Finally I'm here, in Bangkok
Trip Start
Feb 14, 2006
1
3
22
Trip End
May 14, 2006
Bangkok,
Thailand
Saturday, February 18, 2006
The flight was fine, uneventful. It was a strange experience waking up from a half sleep and clicking in to the flight plan on the seat monitor. I think that was the first moment I realised I was going somewhere far away from my friends and family, to the other side of the world. I felt bereft for a moment or two, that's the only word to explain.
The taxi from the airport to Bangkok was priced at 600/700 baht. This seemed far more expensive that I'd read in the guide books (maybe I went to the wrong taxi counters), so I decided to get the train in. This turned out to take much more time but was a more interesting first encounter with Bangkok I think. Don Muang Airport train station is basic, two platforms linked to each other by a wooden path across the tracks, a food stall and one long,low building for train information and tickets on one side and a ticket hut and seating on the other
01_Me
. Bangkok is not beautiful. The view from the train was filled with concrete, rubbish, stray dogs licking themselves on arid patches of ground. At one moment I saw a middle-aged Thai couple sitting on a rug spread on the ground, with what looked like a packed lunch between them. I wondered if I had seen a mirage, these people should have been on a beach, not sitting 10 feet from train tracks on an empty, desolate patch of ground.
The smell is not like it is in London, that's for sure. It is sweet and pungent and musky and filled with exhaust fumes. The fumes are bad, spewing out of the hundreds of motor bikes and mopeds and cars hurtling about. Crossing the street is an art in itself. It take courage, fortitude, a good eye for distances, quick reflexs and a good sprinting style.
As first days go, it's been a good one. I've walked through Chinatown, through Yaowarak Road, visited Wat Pho, checked out Khao San Rd and further on to Thewes and got the Chao Phraya River Express ferry back to Chinatown. This is another Bangkok life or death experience. The ferries stop for a second before racing off again. If you don't jump from the pier the moment it lands you dont get on, the same with getting off.
There is so much I could write but sleep beckons.
My good friend Helen bought me a pedometer as a travel present and going by the reading I've walked 10 miles today, which is approx. 26,500 steps. This, it seems, has lost me 640 calories!!
Comments
well done, you're on the way
It all sounds great, well done, we're all thinking about you, have a lovely time, keep posting the travelogue its great, how easy is it to get online? also did you sort out something for a digital camera?
love from andy and camille
well done, you're on the way
It all sounds great, well done, we're all thinking about you, have a lovely time, keep posting the travelogue its great, how easy is it to get online? also did you sort out something for a digital camera?
love from andy and camille