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05.19.2005 -- BANGKOK - THAILAND --
Bangkok Hutongs and Memories of Beijing...
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We are now in Bangkok - got here yesterday. We will not be here that long. It is the nut house we were expecting, and we will be ready to move on soon. We are staying in the Bella Bella "guest house". Guest houses are cheap hotels basically, common for backpackers. It is near Khoasan Road, a heavily touristed area full of backpackers, guest houses and shopping. We feel like we are in Boulder Colorado or on a really bad college spring break - really a combination of both. There are a few "lost souls" wondering about. No offense intended to the rastas and occasional surfer dudes that have a firm grasp on life and their own pursuit of a lifestyle beyond the comprehension of the typical rat race driven American... It is a lifestyle we are attempting to pursue in part for the next few months. Rest assured that we don't expect to have dreadlocks in February... dude.
In getting here, we spent the night in the Kuala Lumpur airport... it wasn't bad actually. There were plenty of couches and lots of people snoozing on them in addition to us. The airport is pretty amazing with plenty of schwanky fashion shops. It is reasonably new and a huge hub for SE Asia. The primary religion in the area is Muslim and it was apparent in the airport. A good portion of the women had scarfs (probably a different word for this) around their heads.
I did not mention that it is HOT here.... it isn't as much the heat as the humidity... my fingers are sticking to the keys right now and I took a shower not that long ago. Oh and it did cool down last night... maybe 5 degrees. The fact that the sun was not blasting us was good enough to get some sleep. No need for a blanket though. Jen Adams, a friend of Maggie's made us silk sleeping bags which have been very handy. Thanks Jen. Nobody has commented on the fact that mine says "pimp" and Maggie's says "ho". It is a nice touch though.
Maggie is snoozing right now due to a bit of an upset stomach. We have been healthy so far. Something she ate last night did not agree with her. She'd been to the toilet 4 times by noon. However, it is not as bad as it may sound.
Oh... did we mention that there was a Starbucks at the Forbidden City in Beijing. It is amazing where the Starbucks stores have popped up... there is one on Khoasan Rd a couple blocks away. We had a cup-o-joe at a Starbucks in the KL airport... and lets not forget to mention KFC's are all over china, McD's too of course and there is a BK lounge at the end of Khoasan. It is insane... while we have been to Starbucks, so far we have avoided all fast food. Not only is there some comfort in a Starbucks coffee, it is absolutely travel necessary to get a decent cup of coffee at the airport - not to mention the place was packed, by all nationalities.
Maggie is still out so I am going to continue on. I believe that I mentioned the water show at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda park in Xi'an. I am not kidding on the name of the Pagoda. However, I do not believe I mentioned our venture into a department store in Beijing. We were going to the shopping center (grocery) in the basement. Talk about having a cheap labor pool... we were greeted by a small fraction of the make up counter girls and a couple guys in suits. In total there were, lined up in a "V" pattern, 8 people that said ni-how, or hello in Chinese.
By the way, I am in our room right now typing this on my Treo 600 ... it is working out pretty good so far. I was hoping to burn a cd today with photos. However, the Roadstore CD burner we brought is out of juice and this particular room does not have even one outlet. What is that all about? I guess for 6 bucks, I should not complain too much. We have a ceiling fan, a window, a bed and a locking door. We even have a toilet and shower across the hall. Something that was interesting, to get the light and fan to work, you have to insert the the block of plastic that the key is attached to into a slot above the switch. This is a first for us.
I don't believe that we mentioned having met a couple East Germans - Bianca and Andreas. They live in Munich now. They had some interesting stories of their trip on the Trans-Siberian rail from Moscow. We have met a couple people that have taken this trip. It is a 6 day train ride, and everyone we spoke to enjoyed it. "Bring a book or two". We didn't ask the East Germans much about it, as the wall came down over 15 years ago. We both wanted to, but they were probably in their mid to late 20's making them early teens at best when the wall came down.
The Olympics will be in Beijing in 2008 and it looks like they are working hard to prepare. It is absolutely amazing how much construction is underway. While it might just be Beijing is this way, there were construction cranes everywhere you looked.
We have mentioned that prices are low in Beijing... but don't be fooled. You can easily spend a lot of money on dinner or shopping. They have western shopping malls and gourmet this and that. The upper class is definitely visible. There were plenty of expensive cars including Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, and even a couple Hummers. But you also have the guy that makes one Yuan (13 cents) for dusting the car.
Speaking of dust, it is dusty in Beijing. If it rains lightly and briefly, cars are just covered in dust. This happened the day before we got there and a big black Mercedes near the hostel we stayed was covered in brown crap... looked like someone shoved some horse dung on the car.
In Beijing, we stayed in a Hostel called Downtown Backpackers. It was down a Hutong about a mile or two from the forbidden city. I never knew the word Hutong before. It is basically an alley full of local shops, restaurants and homes. If you want to enjoy the people of Beijing, venture down the Hutongs. Kids are playing. People are buying their groceries. The "traditional" picture you see of an older man or woman contemplating the day is found down the Hutongs. They are hidden but surprisingly full of life day and night. We strolled down a couple hutongs both in Beijing and Xi'an and enjoyed that experience as much as walking on the Great Wall.
Hey... if you happen to read or hear about about a guy (Jeff) that is riding his bike across China or around the world, we might have met him - assuming it is the same guy. Question: if you are going to prepare to ride your bike around the world would you simply jog in your gym? We are a little worried about Jeff as he had some great gear, but not much of a game plan. He spent $4000 on his bike and baggage and has a computer with him as well as other stuff. We will keep our fingers crossed for him.
Back to Bangkok, Maggie is awake... and hungry... if we don't eat soon, I am as good as toast....which might be all she eats if her stomach doesn't improve.
-- Todd & Maggie
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