Brisbane to Bangkok

So I've finally decided to start a blog because, with everyone worrying that I am either going to get kidnapped or die on my own accord while traveling in SE Asia, I've come to figure that this may be the easiest way for everyone to keep track of me.

I left Brisbane two days ago at five in the morning with tears streaming down my face and with a head full of great memories of the experiences and friendships of a lifetime, which I had made since I arrived in Australia in early February.

Heading out of Brisbane I experienced the same sense of curiosity and excitement and some of the same feelings that I had when I was on my way there five months ago. This similiarity only made my excitement grow for the coming adventure and, well, it has been quite an adventure thus far...

I got into Bangkok at about 9:30 on the night of July 3. The first wai (a greeting/sign of respect in which they put their hands together like they're praying, put them up to their chin and give you a little bow of the head) I experienced was while I was waiting in line to go through immigration when a young Thai girl dropped her passport and I picked it up for her. That was my first indication that I was, in fact, in Thailand. It didn't take long to get many many more signs, though.

I walked outside to get a taxi to my hostel in the city and was given this weird ticket thing, covered in Thai writing. I had a hard enough time explaining to the ticket-people where I was trying to go as, when I showed them the address, they couldn't understand the written English. So I had to go to the information booth and try and figure out on a map where it was so I could point it out. When I finally got in the cab the driver told me he'd take me to my hostel for 500 Bhat. I tried asking him to turn on the meter but, again, he didn't get what I was saying--or at least pretended not to, even after I was pointing at the meter, which was turned off. I was tired enough not to care that I was being ripped off so I paid him the money.

At the hostel I was supposed to meet my friend Pat, but he hadn't gotten into town yet because he had missed his layover in Singapore. Of course I didn't know this at the time, though I sort of assumed, but he ended up walking into the hostel an hour or two after me and I caught him in the lobby.

The hostel is really rediculously nice and there are a lot of Americans, Brits, and Germans. The people at the front desk are really helpful, and have even helped us get tickets for a Muay Thai boxing match for tonight (more to come on that later...). We hung out that night with three other American girls who were all really nice. We went out to a club on Patpong Road, but I have no idea what it's called. This was where I had my second real bout with culture shock that night.

We walked into the club and there was this really horrid cover band playing everything from Justin Timberlake to the Black Eyed Peas. Really really terrible band. But it was entertaining to say the least. Anyway, in the middle of the club there was one big round table which had been carved out in the middle to make a little stage thing (kinda hard to explain--the "stage" was raised off the ground but wasn't quite as tall as the table). The band would come out and sing from there and as soon as people realized that it existed, they started getting up and dancing on it. This one girl pulled her dress up to her waist and almost got kicked out. Then this old Indian guy with a turban on got on the table and started dancing with all these random young girls---real creeper. This was on my left. On my right was a white guy in his late 20's, maybe early 30's, who was dancing quite suggestively with and kissing two young Thai girls. Needless to say, this was not really my scene. I humoured it for a little while before deciding that I would much rather be at my hostel reading my book and catching up on sleep than watching this sort of this go on. So I went home and went to bed.

The next day was not quite as outrageous, though I still was experiencing some serious culture shock for other various reasons. I was so glad to have Pat around to help me adjust a bit before I'm out on my own. But those stories will have to come later as I need to go ahead and plan my trip up to Chang Mai now, before I head out for the Muay Thai boxing!

Though overwhelming at points, Thailand is pretty cool. Bangkok isn't quite my scene, but I am really looking forward to getting out of the major city and experiencing some laid-back, more rural Thai culture!