American Dykes in Bangkok
by
Sybille
SMASHWORDS EDITION
Published by Wendy on Smashwords
Copyright © 2010 by Wendy and Girl on Girl Passion Press.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Chapter One
If this doesn't prove I love Erin, nothing will.
That's what Sarah was thinking as she braced herself for landing at Bangkok's International Airport. She'd laughed when she first saw its name -- Suvarnabhumi.
What kind of name was THAT?
She could hardly believe it when her lover/partner/best friend said she wanted to visit Thailand to study Buddhism.
"Come on, Sarah. It's a lot nicer weather than Tibet. And the Chinese are wiping out the real religion there."
"The Dalai Lama stays in India. Go see him. He even speaks English."
"He's busy talking to world leaders. There's Japan, but that's more expensive than the United States. And Sri Lanka, but they're having a civil war. And Vietnam and Laos, but they're communist. Or Cambodia -- but the best way to get there is through Thailand. Come on, everybody says it's the most tourist-friendly place in Southeast Asia."
"I can't figure out why you want to be like Richard Gere."
"He's hot, isn't he?" Erin asked.
"For man, yes. But what's that got to do with his religion?"
"Anyway, I'm not a Buddhist yet. I just know it's part of my spiritual quest on this planet."
"Everybody knows Bangkok is full of prostitution and sex tourists."
"The real Thai people are not like that. They're gentle, kind people."
"Who sell their bodies to men."
"I think you're jealous, Sarah. You're forgetting, they do cheap sex change operations too."
"You better not be going there for that. If I wanted a lover with a dick, I'd be with a man."
They wound up kissing and hugging, then ripping each other's clothes off and spending the entire night licking each other's pussies.
So of course, here they both were, searching for Erin's spiritual path. Sarah had long ago decided to live her life as best she could, and let God handle what happened to her after she died.
Chapter Two
Sarah was dazed from the nearly thirty hours spent flying to Bangkok from Omaha. First the flight to SeaTac Airport which was a Delta/Northwest Airlines hub. Then the grueling long flight to Osaka. Then catching the flight to Manila.
They were landing late at night. Sarah could only hope that there'd still be taxis running by the time they got through passport control, retrieved their luggage and went through customs.
Sarah felt somewhat intimidated by the surrounding sound of the Thai language with its constant tonal ups and downs and unfamiliar rhythm patterns. However, the airport was clean and modern, and everybody worked with apparently competent efficiency, reassuring her. Thailand was still a developing country, but they seemed to have it together.
As soon as they stepped outside the airport, the wet hot air felt like walking into a thick gas, choking their lungs. Sarah immediately took off her jacket, but already felt drenched in sweat.
Good thing she didn't wear makeup, because it'd be trickling down her face.
Their introduction to Thailand began with an argument with their taxi driver. He insisted the Crown Sukhumvit Hotel was full, and they should go to one he knew about.
Sarah pulled Erin away, and they found another taxi.
She waved her printed copy of their reservation, made at the hotel's web site, in the man's face. "Don't try to tell me my hotel is full. Just take me there. OK?"
The man shrugged. He understood her words or her tone of voice, because he made no comment as he drove away with them.
"What happened?" Erin asked Sarah, raising her voice to be heard over the raucous Thai music playing in the taxi.
"That first guy tried to hustle us to another hotel. I bet he gets a kickback for every sucker he brings them."
Erin sat back with an odd look on her face.
"Tell me again about how they're kind and gentle people."
"That's not fair, Sarah. There're dishonest Americans too. A tourist industry is going to attract parasites."
"And you know what? I'd never say Americans are a kind and gentle people. Just some of them are."
Chapter Three
Sarah had never been in a developing country before. Once the taxi left the highway and was weaving through the city streets, she stared outside.
The first thing she noticed was how the street lighting was a different color, and sparse. Most of the street seemed to be lit only by a large Coleman lantern as though on a campout.
Many people, looking as though they had no clothes but the dirty t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops they were wearing, hung around. Some were minding stalls selling some type of food in metal canisters.
To reach the Crown Sukhumvit, the taxi drive down a small street past the opening into a garish, brilliantly neon-lit and blaring loud music. Sarah got a glimpse of small, beautiful brown women wearing glittering outfits that were barely more than old-fashioned g-strings.
