Finally woke up again, and found I have email from a 63-year-old Chinese guy in Bangkok. He’s been following my adventures on Spin-List (the handspinner’s mailing list) and wants to meet me for lunch Sunday–he doesn’t speak much English or Thai (his native language is Mandarin Chinese), but wants to meet me.

This sounds just bizarre enough that I have to do it–although, he did warn me that he probably can’t help much w/sightseeing etc. because he doesn’t know Bangkok very well. He’s lived here 15 years and hasn’t yet had the courage to catch a bus (!). He offered to pick me up at my hotel, but I rather think I’ll meet him at the lunch spot…safer for me and means I get to see a bit more of the city. It may turn out to be a horribly boring experience (at least a 50% chance), but it’ll help me brush up my Mandarin, and it’s a good chance to meet with a local resident–so I think I’ll go, if I’m still in Bangkok.

I’ve now heard from quite a few people on Bali–I gather it’s major news back in the U.S.. It is here too, of course, but people are perhaps more philosophical about it (?)–basically, if a bomb goes off, you die, but the odds of getting “lucky” are probably on the order of getting hit by an earthquake in California. I’m reevaluating my travel plans for Bali, but haven’t canceled them yet–I’m going to wait and see what happens. My guess is that if tourism goes through the floor (which I’m pretty much expecting), there will be no further incidents and I can go. If there’s additional trouble, I’ll probably skip Bali and stick with the beaches in Thailand.

I am of course a bit worried about terrorism in Thailand (and the rest of Southeast Asia). I mean, I spent last night tripping through the exact same kind of club that got blown up in Bali (popular, packed with Western tourists, etc.)–which does give one pause. But Thailand mostly gets Asian tourism, and doesn’t have the terrorist infrastructure that Indonesia does, so I think it’s basically safe. If not, well, fuck it; I’m here, and I’m staying. You can’t travel without taking risks.

Off for dinner, and then not sure what next–I may go poke around the Siam Square shopping center, or I may go look for the scorpion-seller in Patpong. Or, I might go back and plan my travels–I’m thinking I might go spend a week on the beaches of Ko Samui before returning to Bangkok for the party on the 26th. Haven’t decided yet, in part it depends on what I hear back. I just fired off some emails to the travel agent in Burma, to Nima, and to the woman I met last night who knows the person in the AIDS NGO, so we’ll see what happens. I’m also giong to try calling the AIDS expert from san Francisco.

Well, yesterday was interesting. I think I have now established my reputation in the expat community in Thailand (at least, I’m pretty certain they’ll remember me…things got just a little bit wild last night ). But, I’m getting ahead of myself…

Yesterday I decided to team up with two Western/Caucasian women and do the standard tourist tour. All the guidebooks say the Grand Palace is incredible and a must-see, and I will add my insight: the Grand Palace is incredible, and a must-see. Words can’t describe it, so I’ll try to get my pictures uploaded. Incredibly ornate, and often very beautiful decoration; an entire wall of mother-of-pearl inlaid pictures; an whole temple complex covered in detailed mosaic; and gold leaf and lotus blossom everywhere. They have a huge reclining Buddha entirely covered in gold–the toes alone are twenty feet tall, and the head must be 40-60 feet up–the temple was built around the statue (!) It’s impossible to catch the size in pictures, you have to see it for yourself.

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which is a Buddha statue probably about 18-24″ tall carved entirely out of green jasper, and draped in gold-and-diamond robes that change three times a year, is also really amazing. Unfortunately, because it’s also one of the most holy sites in Thailand, pictures are not allowed, so you’ll have to settle for postcards. I bought five yesterday and may go back again today, so five lucky winners will actually get photos (the rest of you should be receiving your yak shortly 😉 ).

I wish I’d had more time to spend there–unfortunately, since I was going around with two other women, I was stuck with their schedule. between that and trying to shoot with both digital and film cameras, I really didn’t get to *see* much of the complex–in my experience you can either go as a photographer or as an individual, but you can’t do both at the same time. Thinking composition is very different from seeing things directly–so, I’m going again both for myself and to get the writer’s view.

