Arrival in Bangkok

After 33 hours of airline travel and waiting, waiting, and more waiting, I finally arrived in the humid furnace that is Bangkok. Immediately after leaving the airport, I was assaulted by an array of stimuli. Smells, both pleasant and down right rank, flashing billboards, and motorbikes, cars, and trucks wizzing by at alarming speeds, all greeted me on my taxi ride to my hostel. And the heat. It is strikingly similar to the 105 degree/40% humidity yoga sessions I've labored through back home. The only difference here is that one cannot escape the stickiness, whereas back home, you only have to deal with that for an hour. This is the farthest thing possible from the quiet and uneventful Wheaton. And I love it so far.

My SE Asian journey begins at C.O.W. Hostel (Citizens of the World), where I will be volunteering for 2 weeks in return for a free stay. Having been here not even 24 hours, I have met some really cool people from all over the world. At O'Hare, I met a fellow 23 year old Ohioan headed to Bangkok
 as well. We split a taxi to the hostel and after dropping our bags at the hostel, went out to explore the city. We found out quickly that the hostel is only a short walk away from Bangkok's infamous (or famous. Whatever you see it as) Soi Cowboy strip, known for its "Adult Entertainment". Groups of girls in scantily clad clothing call out to any male walking past their establishment, something that differs greatly from the U.S. where the gender roles are reversed in those situations. After being cat-called by dozens of Thai girls, we hopped in a cab to the famous backpacker destination in Bangkok, Khao San Road. Packed with thousands of other greasy faced hippies like myself, it is a people watchers heaven. Here we met four girls from the UK, ate cooked scorpion, were pestered by local Thais to pay them to take us to a nude ping pong show (which we did not see), saw by far the biggest rat (looked more like a small dog), and finally met more people from various other continents.

Already, I can tell that my stay here in Bangkok will be an intensely interesting, but also draining from all of the constant motion happening. Today, after sweating out a slow run through a small park by the hostel, I slowly meandered around the busy area, eating delicious pad thai from one of the hundreds of street vendors. After being on my feet all day, I took up some of the women wooing and calling at me from across the street for a foot massage, which cost $5 for an hour, which needless to say, felt amazing.

More updates to follow.

Jerry