The similarities to Reykjavik and Bangkok

They both have two K's.

Dear Reader,

When I left off, I seem to remember something about saying I was going to walk around snapping pictures of Wats and taking water taxis. That day brought me to the grand palace, and under the scorching tropical sun, hundreds of tourists had descended upon the place. It is an amazing temple, glittering with gold, gems and tiny mirrors. I sat in on what appeared to be a service, a monk clad in the typical flowing orange cloth chanting away, and every Thai chanting in unison with him. It was pleasant, minimalist melody; three tones moving between each other, (C, D, F) made it sound like simple blues. Then, unexpectedly to me, the trio of pitches would shift up one half step (C#, D#, F#) and after being stuck in one "key" for so long, the shift was quite a jolt.

After wandering aimlessly a bit more, I came across Wat Po; home of the famous reclining Buddha. It really is a Buddha in repose; a massive golden figure, at least 100 feet long and at least one story high.

More street market by the river, more mangostine and romboton, and one spicyass-melt-you-face-off soup later (yum yum) the heat of the day was getting to me, and being clad in long sleeves, long pants and closed toe shoes, it was cold shower time. But of course, I only ended up getting myself more lost off my ass then before, BUT this time, with a much better sense of where generally I should go. Monuments and parks later, I finally came across my home stretch. Nothing feels better then a cold shower after a day of walking in 90+ heat and high humidity.

That being said, the nighttime temperature after a 90+ day is simply fantastic. Later on, a group of hostel-ites (Two britlanders, one Argentinian, a Dutchite and one americano) pile into a tuk-tuk and head for the world famous SkyBar in downtown Bangkok. Tuk-tuks are both great and terrible; their two-stroke engines (banned in most western countries) are throaty and noisy (hence the sound tuk-tuk) and an assault on air quality/environment. But like most enjoyable things in life that will end up killing you given enough time, they're really fun to ride in. This particular rooftop bar has a strict dress code of long pants, close-toe shoes (for men) and looking generally not like a messy tourist of Koh San Rd. And that being said, a couple of people in our group had no shoes that fit this bill. Thus began the odyssey to find the shoe that fits within the given requirements. Whenever you don't want something, it's there. Whenever you do want something, it isn't. There must be a scientific axiom describing this phenomenon.

SkyBar, is simply put, amazing. Luxurious, lavish, classy, tasteful... with good cocktails to boot. Perched on the 64th floor, the elevator doors opened and you are greeted by a bowing lady in a flowing dress, hands clasped together in traditional "Sawadee" greeting. You have your choice; terrace, lounging area with attentive, polite waitresses, or the standing only bar that litterally juts out into the sky and the only thing that separates you from certain death is a plexiglass/metal railing that spands the diameter of the bar. The bar that changes colors very slowly. Pictures will do better justice but currently I have no way to upload.

It is my philosophy that when ordering cocktails, (unless you know the bartenders drinking making capabilities or the bar is known specifically for craft cocktails) one should always order drinks that are all liquor. No water, juice or mixer to cut the drink. A good choice for this is the classic cocktail, the Negroni. A negroni I would make follows:

1 part gin
1 part dry vermouth (dolin works, carpano antique can also be used)
1 part campari

Add the campari first (it's thickest), the gin second (it thins out the excess campari in the measuring device and adds it to the drink), and vermouth last (it is usually the least expensive ingredient in this drink and thus, the most disposable when you rinse the measuring device).

And that's how to make a cheap-ass negroni :) Since each ingredient is added in equal proportion, (unless your bartender is a real noob) it's a difficult drink to get wrong and you'll get your moneys worth.

Next, you take your negroni and turn around and look at the a-fucking-mazing view of a supercity. Hypnotic to say the least. The drinks at SkyBar are not cheap by Bangkok standards, they are about on par with American or UK cocktails, however, it's not the drink you're paying for... it's simply a cover fee for a fantastic time, and it also happens to come with one free (and well made) drink.

After this experience and getting back to earth, bed.

The next day (yesterday), Sally-the-Brit and I ventured out in the afternoon sun in search of spicy-ass-melt-your-face-off food. We succeeded in this (can you believe it) and tucked into yellow curry. And then proceeded to have one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had; fish foot treatment. Don't know if that is the actual name, but it involves putting your feet in an aquarium full of little sucker type fish, who swarm onto your feet and lower legs and start munching away at whatever dead skin and whatnot your feet have accumulated. It feels so strange and your immediate reaction is to pull your feet out of the water, but when you hold on and remember that they're there to do good, not evil, it becomes a bit more bearable. And after a 15min fish treatment, how about a 1/2 hour foot massage, but of course. I already love foot massages, and this one was expertly done by a nice lady who I tried to speak to in horrible Thai, much to her amusement.



Today, I had the greatest conversation with a nice lady who runs a food stand close to the hostel I'm staying at; her English was actually quite good and she asked a million questions of me, where i came from, what I do, etc etc. She showed me a framed newspaper article of when her food stand was written up in a Bangkok news paper, after which her business increased quite a lot from what I could gather. My inept handling of chopsticks was hilarious to all around, as noodles would just not stay on. Then, she gave me an orange and two bags of asian peanuts, for FREE. (she emphasized the free part several times). I told her I could come back again. Little does she know what I'll come back with to inflect upon her... Mangostine!!

A train leaves for Chaing Mai soon. Away from the movement of Bangkok and onward to a luminous town in the north of Thailand.

Conduit closed.

-EZ