Back in Bangkok

I've only been in Bangkok 12 hours and I'm ready to leave. It's muggy, sticky, and polluted, and the number of people is overwhelming. I arrived at 5am this morning, only to be turned down at nearly every guesthouse. Full. If they weren't full, the rooms wre over $20. After a fair amount of time wandering up and down the dark streets, I finally settled to drop by bag at a guesthouse and wait for someone to checkout. Breakfast at 6am. Still no check-outs. Internet cafe at 6:30am. Phone call from Chhimi and Elizabeth. 8am, sorry no rooms available yet. Feeling greasy, grimy, and utterly disgusting, I resigned to changing my clothes in a public bathroom, brushing my teeth in the guesthouse reception area, and splashing water on my face from a public fountain. What a way to start what was going to be a very long day. I eventually got to check-in and shower, a long 4 hours after being dropped on Khoa San Road. Having already done much of the touristy things in Bangkok during my previous visit in November, I decided today would be spent enjoying a movie at the Siam CinaPlex and getting all of the formalities sorted out for India. Easier said than done.

The Indian embassy turns out to be a good 1-hour cab ride out of town, so I had to go through a travel agent. Untrusting of their fees and the truthfulness of the information provided, I shopped around and eventually found a place that was charging the correct price and seemed to be a legitamite business. 4,900 Baht, ouch. Plus, the visa won't be ready until the 19th--nearly 2 weeks from now. Oh well, I'll just hang out on the beach I suppose. Indian Visa, check.

Movie at the theater. I decided on Sweeny Tod from a slim selection of English language flicks. I enjoyed it, but the gruesomeness of it could have been toned down a bit. More than anything I enjoyed sitting in an airconditioned theater devouring as much popcorn as my stomach could handle. My favorite part of going to the movies in Thailand is the part just after the previews, just before the feature begins, when the audience all stands, as required by law, to pay tribute to the King as a pictoral story of his life illuminates the screen. 120 Bhat well spent.

After the movie, it was back to Khoa San Road via public bus to book a flight to India. Well, the skies decided to descend upon the city and let out its wrath. A torrential downpour ensued, leaving the streets flooded with murky, grey, flithy water up past my ankles. Yes, a public health nightmare. It was fun though to watch all of the tourists take those token, cheesy pictures of themselves standing in the folloded streets of Bangkok. I got nowhere with Jet Airways and ended up wasting money at the internet cafe trying to talk to a representative on Skype. She couldn't hear me, I couldn't understand her. Another 100 Baht gone. Money flew through my fingers today.

My last big task for the day was to get music added to my new Creative Zen MP3 player. I chose 13 albums to be uploaded from a book of thousands and was told to come back in an hour. Easy enough. An hour later, I'm told that the player won't synch with Windows Media Player and is defective. Aweseome, just my luck. It turns out however, that there is a branch of the store where I purchased it in Bangkok, so at least I don't have to schlep back up to Chiang Mai to get it replaced. And so now, instead of going to Ko Chang tomorrow morning to enjoy the beach and protected jungles, I'm hanging out in my favorite city for one more day. At first I was bummed, but this will give me the opportunity to finish up some job applications, book a ticket to India, and start making a plan for my arrival in Calcutta. It's just so expensive here, money is stressing me out. At this rate, I'll be home by August!