Back in Bangkok!

Six weeks and I'd had enough of India. I have got the hang of travelling around and the Indian railway system, but the touts and small children's demands of "hello... rupee!" made me feel more like a banknote on legs than a person. I will miss the outstanding food; I probably learnt more Hindi through words for different curries than any other way. Like Kung Fu Panda, the way to learning languages for me is through food :P India has taught me the importance of savouring every moment hedonistically - even if a million other people are doing the same things as me, I am experiencing that thing in a different way, and can have an individual perspective of the experience, which is what gives that experience importance. I've been taught greater tolerance, even though I can't understand what motivates the constant rushing to get somewhere, which includes pushing in in queues, when it seems to me everyone is rushing to get somewhere but noone is moving at all. The class barriers/income brackets in India seem to have the highest walls of any country.

Now I'm in Bangkok. I arrived early; at 0515 - with barely any sleep the night before, I stumbled around trying to find a hotel to fall into bed in. Everywhere was full! It was so difficult to find a place, I think I walked around with my full pack for 2 or 3 hours, managing to steal into a room in a hotel in the pretence of staying there for the night (it was far too expensive) to change out of my long pants and go to the toilet (I'd been busting for an hour!). Finally, when I'd almost given up, I went back to the first place I'd been and a double room had opened up. I think a large part of why it took so long to find a room was that I had to get used to how comparitively expensive Thailand is, coming from India. Not that anyone can call Thailand an expensive country by any means - I ended up settling on a dingy double room with shared bathroom for 6.70AUD per night. Once I'd spent the morning catching up on sleep, I could finally leave my bags at the hotel and check out the area properly. Now that I was awake and unburdened, I could fully appreciate the beauty of the area. My place was called Merry V guesthouse, on Soi Rambuttri, a road near to Khao Sanh Road, which is the tourist/hooligan hangout in Bangkok. Soi Rambuttri strongly contrasts with Khao Sanh Road during the daytime; it has beautiful paved roads with trees hanging over the street, which is lined with lovely guesthouses replete with water features. After India, this area felt so clean that I was astounded. I walked around for hours, getting a feel for the place and my bearings, stopping to grab some of the street pad thai on Khao Sanh Road (which costs less than an Australian dollar for a serving) and some satays, as well as dropping by a street stall for a minced pork omelette with rice for 40 baht - meat, I'd missed you so! Sated, I grabbed a Chang beer and wandered through the start of the nightlife on Khao Sanh Road until I felt tired again, and crashed, excited for the next day when I could explore some more!