Bangkok 1
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2007
1
172
220
Trip End
Jun 17, 2009
Bangkok,
Thailand
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
We have to check in three hours before the international flight, which is only two hours duration and after completing the formalities we sit and wait for our flight. The airport gets a Johnny Walker rating of 4.
Boarding time and the ever friendly Malaysian Airlines cabin staff welcomed us. They've been great on every flight and it's now one of our favourite airlines. A reasonable meal was served and the cloudy but smooth flight soon passed and we were descending into Bangkok.
Bangkok rush hour
Here was a lot of high, thunder cloud around but we landed OK and cleared the politely formal immigration, during which we were photographed and then bags.............Yes, three - a good start.
We'd been warned only to use officially approved taxis (and everything else for that matter) in Thailand and before we reached the taxi rank we were given the hard tour sell from several directions. The taxis must use their meter and half way along the busy motorway into the city, I had still not spotted one. There was a towel draped over a box on the dashboard, so I expected a hard bargaining session when we arrived at the hotel.
After twenty minutes the threatening rain clouds finally delivered and the initial heavy spots of rain quickly developed into a torrential downpour. This (and the very heavy city traffic) slowed us down and we arrived at the hotel after a fifty minute journey. "Four hundred baht" said our lady taxi driver, which was what I had been told the cost should be. I paid up the six pounds sterling and she (and her hibernating meter) shot off into the rain.
The hotel had a range of rooms and we were booked into a clean but basic one this time
Long Tail boat
. We stood and looked out from our balcony at the now, full blown thunder storm that seemed to be exploding right above us, causing the rainwater to cascade from the roofs onto the streets, which rapidly developed into streams and lakes.Looking out of the back of the hotel at a canal, we then saw motor bikes parked along it. It was a road and like many others, it was just not draining.
After an hour the rain had stopped and we decided to go for a walk along the nearby main road. Talk about 'off the wall', all along both sides of the pavement were crammed lines of stalls selling anything and everything, the rain run-off still splashing down on to the narrow walkway, which was potted with holes, broken paving slabs and a completely uneven surface. This channelled the throng of pedestrians between the stalls, to emerge onto the traffic choked streets, who gave no quarter to any pedestrian, an extra hazard being the hundreds of motorbikes that weaved in and out and across the lanes. The whole scene was an amazingly incessant powerhouse of action, as if the whole city was running on the adrenalin generated by all this concentrated activity and I found it a mesmerizing sight. There were also many people begging on the streets, several of them with missing limbs
Temple of Dawn
.We soon tired of this constant noise and jostling crowds and made our way back to the hotel, where we went for a drink in the hotel bar and to celebrate her birthday Norah enjoyed a strawberry daiquiri - good but still not up to 'Yamba' standard. My 'Singha' beer was light and refreshing.
For supper we ventured out again to a nearby Thai café and enjoyed tasty noodles and rice dishes, before an early night. Interesting day.
Wednesday 10th September
A leisurely start and then the priority was to cash some of our travellers cheques for US dollars, which were to be our mainstay in Vietnam and Cambodia. We enquired about an Amex office and were told that the 'Bangkok Bank' was a subsidiary and they could change our TC's. Luckily there was a branch nearby and we walked through the very lively streets, to the bank.
Travellers Cheques, yes - no problem. American dollars, yes - no problem. Easy! Can we change these
American dollar travellers cheques into American dollars? Ah, no! First you must change TC's into Thai baht, with included transfer charges and then change the bahts into dollars at the (bank's) rate of exchange. Result - we got the dollars by paying an extra thirteen pounds sterling! Thanks Amex.