One of the things that’s struck me so far on my travels is how many different ways there are to see a country. I’m not going to discuss it now, because I’m still turning it over in the back of my head (and frankly, am too damn tired to wax philosophical–I was out just a wee bit late last night 🙂 ), but it’s very clear that my companions got a totally different view, and were looking for something completely different, than I was. Partly because as Caucasians they were instantly ID’d as tourists (I can “pass”–mostly–as long as I keep my mouth shut), partly because they were traveling short-term (1 week to 1 month) and trying to fit in as much as possible. Very different philosophy, very different approach. I’m not going to expound further until I get over last night’s festivities, though.

Anyway, after doing the temple tour we stopped by Wat Pho, the temple/massage school, for a half-hour massage. Thai massage is very different from Swedish massage in that it’s primarily working with pressure-points; it can be almost painful at times, but is very good at undoing knots…okay, my masseur was also damn cute, which didn’t hurt one bit. (If I didn’t mention it already, Thai men are seriously HOT–warm friendly appeal mixed with with elfin, delicate features. Surprising to me since I’ve never found Asian men attractive (despite being Asian myself). Thai women are also beautiful, but since my taste in women runs a bit more earthy it’s not quite as appealing to me, your mileage may vary.)

Umm…where was I? Oh, right. The massage therapist. I think he took a fancy to either me or my money–more likely the latter, as he got much friendlier after realizing I had both film *and* digital cameras (i.e., money). He kept trying to upsell me to a longer massage, and lounged around discreetly afterwards. I was glad I had company to discourage him, but now I’ll never know what he had planned to try…I’ve already been the target of a couple of scams, so another variant would have been interesting. I’m very glad I read through all the warnings, etc. before coming.

Anyway, I’m going back to the temple today for a 1 hour massage with Thai herbs and a 45-minute foot reflexology session (I have no idea WHAT that is, so I must find out 😉 ), so maybe I’ll run into him again. Or maybe not. Who knows?

Anyway, after the palace, I peeled off from the other two so I could visit a tailor. I ordered up two blouses and one pair of pants, which may be too delicate/nice for roughhousing in Asia–but they’ll have my measurements, which means I can order custom work once I get home, too.

Later that evening, I met Ben (Herve’s friend) at Barbican, the expat watering hole. The bar wasn’t especially interesting and Ben had to leave early (work), so I wound up going off with his cousin Nima, who works for the premier tourist-map printing company in Bangkok (daughter of the owner/guide writer).

Nima decided to take us all, especially me, on an impromptu “interesting” tour of Bangkok’s red-light district. Since I was hungry, and everyone else wanted to go shopping, she announced that she had just the thing–and was going to watch as I ate a maggot. (I think she was trying to gross me out; I don’t think she realized that Rob and I were breeding roaches, caterpillars, etc. for sale back when we were married.) This sounded perverse enough to be interesting, so I said sure.

After a fast tour past some amazing number of brothels (more on those after I catch up on sleep), we wound up at a small food stall where the guy had the most amazing array of stuff I’d seen. It was all deep-fried insects–mealworms, grasshoppers, pupating larvae, giant beetle-like things about 2″ long, and–yes–scorpions. Big black scorpions about 3″ long, tail up in stinging position. (Fortunately, the black ones aren’t venomous.)

Well. (a) I was hungry, (b) it was all cooked, so no parasites, and (c) I was obviously being dared to try it. It did occur to me that eating cold food from a street vendor was not the smartest of things to do, but I figured the experience was worth a bout of food poisoning, so what the hell: I got one of each. (I just wish I’d had a camera!) And decided to start with the pretty stuff, so I bit the head off the scorpion.

