Southeast Asian Experience - Bangkok

I arrived in the Bangkok international airport around 2 a.m. Being that it was my first experience of Bangkok I one, did not know what was out there at night and two, did not know that Bangkok is prepared for early morning arrivals. I decided to sleep for a few hours in the airport before I took my leave to the city. I threw out my mat and slept by some store with my backpack as my body pillow. Around 6 a.m. I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and an airport busier than you can imagine. I found my way to a public bus station and headed for Khao San Road. This street is know as the backpackers haven and is rightfully called so. I got there pretty early in the morning and was amazed at the sight in the street. It was not crowded yet but had the feel of a typical urban street in Asia. I just wandered wide-eyed through the streets starring at the wires hanging like vines across the road, watching the onomatopoeic tuk-tuks whizzing haphazardly past me, and letting every thai on the street know that I wasn't looking for a taxi ride, tailored suit, or a zippo lighter the size of a small dog. Khao San road has plenty of hostels to choose from and after reflecting on my surroundings and losing about 8 gallons of sweat, I found one for 150 baht. This is about $5 back home. I was soon to realize how cheap everything is in Thailand. Most meals cost 50 baht/$1.30, shirts are 150 baht, guesthouses are 150-200 baht, and a taxi ride anywhere is around 50 baht. The best part about Thailand, though, is that everything is negotiable. Good bargaining skills and a few thai phrases can knock your price down anywhere from 50 baht to 150 baht. The first day was spent going around the side streets of Bangkok and checking out all of the various shops and street vendors. It really was a sight to see all of the different things being sold. You could get anything on the streets, like an iPod, fresh squeezed orange juice, brass knuckles, jewelry of all sorts, fruits I had never seen before, and even used shoes. Khao San Road is popularly known as a congregating place for people going out to party. I hadn't realized this until I went out on to the road the first night. The scene was quite different from what I had seen earlier that day. There were tons of people all over the place looking as excited as I was. After checking out the change in scene, meeting a bunch of new people, and somehow getting on the topic of the hottest club in Oslo, a cart with a bunch of people around it caught my eye. There was a little thai lady pushing a cart around with a battery-powered light hanging from it. As I got closer I realized what all of the commotion was about. She was selling something that most other vendors left out of their carts: crickets, worms, spiders, scorpions, and God knows what else. These little critters were not for fish bait or keeping as pets as you might generally assume; they were for eating. Now before you start talking about how gross it is, I must inform you that they were not raw. She cooked them to a nice crispy finish. And the best part was the seasoning she thought might take your mind off of the crunchy bug you are trying to swallow. I found it funny that people were actually ordering the seasoning like it was going to help. I just wanted to say "You know, that seasoning is quite bad for indigestion." It was around the third spider and second worm that had been eaten when I saw some people order a scorpion. I immediately started to make conversation about what they thought it was going to taste like. Most of the group refused their sample of the treat until it came around to me. Being that I am American, and most people assume that we all eat nasty things like on Fear Factor, they assumed I wanted it. I said screw it and took the seasoned scorpion and stared into this little guy's black eyes. With no hesitation, I took a chunk out of him. Now most people will tell you when they try something new that it always taste like chicken. These people have not eaten a scorpion. It was quite chewy and had a dull flavor that wasn't that bad, if it weren't for the hard shell on the outside making it feel like chewing a fingernail. But thank God for the seasoning. The next day I went around some of the temples around Bangkok. I saw the infamous reclining Buddha, Wat Suthat, and the throne where the revered King Rama IX sits. It was an interesting day of seeing the thai culture in Bangkok. I got to get out of the Khao San Road area and see a bit more of what Bangkok had to offer. The streets in the city are madness. Nobody obeys traffic laws, motorbikes whiz past everywhere with no concern of other cars, three wheeled "tuk-tuks" try to pick you up every five feet, and there is no such thing as "defensive driving". It was quite a sight to see. After I had been traveling around three countries and over six cities for longer than two weeks, I was ready to settle down and start my diving. I booked transportation to Koh Tao that night and got on the bus at 6 headed for the island. I was done with Bangkok... for now...