with sleazy characters selling ‘sexy DVD’ or offer more dubious services such as the famed Bangkok ‘ping pong’ show. You come to a neon lit area and notice an abundance of fat sleazy looking old men. You see the bars and they look much like those of America, then you notice it’s all girls sitting alone calling for your company. Strange, you walk some more and the streets are lined with women who are giving you a ‘cat call’. Suddenly, a figure grabs your arm and attempts to pull you into their clutches. You struggle in disgust once you realize it’s a dude, dude, however many a drunken Englishmen can be seen with a ‘girl’ that has unusually broad shoulders.

The next day the jet lag hits and it feels as if you been beaten in a burlap sack with a bamboo reed. You continue on out of sheer determination. Everything seems as though it’s backwards, yet you feel welcomed and safe no matter where you are. While in Bangkok you are the minority, but you never feel uncomfortable.

Anticipation for the next few days grows and the city acts as if it is an intoxicant. After your first night, you either love it or hate it, I of course love it, while my sis was simply not cut out for this place…

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