Well. Scorpions are crunchy, you know? They’re all shell (very chitinous), the bits get stuck in your teeth, and they really don’t have much meat on them. Of course, they’re supposed to be major-league aphrodesiacs (why do people only tell me these things AFTER I eat them??)…but as a culinary experience, they’re right up there with, umm, maggots, grasshoppers, and pupated beetle larvae. (The 2″ beetle-thing was supposed to be good for sleep, so I saved it for later. 😉 )

The main difference betwen scorpions and any other insect is that you’ll be picking bits of scorpion out of your teeth all evening–the shell is seriously crunchy and gets stuck pretty easily. So if you’re going to eat a scorpion, bring dental floss. 🙂

For the record, pretty much all of them tasted the same: musty, burnt soft-shell crab. Texture-wise, the pupating beetle was, um, gooshy. Squishy. Something like that. I’d say the best of the lot was the grasshopper–crunchy, not gooshy, but didn’t leave bits between my teeth–a great texture, as deep-fried insects go. I don’t recommend any of them if your tastes run towards anything better than musty cardboard…but, I suppose it’s worth trying at least once. 🙂

I did get one extra scorpion “to take home”–hey, you never know when you’ll need an extra-strength aphrodesiac, just slip one into your date’s drink and you’ll be, um, set–or something like that . Unfortunately one of the claws broke off while we were bar-hopping, so I have to find the guy again–I have a hapless recipient in mind, so once I figure out how to get it past customs, well…

So, after that we went shopping again, this time in a go-go-girl outfittery (I really think Nima was testing me). Nima was trying on black leather boots when I spotted the PERFECT G-string/bikini: hot pink sequins, with dangling pink-and-gold coins that sway absolutely outrageously. AIDS Lifecycle 2, here I come! The only thing it’s missing is tassels.

After that the evening was much less exciting–a few hours hopping through dance clubs, starting with Radio City Music Hall (which starred a Thai Elvis impersonator–he was pretty darn good, down to the lambchop sideburns, but it was the backup band that had me in stitches–imagine a bunch of Thai men in red satin suits attempting a goose-step march while playing the trombone (!), and you get the idea), going to a standard 80’s pop dance club, and finishing with a deep throbbing techno place. I will say that it’s a bit harder to dance the night away when all you’ve had since lunch is a couple of assorted insects and a lime margarita, but fortunately the AIDS Ride prepared me for just such exigencies–I now have the metabolism from hell.

Anyway, that was my evening last night–I think I’ve pretty much established my reputation in the expat community (Nima is one of those sorts who know absolutely everyone). Nima also invited me to “a big party” on the 26th–I’ll probably go, as it’s a good opportunity to meet people. I’ll probably leave Bangkok in the next few days, go north to Chiang Mai, and loop back for the party–although, I haven’t decided anything finally yet.

Also, one of the women I met last night has a friend who is working in an NGO that is doing some sort of AIDS work (I’m not sure exactly what because we were screaming at each other in a very loud bar), so I’m going to follow up on that as well. I just need to get into the local nonprofit circuit, then I’ll have another view of Southeast Asia. As I said earlier, there are all ways to visit/see a country–I intend to try most of them, while I’m here.

And now, off to bed–between being out way too late and jet lag, I only got four hours of sleep last night and the night before, so today’s a rest day. I might get out, and then I might not. We’ll see what happens. Maybe I’ll wake up at nightfall, and go see Bangkok in the night.

I should say, I’m glad my hotel has security. There was a guy following me when I came back last night–discreetly, at a distance of about 80 feet–but he faded away after I passed the security guard. I don’t know if he was really following me or if I was just being paranoid, but in any event, the double security (and nicer rooms) are well worthwhile. If I go night-hopping, I’ll be careful.

So, I spent today acclimating to Bangkok, which is to say that I didn’t do any targeted sightseeing, but walked around my local area a little bit, then took a bus to Pratunam Market, which is supposed to be a clothing mecca. Unfortunately, I’m nowhere near standard Thai sizes–Thai women tend to be short and slender, and prefer close-fitting, tailored garments. While I’m definitely short, I have the build of an ox and am muscular to boot (AIDS Lifecycle put me up to 150 lbs!), so I really didn’t find anything.

But, there are ten or fifteen tailor shops right near me–all of which advertise that they make up shirts, pants, etc. within eighteen hours and deliver right to your hotel, for insanely low prices–so I think I will go see them tomorrow. Eighteen hours? Heck, that’s faster than I can get my laundry to dry.

