American Dreamin'...

Bangkok, Thailand

August 17, 2007
N 13°43.165
E 100°31.552

After another day at the Indian Embassy we finally secured our visa for India. Nothing like cutting it close since our flight to Bombay is today. We decided to celebrate our new visas by heading up to the 31st floor of the Hilton for Happy Hour. Why not, especially since it is free, right?

Ascending in the elevator, we stopped at the 27th floor and on came Patrick and his friend, Janis. The previous evening we noticed Patrick and his American accent as we made our way back to our room. We had a brief “elevator conversation” and learned he too was traveling for an extended period of time and his friend Janis, from the Bay Area, was meeting him in Bangkok.

We grabbed a table overlooking the skyline of Bangkok and a few adult beverages and immediately started chatting about our travels and upcoming adventures. After a few minutes Christian, another American from Reno, Nevada joined us. He too is traveling for an extended period of time.

We all commented how rare it is to meet other Americans while traveling abroad. During our travels through South America and South East Asia we have met no more than a dozen Americans. Let alone Americans we consider “travelers”; people traveling for more than six months at a time. It’s even rarer to meet American backpackers and travelers at a swanky Hilton Happy Hour. Of course we were all using Hilton points, credits, and any other sorts of credit possible to avoid paying the exorbitant rates, and all of us were taking advantage of the free drinks, breakfasts and afternoon tea.

Our party then grew to six when yet one more American, Jenny, Christian’s travel partner, joined us. After making sure we all got our fill of free beverages, happy hour came to a close and the crew (all feeling very good now) decided to hit the streets of Bangkok. We wandered down to the pier, jumped on the hotel shuttle boat, crossed the river, and boarded the Sky Train. We found ourselves very close to the location where we enjoyed the woo-hoo show the previous night. Of course we continued drinking, trading stories, sharing dinner, and simply enjoying the company of other Americans.

Many may not understand how lonely it can be for American travelers today. Americans used to be warmly received in nearly any country. There used to be a sense of excitement when fellow travelers or locals discovered you were from the States. People wanted to talk to you and find out what it’s really like in the fabled land of America. Now it’s different; today the world’s perception of America is not a good, and it’s rare to receive a warm reception. Everyone seems to have an opinion about America; however, the majority of the people we meet have never set foot on American soil, or even took the time to have a proper conversation with an American.

A stereo-type has evolved over the past five years that all Americans are arrogant war mongers. And nearly all conversations ultimately lead to the war in Iraq and George W. Bush. No longer do people have sympathy for America and the heartbreaking events of September 11th. Now it seems America is feared, rather than revered.

This obviously makes it very difficult to engage in conversation with non-Americans. Occasionally we find travelers receptive to the idea that the majority of Americans are not fond of war and sincerely regret the tragic mistakes in Iraq. When we stumble upon these unique people we do our best to repair the damaged image of America; attempting to provide a fairly unbiased perspective on America and issues that we’re faced with in today’s world.

It was wonderful to finally meet a few American travelers, listen to familiar accents and stories and especially not have to discuss international politics. It was a nice ending to our perfect time in South East Asia.

Goodbye Bangkok, hello Bombay.

Back to Bangkok... (Rated PG13)

Bangkok, Thailand

August 15, 2007
N 13°43.165
E 100°31.552

Arriving in Bangkok for our second time in a fortnight we convinced ourselves that it would be easier to take the bus, again, even though or last experience left us both frustrated. The journey from the airport was pretty much the same, except this time we jumped off the bus as soon as we hit gridlock and boarded the overhead train the last 4 KMs to our hotel… at least that’s what we thought.

The oppressive Bangkok weather, nice and humid from the monsoon rains earlier in the day, had us drenched in sweat in a matter of minutes. We busted out for our last few nights in Bangkok and booked a stay at the Hilton. You would expect the Bangkok Hilton to be a large skyscraper and fairly easy to find, right? Wrong! Even though we had the address and the location for the Hilton on two maps, we quickly found ourselves to be running around like rats in a maze.

We walked in circles, up one side of the street and down the other, exhausted and searching, with no luck. Finally we stopped to ask a young traffic cop who pointed at a large white building… “Yes, Hilton, there Hilton.” That makes sense and off we went.

After another 20 minutes of stumbling through alleys, attempting to find an entrance to the large white building, we walked into the gold laden lobby of another hotel and asked for directions. I immediately knew we were not at the Hilton, but Marc asked the guy at the desk is this Hilton? “Yes, yes, Hilton”, was the response. I tried the same question with a lady at the reception desk, similar response…”Yes, this hotel.” Marc was now getting frustrated. Raising his voice he explained, “Yes, I know this is a hotel. Is this Hilton Hotel?” I was glad he paraphrased and didn’t say “Yes, I know this is a f’n hotel, but is this the f’n Hilton?”

Next he grabbed the concierge’s pen out of his hand and asked for a piece of paper. Acting like an uncouth American he quickly wrote word HILTON HOTEL and handed it to the bellboy. It appeared they finally understood, “Ahhhh, yes, yes, Hilton,” and pointed us across the street to a big blue building.

