searching for the "bang" in Bangkok

Bangkok, since I don't speak or understand Thai, is nothing to write home about, as far as I'm concerned. Then again, my first night was spent mostly sleeping from the entire day of traveling; I passed out at about 7 PM in the early, stuffy (it's a bit humid here) evening, then awakening from some odd sexual dreams (one involving an old co-worker of mine, from years ago, who gawd really knows I have NEVER thought of in that way, let alone anytime in the past three years, but there you go; I've had a lot of random thoughts the past 24 hours) at 1 AM, Monday morning. Bored in my guesthouse room, I wandered out into the streets, determined to view the river running along Banglamphu, the uber-touristy area I have chosen as home for my little time here. These ritzy hotels along the river seemed to have bought up that land-retail, and in the dark, early morning hours, I could see some oficious hotel attendants, guarding the gates to their hotels, so I didn't bother. It was a treat to wander back to my guesthouse, after one in the morning, and have a rather delicious small dish of chicken pad thai made, from a street vendor, at a price equivalent to about .75 cents. Beats the drive-bys back in the States, as far as I'm concerned.

Bangkok is a sprawling, at times modern but mostly grimy (and at times smelly, and usually not in the good way) metropolis. Today I took a cab across the river, to one of its suburbs, and was amazed again at how much one nook, one pocket of this city, can remind me of places I've been to before. I've been here a little over 24 hours and at times this city and its surrounding area has reminded me of Lima (for being so spread out, car-centric, dirty, and the plethora of pirated CDs and movies you can find on any corner), the highways of the Yucatan, Rio (for its lush, tropical vegetation within its city, which is very beautiful), Buenos Aires (for the massive traffic; pedestrians are dirt here; it is not uncommon for motorcycles to ride up on the sidewalks) and even the States for how easy it has been to navigate around here without knowing a lick of Thai (the airport and shopping complexes are very sterile and modern). Where Bangkok has differed, obviously, are all the Thais and Asians walking the streets, the tuk-tuks (the motorcycle-driven taxi carts that make a ruckus and spew plumes of smoke), the parade of motorcycles, and the pushcart vendors that are up and about seemingly anytime of the day. The motorcycles have, by far, been my favorites. The only romantic aesthetic I've seen so far have been the couples, usually with a gorgeous Thai young woman riding on the back, her arms wrapped around her partner or her body sexily turned to the side, her legs crossed, while they zip and swoosh through the endless traffic. The river, which I crossed on a ferry today, looks like a glorified (as in big) stream of sewer water. I also haven't had an earnest discussion with anybody since I left the States, and this, of course, is usually the most beautiful part of traveling: meeting somebody and shooting the shit with them.

I plan to change that in a couple of minutes. The sun is setting and I'm going to take the skytrain that swoops around the very heart of the city to get to Patpong, the infamous red-light district with go-go bars and several rooftop bars. I have already seen the main sights that this city has to offer (the Emerald Buddha and its housing was pretty neat), so I figure this is the richest, most Bangkokian experience I can be a part of. I wonder if many of the douchebag, jockish tourists that make up a heavy share of the Banglamphu crowd will be there, since it is further away. Either way, my bus for Surat Thani and the beachs of Southern Thailand await me early manana. That's what I'm really looking forward to. I feel like I've just been biding my time here, so I'm eager to leave. But hopefully, hopefully, I can see some wackiness or get in some minute trouble before I leave!