Apocalypse Bangkok

I wake up in my tiny room feeling awful. The street food I ate last night must have been contaminated with something and I feel sick all day. The room I'm in is a cell. Four walls and a door. No window, no light, no sound. At least there's a fan. I feel like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now...

The opening scene :

THE END BY THE DOORS

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land
Lost in a Roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah


Hotel room in Bangkok :

WILLARD (v.o.)

"Bangkok, shit. I'm still only in Bangkok. Every time I think I'm going to wake up back in the jungle... I've been here a week now. Waiting for a mission, getting softer. Every minute I stay in this room I get weaker. And every minute Charlie squats in the bush he gets stronger. Each time I look around the walls move in a little tighter."

But it's a different kind of apocalypse, not one of war, but one of tourism. I swear there are more blonds in tank tops here than there are Thais. There are backpackers everywhere, just arriving, leaving, coming, going. Some are here to explore Bangkok, but most are here just to sort out visas before moving on to other destinations. My experiences interacting with the Thai people have been less than ideal; we've been yelled at for picking up a statue of Ganesha or for trying on a bracelet or shirt and not buying it. As I look around the marketplace at these people and the conditions that they live in, I feel compassion for them and also recognize how privileged we are coming from our first world nations. We decend on the denizens of Khao San and try and bargin down to a cheaper price for novel trinkets. It's understandable that some may develop a justified indignancy.

I wake up and meet Kristina, Jodi, and Cindi for breakfast. I have to leave early to use the toilet and then lie down. This is the third occasion in Thailand that I've had "fire ass," and I can tell you it's not fun. I only have time to run around to do some last minute shopping in the market for gifts and souvenirs before I have to catch my bus to the airport. Bangkok has been crazy. I've heard people say that they love it, and others that they can't wait to get out. I've had a mix of both sentiments. But I'm definitely glad I stayed to experience it.