Their driver pointed to that area. "Nana Plaza," he said, as though it was supposed to mean something to them.
Sarah and Erin looked at each other and shrugged. "Looks like a great place for men," Erin said.
Sarah felt a stab inside her gut. She hated to admit it to herself, but that brief flash of ample firm flesh, cheaply available, sent a sharp burst of desire in her heart.
Sarah's always had a big-boned frame. She'd been a pretty strong athlete, swimming and running in college. But she wasn't good at sports requiring skill and complex coordination. Tennis made her feel too awkward and self-conscious.
She had to admit, she hated coming to this country where all the women would make her feel self-conscious about her height and weight.
Soon they were carrying their bags through the hotel lobby. The desk clerk didn't seem at all surprised to see someone come in after midnight. Neither did any of the scattered men and women sitting in the chairs, watching TV. Many of them seemed either drunk or stoned. Sarah got a creepy feeling.
Once checked in, they took the slow-moving elevator to their floor and found their room.
Sarah had to laugh when Erin showed her the hand-held shower faucet. "In this climate, we'll have to take a lot of showers. We might as well enjoy them."
"Don't enjoy them too much. I don't want to get jealous of a shower head."
Sarah meant to clean off the accumulated grime of their day long trip, but while Erin was in the bathroom she lay down to rest and didn't wake up until early in the morning, Erin on the other side of the double bed.
Chapter Four
They ate breakfast in the hotel coffee shop. After studying the menu intently, they both ordered omelets and orange juice.
"It's just like Thai restaurants back home," Sarah said. "The translations are all different. You go to one, think you're ordering something different, but it's the same meat in sauce over rice you ate at the last Thai restaurant."
"I like Thai food, but I never imagined eating it for breakfast," Erin said. She paused. "But I guess Thai people do."
"Let's experiment later."
Sarah studied the little tray of condiments in the middle of the table. "At least we can add soy sauce and hot peppers to our eggs."
"I think that black stuff is fish sauce," Erin said. "This isn't China or Japan. They have soy sauce."
Their waitress set down two glasses of a super-sweet orange drink. "Yech," Sarah said, tasting it. "So much for getting real orange juice. I wouldn't give this junk to my nephew. This is a hot country. Don't they grow oranges here?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's only in California and Florida."
The eggs came with a plate of white, fluffy rice. Sarah wondered if she could get any wholesome brown rice here in Asia. Or whether that was only grown in the United States by hippie farmers for middle class health food nuts.
Sarah ate the eggs and rice together, and felt comfortably full by the end.
"Guess it's time to see Thailand," Sarah said.
"Where'll we go?"
"Who cares? Maybe we'll meet your spiritual path."
Chapter Five
Except for agreeing to go and buying the tickets, Sarah didn't participate in the planning of this vacation. She didn't care about Buddhism any more or less than any other organized religion. None of them did anything for her.
She assumed that Erin knew where to go to study whatever she wanted to study. She just hoped Erin wasn't going to shave her head and wear a yellow robe the entire week, leaving her to cool her heels in their hotel room alone. Erin had assured her she wouldn't do that.
But what else did a foreigner do to study Buddhism in Bangkok? Sarah didn't know and didn't really care. She just wanted to keep Erin happy. If bowing down before some statue would make her friend happy, then so be it -- bow away.
No skin off her nose.
But Erin didn't seem to have a plan, which was just like her. It was part of the general thoughtlessness that both attracted her to Erin and irritated her, depending on the situation and her mood.
She wouldn't mind just spending the week site seeing -- what was there to see in Thailand? -- and sharing the bed with Erin for as long as they wanted. Just not having to get up at 6 to drive to work through heavy traffic was a blessing and a vacation in and of itself.
Bright sunlight lit the outside. Although still morning, it was well over ninety degree Fahrenheit. But now Sarah was prepared for the heat and humidity. She was wearing light, loose shorts, sandals and a t-shirt.
She felt a little proud to be with Erin. Although Erin was light-skinned -- she'd undoubtedly be covered with freckles before this trip was over -- and had auburn hair, she was just as slim and trim as any of the Thai women. Taller than most of them, but just as cute and attractive.
Sarah still admired Erin's round little but from behind, and the firm globes of her breasts, and considered herself lucky to have Erin in her arms every night.
