Day 02 - Friday, Oct 24, 2003
Bangkok

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- Amari Boulevard Hotel -
2:10 PM 2:11 PM 4:12 PM Light Rail Station From Light Rail Station
Dodo's 35th birthday, more or less. Slept heavily - Dodo got up once with a wicked headache and closed the curtains, woke again at 1:40 when housekeeping called. Girls were poolside; we showered, then met them for lunch by the pool.

- Bangkok -
4:57 PM 5:03 PM 5:39 PM 5:39 PM
Metro to Siam Square. Traffic in Bangkok really is bad, and the resulting pollution is terrible. We braved a few street crossings and veered off into Chinatown where the traffic was a bit less scary.

More Bangkok Pictures

- Chinatown -
6:16 PM 6:17 PM
Wandered Bangkok Chinatown; limeades 20 baht. Huge pyramids of fruit outside many shops, but no mangosteens. In the evening we took a tuk-tuk to Lemongrass, an elegant restaurant off Sukhumvit farther from center of town; after a lovely birthday dinner, we walked back to the hotel. Sukhumvit is lined with sidewalk vendors selling CDs, t-shirts, jewelry, souvenirs... and fried or roasted bugs (cicadas, scorpions, etc.)

- Patpong -
Then we dropped off our cameras, etc., and took a tuk-tuk (Ruth haggled down to 80 baht, with all 4 of us scrunched in the back again) to Patpong. The fabled sex district of Bangkok, it was a crowded little area with more markets and souvenirs. It's not all that red-light-districty compared to Amsterdam or Sydney, but there were bars offering sex shows. One whole separate pedestrian cul-de-sac was lined with gay bars, boy shows; we decided to be "equal opportunity exploiters" and did that first. Failing to realize from the brochure that the show was only at 10:30 and 12:30, we got there at 12:10, got our round of 200 b. weak drinks, and the boys did NOTHING but stand on stage in tight white briefs for the next 20 minutes. But the actual show was entertaining: One act of lithe "traditional" Thai dance with headdresses and all, then the fire act (the only one Dodo found at all erotic: 3 well-oiled lads in gold lamé loincloths holding bundles of beeswax candles, letting wax drip on their chests, undulating to the music, and then taking mouthfuls of alcohol and breathing out fire). Then a shower scene, which Claire liked: soapsuds and simulated blowjobs, with water pouring down on the stage (no boys got nakeder than briefs), then the advertised underwater bit: two guys "dancing" in the big tank behind the stage. And finally, a parodic drag bit to throw cold water on us at the end. Then we rushed off to find a girly show before things closed at 2 AM and were quite ripped off at "Super Pussy." The show itself was perfunctory and we were continually hassled by waitresses wanting extra tips (not trying to offer extra "services," just wheedling for more money). Perhaps because Ruth haggled him down to 80 baht, our tuk-tuk driver back from Patpong was a maniac; we dubbed it the Tuk-tuk of doom. Even the drivers and passengers in other tuk-tuks and cabs were laughing at our speed-demon driver and our shrieks of mirth mixed with fear. Ruth went right to bed; the rest of us had drinks at the hotel bar. Everyone but us seemed to be fat white men with young Thai women, probably all in purely financial relationships. We glared at the men and discussed them loudly as we drank our cocktails.

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