Insomniak

It's early morning, and the sun is getting a workout trying to swim through the sea of smog - it's getting refracted at each stroke, resulting in an eery looking ball of orange donning a strange monocle. The moon, still high on the other side of the sky, begs for just one more tap of the snooze button, but no; Bangkok, the sleepless city, is at it again. The jungle of concrete - desert of vegetation - with temples blooming on every block. At its core, the city is infested. I've been warned repeatedly to watch out - 'don't catch anything, buddy' - well so far I've come down with some serious cases of streetfoodisallieverwanttoeatfortherestofmylife-arrea, temple-itis, and ihopemytravelinsurancepaysforthis-yllis.

It's extremely difficult for me to process everything, considering the scope of what I'm soaking through my pores consists of a lot more than exhaust fumes and particles of dirt. So this is going to have to be fairly black and white as far as any real description goes, as I'll try to swim through my own mental haze and illuminate a bit of this place for you.

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, sprawled out like a lying Buddha, yet as dense as a market, with everyone on top of each other, the very western notion of a 'personal bubble' popped immediately by a collective 'your in my way' needle. A city of extreme contrasts, from the sickening poverty of the slums, where entire families squeeze into shacks the size of my room (the term 'family' in Asia is a lot broader than ours, both in literal size and in terms of a true bond), to the 5 story glitz of shopping malls, which tout 360 degree catwalks, as loaded Thai teens flaunt the designer's latest, courtesy of daddy's plastic card. Either way, there is a degree of madness all around that is difficult to detect any method to. Case in point: traffic and waste. Rules get tossed to the side of the curb in the same manner as anything that you no longer fancy posessing. People stop at traffic lights (sometimes), but other than that, the collective attitude goes as follows - there's really nothing that's going to stop you from getting from A to B. Mopeds zoom in between cars, tuk-tuks (three wheeled moped/car hybrid) bunny hop onto sidewalks, and you can scamper across the road whenever you damn well please. It's a beautiful thing to watch; there's a fluidity here that I've never seen before, and above all, there are no accidents. Ironic eh? We have all these rules in the west, yet I think that just results in people feeling 'safe' and losing concentration. If you lost concentration on one of these streets, I can guarantee that you would not be safe. I fear for both your limbs and your ears, as you'd invariably end up on a stretcher or go deaf from the cacophony of honks aimed at you. My favorite is watching a pack of motorists waiting for a light to turn green. Everyone is stamping their hooves, revving up an individual nebula of pollutant, and the air thickens yet more with the anticipation for the prize color that will, hopefully, provide some type of laxative to the congestion. When green finally shows itself, its off to the races, with a resounding symphony of the deepest, most guttural bullfrog mating noises you've ever heard, sending the clean air scampering, as the entire intersection gets devoured by a thick paste of gaseous fumes, which in turn beats at your lungs like they're toy drums. I forgot to mention the pollution. "Going Green" goes on the side of the road with the trash. There is nothing like zipping through all of this insanity on the back of a motorbike, the notion that half of the VA state police would in hot pursuit right now, when in reality nobody here even acknowledges such outlaw behavior. Zig-zagging between cars, my knuckles white with a grip that wonders if I'm going to be alive in five minutes, and if were going to make it through that barely existent gap. oooo, yep, well I guess we just did. I was left sleep deprived for much of my time in Bangkok, as the excitement found its way into my blood stream, shooting me to a level of inebriation that I have rarely felt before. Pure insanity.

So where did I fit into all this noise? In the fine place of residence so accurately labeled "Sweety Guesthouse," which offered its luxurious accommodation for just north of three bucks a night. It was located right off of the backpacker city within a city, Khaosan Road (which is a sight to behold, a slew of street vendors selling food, clothes, pirated items, sex, massages, alcohol, basically anything that gets you rolling - for very cheap). I've already forgotten about the whole 'sweet as' thing, as I've now shifed to an affectionate "sweet eeee." My room consisted of a bed, a pillow, and...actually that's it. Shared bathrooms, cold showers, and the initially infamous 'squat toilets.' These beautiful contraptions took me three days to figure out, which speaks louder than the whine of a street vendor about my mechanical prowess, considering their bare simplicity. Genius over here didn't understand that you place your feet on the foot pads flanking the porcelain fishing hole, cast your goods down in, then instead of reeling back up, you take more water and send your 'line' to sleep with the fishes. Voualla. I grew quite fond of this form of existence, as it subtracts my hygiene from the list of worries, considering I am now on par with some of the locals. Guilt consumed me the next time I used a western toilet (it flushed itself! Are you kidding me?!?)

I was in Bangkok for the celebration of the Kings Birthday. Thai people treat their king with borderline deitic (that can't be a word, can it?) reverence, which is due to his lack of involvement in all things politically riskay, and his total involvement concerning anything that betters the life of the people. I've never seen such love for a monarch, as "long live the king" posters were everywhere, not to mention the fireworks display put on that turned the fourth of july into a lowly page for his majesty.

The real beauty of the city lies within the walls of the many Wats (temples). Soaring architecture is coupled with very anally detailed carvings and engravings to produce many a feast for a lens head such as a myself. Most house ornate Buddha images, and spawn a chedi (round pyramid type thing) nearby. The detail is stunning. A couple of samples for you to take a peek-see yourself...










I <3 the food
I <3 the people.

More on both another time though...There's a Wat hunt going on out there that I'm missing out on...