Out of the frying pan, into the fire

Hello folks, it's another sizzling day in Bangkok. I got back from Chiang Mai around 5 AM two mornings ago. I met two friends from Australia and we slept in the Burger King on Khao San Rd. for 6 hours until we were able to check into our hostel across the city. Khao San is stranger than fiction. It is truly the pulse of Bangkok and a stage for the grotesque nature of the human subconscious, a writhing chameleon dream. Once you've walked down the road between 3 and 7 AM you'll never see the world in the same light again. That's all I'll say for now!

I'm waiting for a bus to the Bangkok airport right now. I catch a plane for Saigon, Vietnam in 4 hours. I've heard Saigon is the most chaotic city in SE Asia so I'm trying to prepare myself. I suppose Bangkok's a good primer. My original plan was to take a bus to Siem Reap and see the temples of Angkor but appaently Bangkok Airways is bribing the government to keep the roads in terrible shape so they can retain their monopoly on the one and only flight into Angkor. Thus, the busride there is considered by many as the highway to hell. Instead, I've decided it'll be easier to start in Saigon and work my way back towards Bangkok. I really don't feel that flying everywhere is true backpacking but sometimes your choices are marginal at best. Perhaps if I had a travel companion I'd take the bus just for the hell of it, but being alone as I am, a busride like that would be excruciating at best. 10 strangers packed into a minivan for 20+ hours, 1 or 2 stops, no A/C, dirt roads with craterlike potholes etc. etc. Anyways, it's hard to know if I'm making the right decisions (another reason to travel with another person) but I think this plane ride is justified.

Okay, the bus should be here in 5 minutes so I better run. When I get to Saigon I'll say hi again. Hope everyone is well! Bye for now.