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Jul - Sep 2002: This is a continuation of my China trip, but includes travels to other countries in Asia.

Southeast Asia, month 1

Jennifer Radcliffe
2005-11-12 10:17:24

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center. In one night alone, I ran into three people I met in my previous travels - two of them I met in Malaysia, but more surprising was seeing an Israeli guy I met on a bus in remote eastern China over 2 months ago! Small world!

As you walk up and down this busy street, you see scores of bars, restaurants, guesthouses, internet cafes, little roadside vendors selling clothes, cd's, Thai crafts, and a panoply of food and drinks. People, motorbikes and tuktuks fight for space on the crowded street. Music pours out of the bars and cd shops, creating a lively atmosphere. The whole street is lit up, and neon signs hang off of buildings everywhere you look.

Every country has some super cheap street-food speciality that I end up living off of. In China it was noodle bowls and ice cream cones; Singapore had the best bubble teas - blended ice and milk tea with little tapioca balls in the bottom that you drink through a special large straw. In Indonesia it was a vegetable dish called cap cay and fresh coconut juice, drunk from a straw right out of the coconut. In Malaysia, iced soymilk or a myriad of other delicious juices, and south Indian food. But Thailand has them all beat, with the best street food! Here my favorites are pad thai and coconut shakes. Pad thai is a noodle dish with egg and tofu, peanuts, chili, and lime juice as accompaniments, and it's incredibly cheap at 15 baht, or 30 cents. I think the coconut shakes must be addictive! They are made with fresh coconut juice and chunks of young coconut, ice, sugar syrup and sweetened condensed milk. They come in a plastic bag with a straw and cost another 15 baht. Mmmm, I will miss these when I leave Thailand!

Ayutthaya

Today I took the train to Ayutthaya to meet up with my old travel buddy Nissim, who I met in Chengdu 2 months ago. Ayutthaya is the old capital of Thailand and has loads of temple ruins from its glory days. On Sunday I rented a bicycle and rode around the town, checking out all the sights. I found a great little temple and monastery, a small quiet place where there were no other tourists, and I spent some time sitting under a tree, taking in the serenity of the place. I was sitting on a little tree swing when a group of Thai boys passed by on bikes and asked me if I wanted to join them. At first I was in my own little world and was naturally antisocial, and I politely refused, saying maybe I'd catch up with them later... but about 5 minutes after they'd gone, I changed my mind and decided to see if I could catch them. They turned out to be a group of college students visiting from Bangkok; there were 8 guys and one girl, and they were really, really funny. One of the guys reminded me of Mango from Saturday Night Live - his antics had me cracking up all day! He was what we call a "girly boy", with an exaggerated girly personality. All of the guys had a little of that going on, but I don't think any of them were actually gay.

On a sidenote, Thailand seems to be very tolerant towards gays, as I've seen quite a few men dressed as women, as well as feminine boys with flamboyant personalities. I think it must be very accepted here, and a big part of youth culture.

It's back to Bangkok to pick up my passport and spend a few days before heading to Cambodia. I won't bore you with the details of all the other temples I visited, but my last night in Bangkok was really interesting. I went to a world-famous Patpong show, which I've been hearing about for years! Scandalous, I know! If you are ever in Bangkok, definately see one of these shows - it's the best thing I did here!