I made it to Bangkok. Pretty cool city so far. I can see why Thais are so well-known for their hospitality, you get smiles and little bows and courtesy everywhere. I'm working on my smile. Still, my taxi driver ripped me off about half an hour after I stepped off the plane, so no one's perfect. I had no idea they drive on the left here, I thought that was only in the former British colonies. Bangkok traffic lived up to its reputation, I sat in gridlock for a good chunk of my trip to the guesthouse from the airport and it seemed like business as usual. I was actually able to see a big dumb Hollywood movie this afternoon (10,000 B.C., it sucked), which was very satisfying in a brain-empyting kind of way except when I got the shits halfway through the movie and had to make a hasty exit over a sleeping moviegoer and when I reached around for toilet paper in the stall at the movie theater I realized there was none. No worries, I've learned to improvise, I survived relatively unscathed, I'll spare you the details unless you request otherwise (Note to self, bring ass paper everywhere while in SE Asia. Second note to self, a paper receipt can help out in a pinch). Ran around for a couple of hours trying to figure out my Cambodia travel plans, which is difficult because flights between Phnom Penh in Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh City/ Saigon seem to be scarce, perhaps for political reasons. Maybe for reasons similar to why there are no direct flights from Damascus to Jerusalem. Thai food rules and I had a cup of iced coffee that damn near knocked me off my feet, it was so good. Thick and rich and perfectly sweetened. Best cup since I left the States.
Anyway, the plan if I can make it happen is to jet out of here in 5 days to check out Angkor Wat. Totally psyched for that. I also want to make it to Phnom Penh to see the Killing Fields and S-21, the notorious Khmer Rouge prison that had something like only 7 survivors out of thousands of inmates. It's called himsa, folks.
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