Finishing SE Asia with a Bang!

  Bangkok, Thailand
Monday, December 29, 2008

Or was it just a flutter...

01. Bangkok Sunrise

 
Our first sight of Bangkok - proper - came from the seats of a second class overnight bus, which we had gambled on catching the previous day. The only good thing that can be said about it was that it was cheap! No-one on the bus could speak English (us authentic tourists) and there were a number of toilet and eating breaks.
 
We arrived just after dawn and watched the sun rise as we crossed over the Chao Phraya river (which bisects Bangkok). With the sky scrapers in the background, this made for a beautiful vista. Wearily we braved the Bangkok transport network to make our way to Siam Square - reputed to be good for transport links and shopping.
 
After needing to wait for other guests to vacate the room, we were eventually ready to brave the city just before lunch. As Bangkok was earmarked as present buying Capital, we hotfooted it to the Chatachuk week-end

02. Eating a Grasshopper

market! A glorious mess of a square km containing thousands of stalls of every description! In our tired state we were very soon overwhelmed, and didn't see much of interest. Kirsty did however brave her first (and only) grasshopper! She describes it of being crispy  with a strong hint of old cooking oil (and in dire need of needing something to follow it!)

Defeated we made our way back to the malls and local shopping of Siam Square where we wondered around and ate supper at an interesting food court.
 
Sunday found us revived and we decided to tackle the ancient sights of Bangkok. We headed to the river, where

04. Mike in Wat Pho

we caught the ferry up to the Grand Palace. A hot walk later after seeing the Tiny Emerald Buddha (actually made out of Jade) and its surrounding complex of buildings, all of which you can't enter due to royal significance, we escaped to Wat Pho next door. This housed the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand - complete with "mother of Pearl" inlaid feet. It is quite beautiful but housed in a small building and so overwhelmed by the tourist numbers. The combination of being back in a huge city, travelers' exhaustion and the heat saw us Wat'ed out and recoiling at the offer from any Tuk-Tuk drivers who promised to take us to a number of free temples - though we suspect they were on to a scam! Instead we walked to China Town and got sardined in their side street market
 
Overwhelmed we headed back to our hotel for a much needed massage on our back and necks. This enabled us to tackle the tough task of BA online check in exactly 24 hours in advance, so securing emergency exit seats, before heading out to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. This proved much more productive than our previous days venture. So successful that time got the better of us and we had to do some midnight packing.

06. Mike in Jim Thompson House

 
Our last morning in Bangkok was spent completing the packing and visiting Jim Thompson's house. He was an American who revived the silk trade in Bangkok. It is also rumored that he worked for the CIA or one of its predecessors. Interestingly he had an astrological reading that predicted that he would have a good year when he ended up moving into this house and a bad year the year he disappeared in Malaysia. No trace has ever been found of him since. The house itself was beautiful and filled with gorgeous SE Asian Antiques. This was a great way for us to bid adieu to Thailand and hence our time proper in SE Asia.
 
At lunch time we caught a taxi out to the airport to finish last minute (or hour in our case) admin. This entailed arguing with tax officials and encountering first-hand the bureaucracy of the "Computer says No!" mentality! Annoyed we found a coffee before alighting our plane to Australia.
 
Tax Official Bureaucracy excluded, Thailand is a beautiful country filled with friendly people (some trying to extort your cash with a smile). The food is incredible and getting back there we realize just how much we had missed it over the past three months. Bangkok aside, the pace of life is catered to relaxation and hence a great holiday destination. We feel we have now done Bangkok and hopefully only need to see the airport on subsequent trips - hopefully not for an overnight session though!
 
SE Asia has been an incredible experience that has touched our lives. Although day to day we wondered if we had had any personal growth. Looking back we can definitely see the changes we have experienced and how we can cope with adversity. The people on the whole are fantastic, friendly and enthusiastic. Unfortunately to reach this you have to scratch beyond the touts who leave a bitter taste. Fortunately as with all things they will fade to a distant memory and we will only be left with the good memories and growth experiences!  Trying to find a highlight is impossible but as we have said to all other travelers we have met, "You have to get To Laos!"