Rooftop tremors, paddle boats and barfbags

Again, a late post, but this one I wrote on the plane ride(s) home:



Trip home has been interesting. I met this 50-year-old Croatian woman with a shaved head at the Bangkok airport who sat next to me and, staring deeply into my eyes, discussed the joys and perils of being a single woman traveler. She was very sweet although her English at times was a bit confusing (possibly explaining the intense eye contact). She gave me some guava fruit she had bought but couldn’t eat and after swearing to me that it was safe, and after talking with her and realizing she was pretty trustworthy, I took her offering. As I was just biting into the second yummy slice of fruit she was telling a story about a guide/translator she had in Cambodia or somewhere who gave her the runaround. She was narrating her story and I swear I heard her say, “He, how you say? f-cked my head off” and I nearly choked on my fruit and thought “oh god, I just took food from a psycho bald lady who gives too much eye contact!” but I’m pretty sure it was just her English and either someone taught her the wrong phrase or I heard her wrong. I thought the whole train of thoughts running through my head were pretty damn funny and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing (she was self conscious about her English and might have been hurt had I start laughing). I think back and wonder if I should have made her clarify the phrase and corrected her.

The flight from Bangkok to Taipei was rather uneventful, except for the landing. The landing was awful with these huge careening bounces on the runway and my mediocre Patricia Cornwell book went careening out of my hands over the seat in front of me.

The flight on my 737 double-decker airbus from Taipei to San Fran was an ordeal. It was “The Flight From Hell” as my row dubbed it. It was a bonding experience. There was terrible turbulence the whole 11 hours with only brief respites. There were people throwing up from the constant rocking and dipping of the plane. I got contracted as the closest thing to a doctor the flight attendants could find and recommended some Dramamine and Tylenol for this sweet teenage boy in the row behind me who was sick as a dog and traveling with his older brother.

Speaking of sick, the youth hostel turned out to be a good place to make me really ready to go back home (view from my rooftop at left). The boys there were feverish with random illnesses, up at night vomiting from alcohol poisoning, and wrapped in gauze from dog bites and other mysterious illnesses. Note to self: If I have boys they are NOT backpacking in Asia without adult supervision! I felt old and crotchety. There may have been a time when I think I might have fit in with dreadlocked, possibly drug-addled, sick, binge drinker international travelers at a crummy youth hostel… but certainly not anymore. I started noticing earthquakes (or what I think were earthquakes but I’ve been told BKK isn’t on a fault line). My bed would either shake, or I would pitch from side to side in the divot in my sagging bed at night (it woke me up my last night). It could have been random vertigo (unlikely) or my imagination (also unlikely to wake me up in the middle of the night) but I think it was an earthquake or aftershock form a nearby fault. I also ran out of cash the last day and since no one anywhere takes credit cards and I couldn’t’ withdraw more cash I was pretty strapped and skipped more than a few meals. Luckily I found a fiver in my bag and exchanged it for enough money for cab fare to the airport to avoid taking the dreaded bus 552 (a long journey in a hot oven of a bus that is unreliable and possibly not even the right bus). I also discovered a cockroach while I packing, scurrying around in my bra no less. I smashed it with my Birkenstock leaving a lovely mess of pussy schmutz on my floor. So I was none too eager to leave the hostel and its sweating, sick, smelly kids and rooftop tremors. I arrived at the airport 5 ½ hours before my flight was scheduled to leave.

My last full day in Bangkok I explored the city rather thoroughly. I left close to 7 AM and hit up Siam Square (the Times Square of Asia). With nearly 10 million people Bangkok hardly feels third world. Their Sky Rail system is easy to manage and most everything is in both English and Thai (except for the best street food I found out but thanks to Tanya and Chris I was able to make do ordering non-touristy Thai food). Siam Square, I imagine, can be a bit overwhelming, but I explored it pretty early, from about 8ish in the morning until mid afternoon. Photo is as I was getting off the Sky Train to Siam Square.

The afternoon and evening I played in Lumphini Park (part of it pictured at left). The park was fabulous and huge and I occupied probably 3 hours or more just reading under trees, watching paddle boaters, joggers, people doing tai chi and masses of people (hundreds?) following some sort of jazzercise routine (I was so tempted to take pictures of this last spectacle but it was getting dark by this time. But it’s okay, the image of hundred of Thai jazzercising simultaneously has been burned permanently in my brain – for better or worse). After the park I went to a fun night bazaar which was really fun with diverse merchandise and a ferris wheel! Go figure!

So I write this from the airport in San Francisco. Full circle. My flight is full, boards in about 10 minutes, and marks the last 4 ½ hours before I can finally go home and curl into my own bed. It was a great adventure and I can see myself going back to Bangkok some day. But I will certainly stay in a real hotel and bring lots more money so I can shop properly (entrance to just one massive 9-story mall at left). The shopping there was amazing – and those who know me know I’m usually not a shopper. They had everything from the designer stuffs (Versace, Gucci, you name it) to cool funky one-of-a-kind boutique stuff, to cheap but surprisingly good knock-offs. There were also lots of silk merchants and handmade folk art trade type places. I intended on some serious gift buying but sadly ran out of cash… maybe next time! And I hope there will be a next time!

Thanks for joining me on this latest adventure! Stay tuned… there may be more ramblings in the future for your enjoyment (or my catharsis).