Portland to Beijing to Bangkok

Today it seems like months ago we flew into Bangkok. In reality, it has only been eleven days. Vacation makes you forget about time and obligations. I finally get to sit down to a book and be still, which for those that know me, it's difficult. I am always moving around, working on projects, problem solving, organizing... Now, I am on a beautiful island in the south eastern region of Thailand and don't want to ever leave. I love not making my bed or cooking, but that is why it is a vacation. This entry will be about our arrival to Bangkok and our short stay there. In total, we traveled for twenty-four hours. Our initial flight was to San Francisco and then another to the smoggy un-air conditioned airport of Beijing. At SF we boarded China Air, which was comparable to Ethiopian Airlines. Cramped, no movies, and gnarly dishes that one can hardly call food. We were greeted with a middle aged Chinese woman screaming to an attendant about her bag not being directly above her head, as I inferred because I don't speak Mandarin. I looked at Gabbie and faintly chanted "fight, fight, fight," we both giggled. The rest of the flight was uneventful and incommodious, to say the least. The best way to describe the staff would be "not gentle" and it was a twelve hour flight. From Beijing to Bangkok, I rested my eyes and we were finally at our destination. Groggily, we shuffled to get our bags, exchange money, and find a metered taxi. I embraced the warm humid air and have been sweating profusely since. In Bangkok, we always stay at The Buddy Lodge. The price is right, they have a pool, gym, and it is centrally located to where we like to go. It is nestled on the infamous Kao San road, where young travelers buy cheap tank tops, "traditional" Thai clothing, and other relatively cheap goods. Imagine a twenty year old, red from the sun, sweating in the face, unkept hair, the smell of three day old body odor, staggering from too many beers, wearing long crotched pants made from a wild Thai print cloth, a dingy t-shirt, flip-flops, and sunglasses. Some of them have been here for months, some for days. Gabbie and I soon realized our age, but brushed off the feeling being old and laughed at their naivety. We sure can be judgmental bitches when we want to be - wink. The street itself homes many travelers. During the day it is calm and also a good time to negotiate for goods. When the sun sets and nightfall arrives, party lights are turned on, the music is cranked up, and the debauchery begins. Youths dance in the street littered with food carts and mini bars. The hookahs are lighted, beer bottles clink, and the party doesn't end until the sun comes up again. Gabbie and I go to bed early and roll our eyes at the kids shouting and stumbling amongst the hotel halls at 4 AM. During the day we did our usual things: massage, eat, take pictures, eat, stroll amongst street markets, and eat some more. The street food is actually amazing and even more amazingly cheap. We stick to the carts where Thai people are eating and that are frequented. No one wants Pad Thai noodles that have been sitting out for hours, swarmed with flies. Gabbie did drag me to an infectious disease/Crime lab museum. It was fascinating to see such detailed dioramas of malaria and elephantitis. There was also a section on real samples of unusual birth defects. It was a bit disturbing but gripping to see dead babies, suspend in jars, with two heads or their intestines piled outside of their bodies. I was captivated by the section that demonstrated what size babies are in the womb, at different stages of growth. My sister is pregnant, with a little girl whom I have named Estella, and to visually see the size she is at was cool. She is almost as tall as me and in the womb. Okay, I am not that short and being in Thailand actually boasts my ego into believing that I am average. Bangkok is fun, but I'd rather be where I am today, on an island, in the jungle, in a beautifully handcrafted teak bungalow. There is where we went and I will be posting about that soon.