One month in Bangkok and the world's your oyster...

Not sure about the world being my oyster. Feeling a little restricted right now. More so after emailing my agent with all the things that have been cancelled and seeking refunds.

My timing again, was impeccable. We got Sherwin on an earlier flight out of Bangkok just in time. The next day, the city shut down. But more on that later.

Our time in Bangkok together was awesome. While we had interesting experiences in France and Switzerland, Thailand was just pure fun. Every day, several times a day we would sit by the pool, drinking beers, talking, swimming and relaxing.

Ventured out into the heat to find some food....

And, sometimes watch it get made...

Visited a temple....

Sat in bars and watched the world go by....

We got foot spas, massages… and I got an extension on my tattoo I was meaning to get done in Israel....

Oh... and I saw a toilet dog; which forced me to pick the urinal furthest away from it, lest I wake it up and get bitten....

At nights, we would explore the city. It was so much fun. We hit the gay streets of Bangkok and watched gogo boys, drag shows and generally just watched how the scene works there. The interactions were fascinating. Khoasan Road was brilliant still then, and busy with tourists, vendors, everything.

We took a two day trip to Pattaya and met with Sherwin’s cousin. At night, we followed Walking Street and hit the bars for some dice, dancing and drag shows.

I believe we were all pretty messy by the end of the night. I certainly have no memory of how we got home. But I returned with some funny photos and one good video to remind me of what happened.

The next night, Pattaya was in the process of shutting down. We still managed a nice dinner with lobster and mussels.

Our last few days together saw fewer and fewer places open, fewer and fewer people. So we pushed for an early flight for Sherwin to get out. The day after he left, it was like Armageddon. Nothing was open. A few vendors came out at night to sell food. Even MacDonald’s shut. Long queues outside of the 7-eleven, who only allowed two customers in at a time. Only a few restaurants still served food. And then it was only take away. Once there was a public ban on pools, I knew it was time to get out of the hotel room and into an apartment.

I am now in a less tourist area of Bangkok. Lots of people still about. Lots of street vendors. Lots of food. I have an apartment with a balcony (but the pool is shut) and I am buckling down for the long haul. My main goal, right now, is to get an extension to my visa. I am currently on a one month visa. I don’t think this is going to blow over any time soon, so will brave the queues of hundreds of others struggling to get a visa extension. I now have the required documents, so away I go.

At least the food is good, the beer is cheap and I have an apartment with rooms.

Finally, here are some monks, doing their morning walk through the now empty streets. People still come out to give them food.

Cheers,

JC