Back to the hotel to put our dollars in the safe and then out to explore the city
Grand Palace
. The nearest BTS (local metro system) was near the hotel and runs on elevated tracks, supported by huge concrete pillars above the main roads running through the city. On the way we were accosted by a tuk-tuk driver (those three wheeled mini taxis) who speaked very good English and whose daughter studied in London. I wondered if he has a son who lives in Cuba and whose brother is at university in Manchester / Toronto / wherever suits the bill (See the Havanna episode for the background to this). Anyway our driver wanted to know where we were going and we told him "to the river by BTS". " On no", he cries "Very not safe, cut your bag with knife, you better come with me". We insisted we were going by BTS and the tack changed. "Where are you staying?" "Over there". "Yes, but which hotel?" "Over there, we must go to catch train. Nice to meet you, good-bye". Whereupon he gave up and went off looking for another target.A short walk and then up the escalator taking us well above street level. An all day ticket cost us 120 baht - 2 pounds sterling. Good instructions for destinations and we found the right platform. I moved forward to take a picture of the tracks running away through the city, inadvertently crossing over the safety yellow line whereupon I was whistled off by a security guard on the opposite platform. A quick "sorry" and respectful bow and all was forgiven.
Less speed
The busy train whisked us away above the city streets with its mix of some new office buildings and old tenements. After four stations we came to 'Siam', a central interchange, where we went up to another train line on a level above the first one. On this other line we headed south, passing an impressive horse racing circuit with a golf course in the middle, until we reached 'Saphan Taksin' and the terminus.
We descended to street level and a very short walk brought us to the 'Chao Phraya' river and another amazing site. The waterway was alive with boats from the car engined 'long tail boats', which raced along, large, fast ferries, hotel shuttle boats and small tugs struggling to tow four enormous (overloaded) steel barges, their sides almost awash with the weight.
We bought a ticket and hopped on to a ferry that shot to and fro calling at piers downstream through the city, past tin shanties built on the river's edge, modern plush hotels, office buildings and great temples. Another mesmerizing scene of activity.
We had intended just to go for a ferry ride and at Pier 13 our boat turned round and headed back
Catfish feeding frenzy
. We decided to get off at Pier 9 and see the Temple of 'Wat Phra Kaew' and its Emerald Buddha. As we hit the street we were again met with wall to wall stalls of merchandise, many of the food stalls offering tantalizingly unknown food that we didn't dare touch.We stopped at a road junction to consult the map and were met with a "Where you go?" from another tuk tuk driver. On our guard we told him that we were looking for the Emerald Buddha. "Aaah sorry. Emerald Buddha closed. Sister of King has died. Not possible". We expressed disappointment and then came the punch line - "We are official government tuk tuk. We take you to other temple and then Asia Trading Company and then another temple. Very cheap." The Asia Trading Company was obviously the meat in the sandwich and we thanked him and declined (several times), saying we would go back to the river. He eventually gave up and we walked to the next ferry station.
We found out later that the Emerald Buddha is open every day, it was open today and that the sister of the king had indeed died - Last January !!!! Boy, are these guys slick.
At the ferry station it was late afternoon and getting busy with the children coming out of school
Thai airport sculpture
. There did not seem to be a ferry going in our direction, so Norah decided the smart move was to catch one going downstream, 'cos they turn round at pier 13 and then come back. Sounds simple enough.Crowded ferry arrives and we hop on. Past pier 13 and on to pier 15. Simple plan is reviewed and we find that this ferry keeps on going downstream, so goodness knows what part of Asia we'd have finished up in! We hop off at pier 15 and wait for one at least going in the right direction.
By the pier there are dozens and dozens of 30cm catfish milling around in the water. Occasionally someone would empty a bag of bread in the water, causing a feeding frenzy of a solid carpet of catfish. It made the pyranha films look positively tame in comparison.
At last a ferry and a return to the start at 'Sathon Pier'. Up the steps onto the very busy train and then the transfer to a more crowded train back to 'Nana' and the hotel, where the rain clouds are threatening again.
We repack for our trip round Vietnam and Cambodia, taking just one large case. Packing done we opt for a meal in the hotel restaurant, which was excellently served and delicious. Then try to get a good night's sleep for the next adventure.
