Heading to Bangkok

I have to say the Koh Samui airport, though small, is one of the best I've been to.  Just the men's room was pretty spectacular - with frosted sliding glass doors opening onto a huge bubbling aqarium.  The stalls were big, with a shelf for my satchel and very private with full size locking doors.  And air conditioned!  And best of all, no mosquitoes biting my back and bum.  What a revelation.

And Bangkok Airways has it's own gates, with excellent wifi and a snack area!  They have platters of mini-pastries and buns and weird Thai desserts.  Two of the pastries had chicken, so they were actually pretty substantial (I didn't try them).  They had a popcorn thing like you'd see at a carnival with little bags to put the popcorn in.  They had ice coffee on tap, and hot coffee and tea and lots of icky orange type drinks.  And water dispensers so I could fill my bottle up - with cold water!

And comfortable couches and rattan chairs.  All in big open air lounges.  Really something amazing.  When it's time to board, you walk out to little trams that wisk you away to the runway.  I was sitting on a very comfy couch when a polite Bangkok Airways attendent leaned down and said "Sir? - your flight is boarding now".  Oops.

I had two early morning swims at sunrise.  It was hard to say goodbye to that lovely bay.  Some of the wait staff at the restaurant were very warm in saying goodbye.  They must see hundreds and hundreds of us come and go, but I think they are really sincere in their warmth and friendliness.  They work really hard - someone told me 12 hour days!  

I left a very good tip in the tip box and I know most of my students did as well.  The woman who had given me so many great massages happened to be out on the beach as my ferry was pulling away, so I got to wave goodbye to her.  That was sweet.   I left Eli, my 18 year old student on the island - the last one left.  He gets to stay for one more day.  Marco and Nika took the ferry with me.  Nika was my first EFT practitioner way way back (I was client) and Marco took my workshop.  That was a sweet and unexpected blessing, having them with me.

Okay, now I'm in Bangkok, at the Buddy Hotel on Khao San Road.  My whole family was here ten years ago (not at this hotel) and we LOVED it.  The atmosphere at night struck Krista and I as a magical carnival and we were swept away by it.  Unfortunately, a lot seems to have changed in ten years.

The street isn't super long - it might be the equivalent of ten blocks or more.  It's blocked off from cars and has tons of vendors selling t-shirts, cheap clothing, fake IDs (seriously), scorpions on a stick, pad thai for 30 baht, drinks, hammocks, you name it.  There are countless streetside cafes and shops.  It could be quite charming except for the godawful noise.  I can't even call it music.  Pretty much every street bar is blaring electronic music and top volume - places right next to eachother, or across the street from one another.  It's so fucking loud that it hurts.  Communication involves shouting or screaming if it can happen at all.  

I mean, seriously, what a nightmare.  I saw a few people "dancing" here and there - getting into the spirit of the thing I guess, but most folks just look distressed to me.  I walked the length of the street and back, eating some pad thai, but after a short while I couldn't eat anymore - too disruptive to my body.  The vast majority of the tourists here are young white kids from Europe or the states.  So maybe they like it?  I felt asaulted and had to ask myself - what the fuck am I doing here?!  

The guy at the front desk says the 'music' is over at 2pm.  I hope I can get to sleep earlier than that!  My taxi leaves for the airport at 7:30am.

The Great Pai Debate

Temple Elephants, originally uploaded by Robbi Baba.

After deciding to definitely travel up to the little village of Pai (about a four hour bus ride from Chaing Mai) I began reading posts on the Lonely Planet's thorntree forum--and was dismayed to find near universal condemnation of Pai due to the over development and the kind of culturally insensitive westerners who are drawn to it. Thorntree posters referred to Pai as the Khao San Road of the North--KSR being a section of Bangkok that caters to party going backpackers looking for disco bars, cheap digs and a rowdy time.
Not the real, authentic Thailand. Just a big party scene concocted to milk money out of tourists.
With that bit of discouraging news I began looking for a different destination. After all, I don't drink, don't "party", don't like 'techno' or disco or whatever it's called these days. I was rather picturing a quiet time in a hammock by the river.
But then I asked India what her favorite times in Thailand were. Khao San Road was near the top. We landed there near the end of our Thailand Sojourn and had a really good time. The atmosphere was like a carnival at night.
I remember being truly exhausted from our travels, then looking out of our hotel window, down onto the street and feeling an overwhelming desire to get out there! And we did! It was a surreal scene and we met some trippy folks, had the best pad thai ever--cooked up by a woman with a tiny cart on the sidewalk and stumbled around in the hot, smoky, colorful atmoshpere. We totally enjoyed it.
So I've come full circle thinking about Pai.
I'll probably give it a try after all. And if I hate it, there's always Soppong up the road.