Bangkok Daze

The good thing about time is that it gives you options. When you know you have a while, you can go at your own leisure without needing to cram everything in. Get off the plane, find the roof your head will be residing under for the initial days. Find the bed that will smite the weariness of your travels, relax, unwind and ease yourself in.

As a concept it sounds nice doesn't it? Taking in a long plane ride, a whole other time zone and a foreign city, that is the kind of antidote you are looking for. For better or worse though, life deals in reality and Bangkok, well it has its own ideas on what constitutes reality and they certainly don't pander to sense and reason.

It started soundly enough. Your on your own so you socialise. The first guy I met in my dorm room gave me all his remaining Vietnamese currency because he didnt need it anymore. The travelling spirit in full effect. I dont know what it actually adds up to but the gesture counts for a lot. Canadian hospitality in Thailand eh?

So with my bag secured in my locker and a spark of explorative enthusiasm in my heart, I ventured down to the communal front porch, bought myself a Chang (the local beer) and set out to meet a few people before settling in for an early night.

It was about 1am when someone suggested the Kareoke. As each beer ended up being the one before the last beer of the night, the conversations with all the varying nationalities proved a stronger temptation than was held by designated bunk. As such when the Irishman decreed the need to mark his final night in Thailand before returning to South Korea with a bout of Kareoke, it seemed rude not to join in.

As such I joined Ireland, California, Germany, Denmark and Sheffield in squeezing tetris style in to the back of cab and set off in search of some manner of tuneless musical union. Alas the location suggested by the hostel ammounted to little more than a highway, open sewage and a strangely glitzy club in the middle of what appeared to be an otherwise desolate car park. It was not what as aimed for but we would not be dissauded.

Another taxi was hailed, the destination this time: Khao San Road, the designated hub of festivity for Bangkok where all comers are welcome to try and create their own version of The Hangover 2s blackout. As the taxi bought us there, we in turn bought Kareoke to the taxi. With the aid of a smartphone and Yotube lyric videos, all requests were taken and the driver found himself regailed with tone deaf renditions of 90s pop classics in a variety of accents. It was no doubt his pleasure as much as ours.

After settling in to a pleasant Shisha bar at our given destination, it made all the sense in the world to indulge our makeshift UN union with a round of tequillas. Armed with changloads of confidence and a swelling sense of my ability to conquer all international challenges, this would be the mark to say adventure had begun and from here on in, the only way was up.

That is the only reason I can come up with now as to why I ate the cockroaches.

Sure, you go to bars, you order drinks. Sometimes you get complimentary peanuts. On this occasion I was offered a fried locust. I thought it was being held out to me on a cocktail stick, it was just its leg. When in Rome right? With less than a moments hesitation, I consumed the bug and was suprisingly endeared to the experience. Kinda crunchy with a soy sauce tang. Clearly buoyed by my enthusiasm for this complimentary treat, the bar staff went on to provide me with another plate. This time though, another delicacy entirely.

The cockroaches came in all sizes, babies and grown ups. All fried and surpisingly appetising. The staff themsleves tucked in graciously so I felt happy to join in. To entirely misquote the author Chuck Palahnuik, I wont tell you what a plate of fried baby cockraoches looked like because if I did, you would never eat black olives again.

Despite all this, I do not regret the experience. It was a new, it was different, it was admittedly weird and not demonstrative of the most sober judgement but I came away unscathed and with a new perspective on the endeavours I can undertake.

Ok sure I was sick on my way back to that delayed assignation with my bed but I blame that more on the combination of liquor and the after effects of a long plane ride. Besides it felt right to leave a small mark of my own on Bangkok, because Bangkok had certainly left its mark on me.

That was the first night. More tales to come when I can stop long enough to write them down.