Bangkok Blues

Please come inside, Nice suit for you.,
originally uploaded by claudius_maximus.

I would like to preface the following rant with a disclaimer: I Love Thailand. And Thai people... I can't stand Bangkok. I am officially sick of the big city backpacker scene and I now know what my college professor was talking about when he told us about "Self Indulgent Backpacker Ghettos." Every one of these "Ghettos" has:

17 cutrate tailors, "My friend , my friend. Please come in side have a look. Nice suit for you.";

A bunch of pirated cd/dvd/vcd/software/videogames, all for about $3 a pop. Each one trying to "out music" each other with their loud Jack Johnson which is, by the way, so over played out here that i wanna flick myself in the eye every time I hear it now (with so much good music in the world why do we have to listen to the same thing over and over and over and over... 'flick' "ouch!");

About 12 stations with various colours of hair to get your own real (really fake) Dreadlocks so you can be different like everyone else here (about one in five people here have them, or just got them, or are about to get them as soon as their hair grows out);

Various noodle vendors, "Meat on stick" vendors, clothing vendors hawking immitation brandnames , Fried Insect Vendors (I highly recommend the grubs);

Bucket Vendors, who will sell you a bucket full of Ice, Songsam Wisky, Coke, and Redbull. A combination of fluids whose chemical makeup can make normally sane people (some, not all are sane to begin with) turn into screaming, raving lunatics who swing flaming fireballs on a stick amid a crowd of people;


Tuk Tuk Drivers at every corner, "My Friend, My Friend. Where you going? Where you from? That place is closed for "Special Thai Holiday" Come with me to my friends jewelery store for special happy hour deals on gems. My Friend, My Friend" Aarrrrgh!

John Denver said it best,"Country roads, take me home, To the place where I belong"


Once again, I love Thailand but can't wait to be in the Jungle.

Claude

There is a certain beauty in Portugal. The people are kind and no matter how much or little english the people speek the first thing they will say to you when you ask them "O senore/A senora, Fala Inglese?" is: "Sim. A leettle beet" then after that the first sentence may get completely wasted on ears. Since my Portuguese is Terrible, I resorted to the bare minimum tourist words phrases but learned as much as I could in four days.

Travelling in Portugal is fun, easy, and cheap (think eastern Europe of the West) The Food is great as long as you like barbecue and the scenery in the countryside is beautiful as long as you like looking at Cork trees or the ocean.

If you only learn one phrase be sure to learn "oun cafe, por favor" The cofee there is so good. It is easy to get addicted. People who know me know my 12:00 rule. I never drink coffee after Noon but while I was in Portugal I was drinking 4 cups a day (at .50 centimos per cup it was a waste not to drink the stuff)

Also Of note was the Bone Cathedral or Cabello dos Ossos in Evora this was a church whose walls were made up completely of bones. I loved this place it was eerily beautiful what you are looking at in this picture are skulls arms and leg bones to give accents to the decore. To the immediate left of the cross is an adult body and on the left of that, at the corner of the window, is a Baby's skeleton. Can you say Austere? Or is the correct word Gorey? Either way, this definitely got my attention.

After leaving the Church I found a park to relax in and found myself fortunate enough to catch a group of kids playing Capoera with their Gym class. They were pretty good at it and the excercise had to be good for them too.




Lisboa/Lisbon was the home of the 1998 World Fair EXPO. The legacy that is left is the beautiful and sureal Oceanario. A Monstrous aquarium, with four oceans represented in seperate tanks with a VERY large central tank that housed sea creatures from the deep sea Sharks, Rays, Sunfish, Dorado, Tuna, Octopus. All shapes and sizes. It was a great escape from the crazy heat of the Portuguese summer.


The other notable reminder reminder of Expo's presence is a modern and very clean Metro (Don't get me started on Paris doggy terd dodging). I saw a blind guy walk on and do some portuguese Freestyling Hiphop while tapping his Cane on the ground and hitting a box on his chest in exchange for peoples spare change on the metro. You can cross the whole town for .75 centimos

My Journey wouldn't be complete without a description of the young Fado Musician I saw singing with his dog. The dog was absolutely tiny and he actually sang along with the boy while he played his accordion. Many people would take pictures with him and never dropped a cent into his or his dogs box/cut off waterbottle. Fado Music reflects the sadness thatcomes through in the eyes and spirit of the people in the countryside. The people are said to be sad because of generations of sailors who were lost at sea. Widows dress forever in Black and are sadder than anything you have ever seen. The Sadness is a Beautiful Sadness and the people's gentle nature and kindness comes through in their eyes as well.