Thursday, February 15, 2007

The Land o' Smile

Does the picture of this guy look happy that he just overthrew the government in a bloodless coup, or what? Land o' Smiles feels ,ore like the Land o' Yawn at this point. It is just past five in the morning at Bangkok International airport, yet this place is absolutely packed. The running men's fashion here seems to be a light, zippy looking, polystyrene-based jacked of dark colour and heavy embroidery. Perhaps that means you're a Bangkokker of some status, or perhaps a cab driver. Funny, the things you notice and choose to dwell on when sleep deprived in a foreign land.

We got in at one in the morning and have spent the greater part of the last five hours sprawled out on the linoleum underneath an escalator waiting for the Thai Air domestic check-in booths to open up. I must have dozed off at some point because now there are about two thousand people ahead of us in the terminal. In front of us is a pushy Brit demanding to be checked in, even though he doesn't have the Super Premiere Titanium Privileged status afforded to people like Peggy and whatever sap she's dragging around with her. We're told that 'whatever you do, always keep smiling in any Thai encounter'. This Brit is a long way away from smiling, getting all huffy and turning to a shade of pomegranate. I wonder if you're rude without smiling here, what actually happens to those who don't heed the warning? Spontaneous combustion? Also, is it wrong not to let a monk go in front of you, given that they're doing the lords work? I guess my bald brethren are practicing achieving eternal patience across the course of several reincarnations, so I'm not feeling to bad about keeping them behind me. See you in the next life.

Air Emirates was fan-tastic. All the gentle touches of service and comfort; they even had constellations (Southern and Northern hemispheric variety) on the ceiling when the lights were dimmed. Just like I wanted to have when I was a kid. The entertainment programming was top-notch, but really makes sleep deprivation too easy when you can layout a string of three or four good movies in a row. I liked the days when they just projected a crappy movie that no-one cared about and people just drifted in and out of sleep while pretending to watch. Pirates of the Caribbean, case in point.

We're connecting down to Phuket, where we leave this afternoon on our dive boat North in the Andaman Sea. Four days on the boat exploring the various islands and fishes and then back to this jewel of a city called Bangkok. It has all the initial appearances of being Los Angeles of the Far East. We're only somewhat excited. PS - this keyboard looks like somebody threw up typography all over it.

posted by ncawthon at 10:03 AM