Sure, she could wish Erin wasn't quite to flaky sometimes, but you had to take the bad with the good. Great old time, folksy wisdom from her grandfather, yet still true.
They walked up and down the crowded sidewalks of the main street, Sukhumvit. Sarah had never experienced such thick crowds. They reminded her of movies of Manhattan at noon. She realized that when these Asians went to America and saw how thinly populated it was, they knew it had lots of room to grow.
They passed a huge array of tiny little storefront businesses, as well as a modern-looking department store called Robinson's. All of them had a small, highly decorated house, really a mini model of a temple, attached to one wall in the corner, close to the ceiling. Often there were offerings of flowers or fruit in them.
Sarah and Erin learned those were spirit houses. By giving the local spirits a place of their own, the building's resident were less likely to be troubled by the spirits.
They resisted the temptation to go into the adjoining McDonald's so they could say they bought a Big Mac in Bangkok.
They shared the sidewalks with street vendors selling coconut juice and soda in plastic baggies sealed with rubber bands with a straw protruding from the top.
The traffic flowed by them with less than an inch between the cars. The motorcycles took advantage of every spare inch to squeeze their way through. Sarah couldn't image trying to drive in this city, even if they drove on the right instead of the left. One look at Bangkok made her appreciate how light Omaha rush hour traffic really was.
To get from one side of the street to the other they had to climb up a tower of concrete steps and walk in a tunnel, then go down the steps there to return to street level.
At each end, beggars sat with tin cups on the floor in front of them. Each had extremely twisted, deformed limbs. Heart breaking, Sarah reached into her pockets and pulled out the change left from breakfast.
She started to realize that America had a wealth she had never appreciated. She'd never seen people like this. Either they got correctional surgery or were taken care of institutions, sight unseen but at least not begging for pennies.
Men in business suits. Women in neat, clean outfits. Men in work clothes carrying boxes and crates. Cute little children in school uniforms holding hands.
What really caught Sarah's attention was how all the public contact was same-sex. Young girls walked together with arms around each other's waists. Often girls or young women walked holding on the upper arm of an older woman. Boys and young men walked around with their arms around each other's necks.
Thai people seemed refreshingly free of any fear of same sex physical contact. She recalled hearing that what they frowned at was men and women walking around with their arms around each other or holding hands or -- Buddha forbid -- kissing in public. Het couples kept their distance in public, saving their shows of affection for the privacy of their own homes.
They passed a young couple. The young girl was cute and fashionable as she could be -- probably in high school. Her boy friend looked a little older. His hair was cut short, in an odd slant. He wore simple jeans and clean, pressed white t-shirt with a pack of cigarettes in his rolled up shirt sleeve.
Sarah thought guys like that had vanished even before the movie GREASE was made a thousand years ago. Though, she had to admit, the young man looked totally clean, not like a typical greaser. The t-shirt was either brand name or carefully ironed.
A few steps later, Sarah suddenly realized the boy had small breast lumps in his t-shirt.
She stopped walking, she felt so shocked. Did she really see that?
Erin grabbed her arm. "Come on, look over there. It's some kind of religious ceremony, and there's a monk."
Chapter Six
The ceremony was taking place in a small concrete park just off the street. There was a statue of some god with an elephant's head -- wasn't that Hindu? Sarah thought.
The area in front of the statue was filled with white flowers, clumps of rice on green banana leaves, and plates of yellow mangoes. Small sticks of incense burned in ornately carved stands, sending small trickles of smoke into the air.
About ten little girls wearing exotic, glittery old-style costumes straight out of a ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM were dancing to slow, clinking stately music. Their hair was pulled straight back from their face and tied. They also wore thick makeup, giving them an odd, ethereal look.
They wore moved their hands and feet in very precise movements. Sarah recognized the exact way their held their fingers had to hold some hidden meanings, though she had no clue. It was like a glimpse into the past.
The Buddhist monk sat on a high chair, away from the crowds. Probably he was supposed to maintain his dignity.
The man was heavy-set, bald and wearing glasses. His body was covered in heavy orange-yellow robes. Sarah thought he must be awfully hot, though he must be used to it.
They figured it'd be rude to interrupt the dancing girls, so they stood on the outside until the ceremony was obviously over.
As the monk began to stand up, Erin raced over to him, blubbering some question. Sarah followed close behind.
"Take it easy, Erin," she said. "You don't even know if he speaks English."