on Bangkok

This blog entry is my nemesis; I have been thinking about it for more than a week now, and even started it last night. I reached a whopping two sentences (fewer words than just this) before succumbing to frustration. I liked Bangkok, for a variety of I think strange and personal reasons, but somehow trying to weave my ideas into some bare description of the city fails miserably.

Bangkok is just another big city. For as long as I can remember, I have resisted this phrase. London is not Paris, and New York is far different from London, despite what many on both sides of the Atlantic seem to believe (or is it like to tell themselves?). But Bangkok, well, it did remind of Seoul. No definable center. A scattered skyline. Cheap, but slightly inefficient, public transportation (in fairness to Seoul, it is positively light years ahead of Bangkok in this area). Seemingly good restaurants in every neighborhood. So why, if Bangkok offered nothing that felt new, did I like it?

First impressions matter. I cannot understand people who don't believe this. I am on the side that you can learn a tremendous amount about a person (or city) in a very short time. Bangkok airport is airy, modern, and convenient. It was easy to get on a bus that went straight to our hotel's street, and once we got to the hotel, my regular readers know what I saw- the Manchester United Bar and Restaurant of Thailand. How could I not be happy? Also, Jenny and I had agreed before we arrived on a loose itinerary. It pretty much consisted of Thai massages every day for her, shopping for some bargains, indulging in one temple for my curiosity, and finding good food. A very simple three and a half days, and of course we must avoid swine flu and watch the season kick off in the United bar. In long (I was going to say short but that wasn't), after busying ourselves and getting too little sleep in Vietnam, Bangkok was going to be about indulgence. So my travel partner and I were in agreement and stuck to this. Also important.

And we did eat well, if not always cheaply. I found some very cool original T-shirts (being that I am the poster child for Stuff White People Like, of course finding bargain shirts in Thailand is important to me...) and Jenny bought some cheap, fashionable clothing. We had hour long massages together and even visited two amazing temples- they were right across the river from each other. Convenient for tourists- way to think WAY ahead Bangkok. Even a couple of people, perhaps inevitably, trying to rip us off couldn't dampen our mood.

Perhaps our most memorable experience was drinks at sunset on the roof of the Banyan Tree hotel- I love posh hotels; perhaps a morbid fascination with what I cannot have. I similarly crave a Swiss watch. But I believe our most memorable experience was the low point of Bangkok. The famous Kho San Road. The meeting point for seemingly every young English speaking backpacker in all Asia. Expat hang out street. We have a similar street/neighbourhood in Seoul, but Itaewon is more nuanced than this street. Jenny and I hated it, even though we gave it a look and were so thirsty we sat in a horrible bar for a couple of beers. It is the sort of place any 18 year old in the world would think is the most amazing place on earth- I know I would have felt this way. And sadly, some 28 year olds, and even older, still seemed drawn to it. Why live abroad to immerse yourself with foreigners? Oh, I forgot, others who choose to live abroad are "like minded". Hogwash, or Pugwash if you will (yeah Doylie!).

I'm spending too long on a low point when I mean to simply say that our mutual revulsion at our surroundings gave us quite a laugh, and we were glad to be back in our rather more affluent hotel neighbourhood soon after. Perhaps it is smugness, but something about hating that place made me like Bangkok more. Knowing I could avoid this, as no doubt many sensible foreigners do also (a friend mentioned it in an email with some tips about Bangkok, and hated it also) gave me a frame of reference in Bangkok that I lacked in Vietnam. I understood Bangkok through the prism of Seoul, whereas in Vietnam even Bosnia and Turkey were grossly inadequate primers for the visceral nature of Hanoi. So Bangkok was quickly comfortable- I forgot, there are even Boots and loads of cheap(er than Seoul) English magazines.

This is the last blog I write in one draft; from now on they will be more polished as I've just written too many words to say I liked Bangkok because I felt comfortable and relaxed there. No more travel blogs; I have several ideas I've been shelving while trying to write this frustrating piece.