Time travel, a day lost

Januar 14th…suddenly the 16th

My last day in Northern California, despite all best efforts, was still frenetically crazed and rushed up until literally the very last moment before boarding my plane. I really think only I can reach this level of ridiculousness. Unfortunately I blundered yet again, the camera thing was embarassing but this takes the cake (almost don’t even want to divulge this piece of the story but I will for the sake of capture and completeness). In the pre trip insanity and packing, I had certainly remembered that I did need my passport but that’s about where my thoughts regarding passports ended. Somehow, I halfwittedly packed my passport with all my other items I planned on checking! And when did I realize this error? Ya, as I was nearing the front of the check in line. Only when at the front did my mind click and realize “wait….I probably need something to get on this flight….oh crap!”. I quietly slipped out of line when I could and sulked for a little bit in a seating area ripping apart my packed cardboard box full of my panniers (bike bags) like a mad man searching for where my passport was. Passport finally in hand, phew, but dilemma two, now I have a cardboard box that is all strewn apart in need of a retape and here I am without any tape. One phone call later and like the guardian angel of packing tape, my amazing friend Rachel (who dropped me off 20min prior) came to my rescue with fresh tape to reseal the box. When I say “amazing” friend I really mean amazingly spectacular lifesaving friend. I owe this trip in part to Rachel in multiple ways: not only did she save my sorry ass by giving me more tape but she turned the seemingly impossible task of closing my shop and packing or selling every last thing I own into something that was accomplished in the matter of a few days. Tip of my proverbial hat to you, I hope we can do our own traveling sometime soon!

Passport issue sorted out with only 30 mins to spare before boarding. Breezed through security and sat at the gate for only a brief moment. I flew Eva Air and with confidence I can say they are the best airline I’ve ever flown with. Very well kept and relatively new Boeing 777 which is whisper quiet compared to older planes; my noise canceling headphones weren’t even necessary really! Meals were rather enjoyable and they definitely keep the food coming; I somehow ended up with 3 square meals between the two flights and felt very full. My only critique would be that there was an abuse of butter usage in substitution for flavor/spicing; of course tastes good but is heavy and gets boring (especially after 3 meals). After all the distress I’ve had prior to the flight, I think I really deserved my next stroke of luck: I was assigned a seat next to the only empty seat on the plane! The entertainment unit was out of order for that seat and EVA must have chose not to seat anyone there (that also speaks volumes again about how great EVA is). The empty seat gave me plenty of room to splay myself out on and also allowed me to get up whenever I wanted without bothering someone else to move. I surprisingly ended up sleeping! Not only just sleeping, I think I got a full 8 hours; A real first for me. I wasn’t keeping track of time but the flight just seemed so short to me! I only had time to watch one movie (Around the World in 80 Days, somehow I never saw it prior) and read a measly two chapters of my book. After that we were already landing. I didn’t even take any heavy duty meds, just one Dramamine. All in all the most pleasing airline experience I ever had. Arriving in Taipei I had about an hour to kill and I walked the long terminal hallways in that time checking out the sights. Most interesting were the prayer rooms for Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity and a departure gate waiting area entirely themed with Hello Kitty (I wasn’t exactly sure how people were sitting there with a straight face).

 Lots of new languages for my ears to devour at the airport but at the same time still the comfortable sound of English. I was however suddenly getting the very new feeling of being quite tall, hmm, interesting. Flight to Bangkok departed out of a rather gloomy Taipei morning. Rather empty flight, plane was probably half full, I felt even a little bad for the airline for having to sacrifice the cost of flying. Was nice though since once again I had an empty seat next to me. Flight was rough the entire time but I had an entirely zen type thing going on in my mind and it didn’t bother me one bit, I just read more of my book and we landed before I knew it.

The new BKK airport is pretty impressive looking! Massive ceilings, very modern design, fairly straightforward layout although the transition into the immigration area was not the best. Through immigration was a breeze, not a word spoken to the officer, just a stamp and a wave on. Visa is free on arrival for 30 days (but unfortunately now only 15 days for when you leave and re-enter Thailand by land). Started a conversation with the man behind me in the immigration line. He incidently was from Monterey, CA and was on the same SFO flight I was. He was with his Thai wife visitng her family. We talked a little about what I was doing and what I should expect, etc. Very nice, they both wished me luck and off I went with my giant bike box and box of panniers both looking in good condition, phew. Signing for taxis was clearly marked and I made my way there. Knew before hand my large box may be a problem; they looked at me a little funny and called for a larger taxi which eventually came after some waiting. Taxi refused to run the meter and wanted a flat rate which from my prior reserach I knew was without a doubt a ripoff. I had to succumb though, couldn’t negotiate any as long as I needed to haul such a large box. Handed the cabby my printed map of the hostel I wanted to get to and got there without any incident. Checked in with the friendly staff even though I made no official reservation. Toured the grounds; really beautiful building, very well thought out and very modern looking, this is really a hostel like no other (I suppose perhaps a luxury hostel if such a thing had ever existed). It has met my expectations and then some.

 Its fairly far off the normal tourist area but within access to Skytrain (Bangkoks light rail system) and has the advantage of being tucked into a typical Thai neighborhood where you get full expsure to the locals. Just out the door basically is a great street filled with tons of street vendors selling all manner of things. Like all the markets here it really gets hopping at night. Later that day I unboxed my bike hoping everything was intact…generally, yes, everything fine. Only damage was the barrel adjuster bolt at the front brake cable stop (which needs to be replaced), the front fender mounting bracket which is totally broken and am just going to sacrifice the fenders and the front wheel is now slightly out of true. Bike is still rideable, would just like to get the barrel adjuster and wheel taken care of sooner rather than later; I figure it really could have been much worse though, I’m still happy.

After building the bike and sitting down to read for a little bit, I went to introduce myself to a group of people sitting together outside at the lounge area. All very nice people and we’ve already become good friends. We ended the night by eating some random “street meat” (on a stick I might add) and hitting the local outside bar where all the locals went for karaoeke. A couple rounds of beers between us ended up being less than 1 USD, pretty nuts. Today I made my first real venture into the heart of Bangkok. I decided to take a long walk from the hostel north and that was sure a trip. Just block after block of nothing short of insanity. The traffic is out of control and you really have to keep your wits about you walking around. As long as you’re not stupid though you’ll be fine, the drivers and moto riders cut close but make sure not to hit you. I somehow stumbled upon this Chinese neighborhood near the Mongolian embassy which on one side had the normal run down ratty looking buildings and streets and street vendors (selling bao and other things I go crazy for whenever Im in San Francisco) and then just a stones throw down I was suddenly was surrounded by an odd feeling of peacefulness and quiet. All the traffic noise, exhaust fumes and craziness was gone and mansions just everywhere. One thing I’ve already learned about Bangkok in my short stay so far is that it is truely a city of contrasts.

So I am staying at the hostel again tonight and possibly again tomorrow night but haven’t decided. Been trying to plan when to head off via bike but still haven’t decided whether I want to head south, north or east. I figure north or south are my best bets considering Id get to enjoy the full 30 days of my given Thai visa that way and when I return to Thailand I’ll only get 15. I was recommended south by the owner of the hostel, I may very well do that and then take the train back. The one thing I am sure about though is that I don’t want to navigate this city much by bike. Even for me, it is way too crazy. I’ll likely take a train out far enough to where it’s comfortable. Off to go grab some more delcious food and say hi to whoever checked in today

(Sorry for the lack of pictures, the computer I’m on is pitiful and freezes when I try to upload anything, will upload later)

17.Jan.09 South East Asia 2009