Bangkok - Oriental City 12-4-09 to 12-6-09

Leaving India and arriving in Bangkok you would have thought you had passed through a time warp and landed in the future.  Air conditioning, garbage cans, cleanliness and Order.  To anyone who thinks that Bangkok is a crazy, smelly dirty place – go to India first.  It will put everything into perspective very quickly.  We probably looked silly, smiling and laughing as we claimed our baggage and went through customs but we could not contain ourselves – we were so happy.

However, traveling the way we are, the world has a way of slapping you back to reality very fast.  And this day would be no different.

As we exited the airport we stopped at a couple ATM’s to get some cash.  Our bank cards were not working and we had no way to figure out why.  We had about 450 Thai Baht (a little less than $15 USD) which we were told by the smiling woman at the taxi counter would be enough to get us to our hotel.   So off we went – into our metered, air conditioned, natural gas fueled car plastered with advertisements, onto one of the brand-spanking-new 6 lane super highways at a speed of more than 60km!  Again, we were so happy.  And then the modern world slapped again, this time with nothing short of 6 lanes of grid locked traffic.  Turns out it was King’s Day.  Of course it was.  The actual holiday was the following day but like all good holidays, everyone starts early.  The smiling lady at the taxi counter did not mention if 450 Baht included the traffic.  It took us almost two hours to reach the hotel – a drive that should have taken about 45 minutes.  The meter stood at 760 Baht.  Our driver stopped at no short of a dozen ATM’s on the way to the hotel and none of them worked.  We could see he was getting nervous about being paid his fare but there was literally nothing we could do except promise to pay him “later”.  Reality hit one final time when we arrived at the hotel.  This was straight out of an old Seinfeld episode….”No sir, we do not have a reservation for Mr. Alan.  Did you make a reservation with us?”  “Yes, I spoke with a woman on the phone yesterday.  She took the reservation and assured me that the room would be available.  She even asked what time we would be arriving.  Is she here?” “Sorry sir, she only works during the day.”   “So you can Take the reservation but you cannot Hold the reservation?” (This was funny to me but I can see by their faces that they are not Seinfeld fans.)  They then offered another room at double the rate which was my cue to exit. 

Our driver, whose motives we had questioned because he seemed to take us down every gridlocked street in Bangkok, quickly redeemed himself and proved that Thai people are as friendly and helpful as everyone claims.  He stopped the meter and drove us to 3 other hotels in hopes of “making us happy” – which he said was his only goal.  We finally found an ATM that would cough up enough cash to cover the fare and 3 hours after we hopped in his taxi, we said goodnight to our new friend.  Funny enough, while eating dinner on the street at midnight, we ran into a guy we met on our flight who took the bus from the airport.  For a fraction of what we paid he somehow avoided all the traffic, settled into his room, eaten dinner and was now taking a late night stroll!  How boring.

(For those that are curious – we later found out that our bank would not allow us to withdraw more than $65 in Thailand at a time.  Not exactly the news you want to hear when you get to a new place!) 

With our bellies and wallets full, we were happy again.  A little beaten but that’s part of the fun I guess.  We spent an hour or so after dinner walking around Khao San Road admiring the drunk twenty something’s hit on Landboys (unknowingly or knowingly?) and absorbing the newest land in our journey.

The following day we did what we do best.  We wandered.  Taking a Long Boat down the river to Chinatown we began to explore the city, its people and its food.  Most of the food in Thailand is best when eaten from the street vendors.  It’s all fresh, clean and the rule is if the locals are eating it, then it’s fine.  They eat lots of soups – even when it’s sweltering hot.  Somehow it’s not as bad as it sounds.  We cruised the markets and eventually ended up at the King’s Palace.  Being King’s Day, the rest of the city was there as well – all wearing Pink!  We spent the next 4-5 hours people watching, napping in the shade, sampling more street fare and waiting for the festivities to start.  It became apparent there was going to be a parade so we made our way toward the street to wait.  We were waiting for the King!

We waited for about an hour.  At one point we had to sit down (which was like human dominoes because everyone was so packed together) but I’m not sure why – maybe so the people in the back could see?  It was at this point that I realized that Thai people are forever happy.  They laugh and smile all the time – even when packed together like sardines and sitting on each other.  Anyway, just when we were about to give up and attempt to leave, a caravan of cars with one clearly being “someone special” drove by.  The reason I say “someone special” is because it flew by.  At maybe 40 miles an hour.  We saw nothing more than a profile but everyone waved their flags really hard (they did not cheer at all) so it must have been the King, although we learned that the King was sick and it was a stand in, so who knows.

We headed home, which took a while being that EVERYONE in Bangkok was on the streets (again – all dressed in pink shirts!).  We noticed along the way that Thailand is covered in 7-11’s.  They are everywhere.  It’s comforting to know that a Slurpy is never more than 2 blocks away.

We left for Phuket the next day.  It was time to hit the beach and relax – a vacation from a vacation!  Of course we left for the airport 3 hours early because everyone warned us of traffic.  It took us 30 minutes to get there, we could not even check in and go to the gate we were so early!  But what are you going to do…This is Thailand!

-Alan

It's hard to tell how big this guy is - but this coin is about the size of a quarter.  This guy was HUGE and in our bed!  Our bug policy is that Mika kills the bugs and I kill the spiders.  It's a joint assault!