y seemingly easy trip from Chiang Mai straight south to Bangkok showed, the trains in China are (albeit crowded and difficult to book) a great experience. The train left over an hour late, with no real reason given...but the Thais waiting didn't seem bothered at all. It was also delayed at a stop in the middle of the night as a monk (or a man dressed as a monk) hopped on during a stop, and then wouldn't come out of the bathroom, most likely trying to sneak around buying a ticket. I was unable to get tickets for a sleeper, so had a seat, which reclined enough to be fairly comfortable. I realized soon after the train started that I probably wouldn't be getting much sleep. I generally can fall asleep in most places, if it only takes me awhile. But this train was so outrageously shaky that sleep wasn't going to happen. I'm always a much bigger fan of trains than buses (they have bathrooms, you can walk around, there's often a dining car) but in Thailand buses are so much more popular, that the sleeper buses definitely superior to the trains.
Peter (my colleague at JSTU-not my brother-who was enduring some nasty snow in Decorah at this time) called my cell phone just as planned, and I met up with him, checked into the hotel, and we headed out as soon as we could-as to not waste another gorgeous day. We spent the entire afternoon visiting the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Krew, an important temple nearby. The Grand Palace w
as an amazing, ornate, gorgeous, overwhelming set of structures. I'd write amazing in all caps if I didn't find that a little too obnoxious. There's a reason that I had trouble getting pictures not half blocked by another tourist, because you'd be a fool to be anywhere near and not visit the palace. Hit up my Picasa gallery for all the pictures. Peter and I are both big fans of leeching off guided tours, and we oscillated between a few of the English ones as we went through. Wat Phra Krew (or Wat Pho) had very cool, older looking stupas, which looked great against the afternoon sun. We wandered alongside the reclining Buddha, its main attraction, while Peter most likely got quickly annoyed at my continued questions (he studied religion in college).We creepily hung around the overpass near our hotel scouting out Danthemanstan, who had arrived, but in his short pay phone call from the airport, received only marginal directions about the hotel's location. We met up with him successfully and got some late dinner at an outdoor cafeteria that Peter had spotted the night before. Later that night Peter and I went to engage in a cultural experience across the street from our hotel (which was right in the middle of the tourist district along Soi 3, Soi 5, and Soi 7 on Sukhummvit Road).
Now, don't get all excited, yes we went to a go-go bar, but not quite as normal customers. We posted up at the bar, and did our best to surreptitiously do some close up people watching. During our time there, we were the only customers of the bar, as the other more adventurous (or one could say driven) customers headed to the couches belowe the dancing poles. The girls dancing were dressed, although not in a way that would have me bringing them back to meet my mom. The sex trade is an incredibly interesting, ever-present, historical industry; and even knowing that I was in Bangkok, the industry's flagship city, it was still a bit surprising just how clear and fast the path back to the clearly marked VIP room was. It also made me realize just how much more beers were going to be costing me in Bangkok compared to the north and northeast.
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