Watching the high resolution sweep over different parts of a city that I've spent years learning to know made Bangkok seem so close, which it is--15 hours. I came back to the states with a firm intention to return for visits at least once a year, and I've only been back for less than seven months.
Someone who has never been to Bangkok won't be moved to tears by this panoramic view of a sprawling city. What did it for me was the blur of traffic on the expressways--going, always moving, so many lives whooshing past on those arterials, and in that weird time split that I described in my last post, I was one of those lives as well as the person who watched.
I've just finished a book that describes much of my last installment of my relationship with Bangkok and how it has changed over the past 16 years--as much as I have myself.. Anyone who is curious can read some of that history here on this blog, where I tried to be as honest as possible about my time in a place I love.
My feelings for Bangkok are no longer starry-eyed, as they were for the time I wrote about in my first book. But they are very deep and very strong and they still tie me to that place--all of it. I've lived and worked and explored in many areas that aren't glitzy--those are my favorite parts of the city. That's what came to mind as I lapsed into tears and that's where I will spend most of my time when I go back to visit.
It's an unfinished relationship that exists between Bangkok and me and I know it's never going to be over. Whether I live there or go back on visits, that city will always be partly mine.
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