So far all I’ve seen is the mainstream textile stuff, but even that is pretty neat. There are some shirts that look almost like tie-dyes, but more complex–discharge-dyed (tied, bleached, then retied and redyed) into very intricate and beautiful patterns, almost like mandala tie-dyeing. I wish I spoke Thai, some of those pieces were gorgeous & I really wanted to talk to the maker. If I find a small sample–in a kerchief, perhaps–I may buy one and bring it with me.

There was also some of that intricate tied-resist work that I think of as more native to India–I forget the name, but I’ll see if I can get a picture.

But today I was basically out to acclimate and catch the “beat” of the city. It’s very bustling–the sidewalks aren’t sidewalks so much as a venue for street vendors–mostly food stalls, but also belts, purses, T-shirts, sunglasses, fake Rolexes, and all the other things you’d expect from street vendors.

There’s a weird mix of shops on the street: for example, within about 100 meters of my hotel (which is a little hole in the wall place), there’s a 7-11, a comedy club, at least ten street vendors selling hot-hot-hot noodles, deep-fried rice noodle balls, weird tropical fruits, etc.; three legit massage places, two obvious brothels, a cheap drinking hole for Westerners, and at least five custom tailoring shops. Dirt and piles of garbage everywhere. Oddly, I spotted a rat on the sidewalk in broad daylight–bad sign, as rats are nocturnal, you don’t normally see them in the day unless they’re ill. I hope it’s nothing serious.

Oh yeah, and there’s a Starbucks around the corner from me. I guess some things really *are* universal. Tomorrow morning I’m going to go check them out–yes, I know they’re evil, but they may have decaf. I’d probably sell my soul for decaf in a few more weeks.

But today was mostly acclimating, and trying to get a “feel” for the place. I haven’t got the “beat” of the city yet, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t duplicate it without a few more weeks at least, but I do seem to be re-orienting.

On the Asian-not-Asian front, people seem to start by assuming I’m Chinese-Thai–so I get Thai first, then Mandarin Chinese, then English. Fortunately I do speak pidgin Mandarin (at least better than I speak pidgin Thai), and it’s improving through exposure. Tomorrow I’m going to see where I can get a crash course in survival Thai–Ben gave me a few phrases tonight at dinner (he found me a sushi place!), but I really need more than that to function.

Not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow–I’ll probably start by sleeping in, then look for meditation classes, silk museums, temples, transvestite cabarets, art and history museums, shopping districts, craft artisans, and/or brothels, in no particular order. I do want to take a boat down the canals–it’s supposed to be the quickest way to get around Bangkok during rush hour. Traffic really *does* come to a dead standstill during rush hour, as I found out today.

Also starting to plan the rest of my month in Thailand–there are two major festivals in late October/early November, an elephant roundup, elephant treks, nature treks, meditation retreats, silk demonstrations, artisan crafters, stunning beaches, and diving instruction in various parts of Thailand throughout the month. Not to mention that tomorrow night I will probably meet the expat American community–some of them might have pointers, too. And, I’m tracking down the number of the Johns Hopkins AIDS program in Chiang Mai–I think they’d be good to talk to.

So much to do, so little time. 4-6 months SOUNDS like a lot…but to cover half a continent? i don’t think I could see half the U.S. in that much time, and the U.S. is incredibly culturally homogenous compared to Southeast Asia. The guidebook says to pick one thing and focus on it, but I think a random sampling is much more interesting.

Well, despite some concerns, I did manage to find my way back to my hotel in Tokyo, and thus wended my way back to the airport and thence to Bangkok. (I was, however, mortified to discover that I had spent two hours searching for a cybercafe about ten minutes from the hotel. Maybe I can buy a sense of direction in Bangkok; everything else seems readily available, and I could sure use one.)