So off we went… smiling at the same Thai families that we now walked by four times, finishing their dinner at their plastic tables and chairs. Finally we found the big blue building. Shit… that place says Raffles International Hotel, but maybe it changed hands recently. We walked through the lobby and saw where “Hilton” had been scraped off the placards. Whew, this must be it; it’s the exact location on the map, maybe it’s now a Raffles.

When we approached the reception desk and asked if we were at the Hilton. The friendly woman at the desk gave us a wry smile and explained the Hilton move from the location 3 years ago. Oh great, we thought, now where is the g’damn Hilton. We pulled out our map from the new Bangkok International Airport and she told us, “No, bad map, bad map, old map”. Let me get this straight… Bangkok has a brand new international airport, but they distribute old, crappy, outdated, maps? Of course they do… why ask, why?

It was now around 4:20 PM, we landed at 1:05 PM, and we had to jump in a taxi to go across town in the middle of rush hour traffic. We were both very frustrated at this point, and to make it worse, Marc decided to remind me how we saved 200 Baht (or 6 dollars) by taking the bus, train, etc.; rather than a cab from the airport.

It took us another excruciating 40 minutes to travel the 10 KM, or 6.2 miles, across the city to our hotel. Both of us were now thoroughly drenched in sweat, hot, tired and very irritable. However, everything changed when we walked into the elegant, high ceiling, lobby of the Hilton. I whipped out my Hilton Honors Gold Member Card and we were immediately whisked away to the 31st floor for to a special check-in area, offered complimentary beverages and snacks, while they checked us into our room.

We tossed our gear in our room, showered and returned to the 31st floor to enjoy a free happy hour, sunset and the city lights. After a few glasses of wine (for me) and several glasses of scotch (for Marc), we decided Bangkok wasn’t so bad if this is where we stayed every time we visit!

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After a month of Thai food, we were ready for a change in cuisine. After Happy Hour ended we set out to find a sushi restaurant in the middle of the city. We enjoyed some fresh tuna, yellow jack, and a few other varieties of fish we can’t get at home. Good, but still not better than the sushi from North Beach Sushi, one of our favorites in San Francisco.

As we wandered down the crowded streets, lined by young Thai women, searching for our sushi restaurant we received several offers for dance shows. After dinner we figured we would catch a show; a compare and contrast between our visit in 2001 vs. 2007. After brief negotiations regarding price, quality of show, and number of drinks, between Marc and a shady looking Thai man, we were swiftly led through several back alleys and a few main streets before climbing a narrow staircase into a dark dance hall with pounding music.

The women on stage were dancing in their bikinis; except for one. She had her bikini bottom removed from one leg and tied to her thigh on the other leg. She was “smoking” a cigarette out of her woo-hoo. Yes, her woo-hoo. Hmmm, does this type of smoking cause cancer?

We followed the shady character to a vacant table where three young ladies immediately started talking to us as in pidgin English as we watched their friends on stage do their thing. Being “fresh meat” in the club the women began to multiply around us, all looking for “tips.” Marc explained to the ladies (that now multiplied to 8) about the tips they would NOT receive. "No more tips, no more tips!" and everyone quickly disappeared into the darkness, with the exception of the two ladies that got to us first. The ladies that remained massaged our arms and legs and made small talk. We explained we were on our honeymoon and staying at a cheap hotel on Sukumvit… lies, all lies. Even though we might act like newlyweds at times.

The show continued on the stage with ladies blowing out birthday candles, blowing horns, shooting ping pong balls, bananas, and pulling flowers out… this was called pussy flowers. The ladies varied in shape and body type. There were only two women I would consider hot, while most looked like they just delivered a baby, rippled belly, stretch marks and all.

Nostalgically, Marc commented about the Bangkok of old, where the grand finale was a young lady with a blow-gun accurately hitting balloons on the ceiling with darts. Oh well, I guess you can’t have your birthday cake and eat it too.

After finishing our beers we headed out… we had seen enough and decided to navigate our way out of the labyrinth of alleyways and back to our hotel. I think we laughed the whole way home.

Back to the Real World...

Krabi, Thailand

August 13, 2007
N 08°03.753
E 098°55.091

We arrived back in Krabi today; we fly back to Bangkok tomorrow. After nine days on the island of Koh Phi Phi Don it was time to head back to a world with cars, tuk-tuks and pollution. We had a fantastic time snorkeling at different reefs, discovering remote beaches by hiking through the jungle and countryside, and simply relaxing on the sand.

As the week on Ko Phi Phi progressed we continued to explore the island in greater depth. It was like unpeeling an onion, the shoreline looked perfect and rebuilt, but as we ventured toward the middle of the island the devastation from the tsunami was still very obvious.

Rebuilding efforts continue as barges move in and out everyday; unloading massive amounts of construction materials and then immediately making their way back to the mainland to get more supplies. We can only imagine what the shoreline looked like months after the tsunami—barges must have lined every inch of devastated beach.

Our departure from Koh Phi Phi was bittersweet. Bitter since we had a wonderful time enjoying the mellow vibe and perfect weather on the island. However, when considering how much still lies ahead, we’re ready to start exploring again. In the short term, we’re traveling to India to see Abbas Merchant, our friend from the infamous NorthPoint Communications days, and a quick visit to the Taj Mahal. Then we’re off to Prague, a city that has intrigued us for years.

We’ll look back at our time on Koh Phi Phi Don very fondly and, of course, plan to visit again… maybe very soon.