ARRIVAL!
Departure, San Francisco: Midnight Thursday
Arrival, Bangkok: Noon Saturday
Elapsed (calendar) time: 36 hours
San Francisco to Taipei- 14 hour flight; 747
Taipei layover- 3 hours
Taipei to Bangkok- 4 hours; Airbus 300
Total travel time: 21 hours
Time difference (PST -7; Thailand +8)- 15 hours
On my way into Bangkok from the airport I was elated, I felt strong knowing what was coming. It may have been a mistake, but thinking I would stay here only a day or two, I decided to stay in one of the main tourist areas because I knew I could find a cheap room and food easily. But panic struck me for a few moments as I wandered through a place I described this way: “I'm sick and achy and everyone here is naked. Bangkok, like India's beach mecca Goa, is a haven for parties and coconut-colored tans. I hate it… [After India] the avalanche of calves and thighs poking out of short denim skirts has thrown me dizzyingly backward.” And, I’m realizing what it means that I am here, with almost nothing- less than 20 pounds of stuff (photo and packing list forthcoming) and no set plans, no reservations, and knowing I said goodbye to someone I met and learned to love since returning from the RMI- for a year.
I’d forgotten the cold showers. In an instant I wanted to go home, to familiar streets and food and arms, to not worrying about water, to real towels. I forgot that one of my packing “secrets”, a pillow case, isn’t just a topic of conversation before the trip, but something I would be using everyday, all the time- as a picnic blanket, as a laundry bag, as a towel. I forgot I would be wearing sandals in the shower and have to lock up my things. Where did home go, will I make it here?
And then I remembered the people and places and things that made me want to return, that the excitement of getting the new (10 year!) Indian visa means I can use it, and yes, YES, this is unsure and frightening a little, but maybe it is a little bit beautiful too- I just have to escape Bangkok first…
Arrival, Bangkok: Noon Saturday
Elapsed (calendar) time: 36 hours
San Francisco to Taipei- 14 hour flight; 747
Taipei layover- 3 hours
Taipei to Bangkok- 4 hours; Airbus 300
Total travel time: 21 hours
Time difference (PST -7; Thailand +8)- 15 hours
On my way into Bangkok from the airport I was elated, I felt strong knowing what was coming. It may have been a mistake, but thinking I would stay here only a day or two, I decided to stay in one of the main tourist areas because I knew I could find a cheap room and food easily. But panic struck me for a few moments as I wandered through a place I described this way: “I'm sick and achy and everyone here is naked. Bangkok, like India's beach mecca Goa, is a haven for parties and coconut-colored tans. I hate it… [After India] the avalanche of calves and thighs poking out of short denim skirts has thrown me dizzyingly backward.” And, I’m realizing what it means that I am here, with almost nothing- less than 20 pounds of stuff (photo and packing list forthcoming) and no set plans, no reservations, and knowing I said goodbye to someone I met and learned to love since returning from the RMI- for a year.
I’d forgotten the cold showers. In an instant I wanted to go home, to familiar streets and food and arms, to not worrying about water, to real towels. I forgot that one of my packing “secrets”, a pillow case, isn’t just a topic of conversation before the trip, but something I would be using everyday, all the time- as a picnic blanket, as a laundry bag, as a towel. I forgot I would be wearing sandals in the shower and have to lock up my things. Where did home go, will I make it here?
And then I remembered the people and places and things that made me want to return, that the excitement of getting the new (10 year!) Indian visa means I can use it, and yes, YES, this is unsure and frightening a little, but maybe it is a little bit beautiful too- I just have to escape Bangkok first…
posted by Maya at 9:19 PM
2 Comments:
It's amazing how close the things you yearn for really are. You think about something for months or years or even decades, and it seems so remote and unattainable. You exist in desperation and use superlatives like "never" in your mind. You think you don't know how to get "there".
If and when you get to that place, real or abstract, it is rarely the product of some magical chain of events or happenstance... you just got off your ass geographically or emotionally and finally went. You simply decided to go.
And arriving you find it surreal. You think to yourself "that was ridiculously easy". Then you forget.
Best of luck to you out there...
That line about the cold showers totally hit. Still, a cold shower in a foreign land is always pretty good.
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