Anyway, after a little fuss, I also managed to find my hotel, Suk 11 Hostel (http://www.suk11.com ) . It’s small but homey, the rooms are bare-bones but clean–bigger than my (considerably more expensive) room in Tokyo, but without the fancy bedding, etc. (Heck, I’ve paid $180/night for worse accommodations in Napa.) And I love the way they’ve done up the corridors–it’s impossible to describe, but I’ll take a picture tomorrow and post it, after I get my flashcard reader drivers installed on their computer.

(Oh yes, I forgot to mention my personal favorite reason for this place: they have a computer in the common rooms, so I don’t have to go hunting cybercafes. Yes, I know I’m pathetic, but I’m also a compulsive writer. You have no IDEA how long it takes to write things down longhand, in a paper journal.)

Not much in the way of notes on Bangkok, since I only just got here, but I saw a bit of the city on the way in. I’m not sure why the guidebooks say Westerners find it overwhelming–it reminds me of Taiwan, rather enjoyable really with the narrow, winding streets packed with street vendors selling everything from live chickens to (knock-off) designer clothing (sometimes right next to each other), people hanging laundry from their balconies, etc. As long as you don’t mind cars whizzing by and the occasional narrow miss (it just makes life a little sweeter knowing you could be run over by a rampaging motorcyclist at any moment), it’s actually pretty darn cool.

The only thing that *did* give me a double-take was the elephant I saw standing on the street corner. I have absolutely no idea why an elephant would be standing on a street corner in Bangkok (sounds like the start of a joke, doesn’t it?)–so, obviously I have to find out tomorrow. I understand that there’s a major problem with unemployed elephants, though–they were using a lot of them for logging, but the government banned elephant logging a few years back, so now they have a lot of elephants no one knows what to do with.

(I can’t help visualizing a bunch of sleazy elephants lounging about on street corners and in cafes, putting in job applications, filling out unemployment forms, and generally looking for trouble. Do elephants get a separate line at the unemployment office? 🙂 )

Ah, but the serendipity part. I was in the hotel in Tokyo, waiting for my shuttle, and I struck up a conversation with one of my fellow stranded travelers. He asked me what I did, I said, “Traveling,” he asked where, one thing led to another and we wound up swapping cards. Lo and behold, it turns out he’s working for San Francisco Public Health, infectious diseases division, and why is he in Bangkok? He’s presenting his WHO report on the state of AIDS in Burma. Ooh, neat. So, I worked my magic, he gave me a bunch of references/possible contacts, and he’s going to try calling me this week while he’s in town, so we can get together for dinner. If that doesn’t work out I may try emailing him once he gets back, it sounds like interesting stuff even if it doesn’t pan out here. But if it does work out, I’m pretty sure he could introduce me to a bunch of people around the area, especially in Burma. which would be way cool.

I’m thinking about going to Burma (Myanmar) now, btw–he recommended an old friend of his who’s also a travel agent, specializing in trips to Burma, & offered to connect me up to some other folk he knows there. For this one I may do a guided tour, though–I’ll email the travel agent, and see. Who knows where that might take me?

Tomorrow morning I’m also going to try calling Herve’s friend Ben–we were thinking of getting together on Tuesday at an American expat bar, where he’s going with a bunch of his friends. If he knows how to ship a yak, or knows someone who knows, you can all cower in terror. (You thought I was just going to send you postcards? Oh, the naivete. )

Although, it might not be a yak. It has suddenly occurred to me that Thailand has an elephant oversupply…and elephants are way cooler than yak. 🙂 Joe has helpfully pointed out that one can get a 40’x40’x40′ shipping container moved to the U.S. for as little as $1500…how many elephants can you fit into a shipping container? a Volkswagen Beetle? and what would be the correct packing algorithm for same?

–okay, I’m obviously getting punchy now, so I’ll stop here and go to bed. More tomorrow, once I’ve had a chance to get some sleep, get some food, and nose my way around a bit. 🙂

Oh yeah, one more note on Asia. This place doesn’t believe in decaf. Tomorrow, I go on a quest for Sanka–but I may have to start developing a caffeine tolerance. *That* should be interesting, since caffeine makes me hyper. (I mean, even *more* hyper. Hard to believe, isn’t it? 😉 )