Bangkok

  Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
Monday, May 12, 2008

Hey guys,

I will try to keep you up to date as often as I can but I would  not want to bore you with travel stories, well, the good thing is if you are not interested, you do not have to read it.
To give you the head's up on my trip, the motto for today is "so far so good"

The trip started extremely well. The bus ride from Brighton to the airport was a little over 2 hours, but I took that as a chance to relax after my frantic last week at work and getting everything ready for my trip. 2 of my very good friends came to wave goodbye at the bus stop and I thank them for that again. At the airport, nothing to report, no laptop X-ray scanning, no ATA carnet to sign, no muliple heavy suitcases to carry but simply an incredible feeling of freedom. The flight was just over 12 hours. I had dinner, watched a movie and as I managed to get a window seat with 2 empty seats next to me, needless to say that I  slept most of those 12 hours laying down on the 3 seats, just as if I was in a comfortable bed...well close to it.

Arriving in Bangkok was easy, no visa requirements, no queues, no lost backpack and a sunny 29 degrees celsius. I had booked a hotel on the internet before I left so that I have a place to crash easily with a shower and a bed when I arrive. So I decided to take the bus to get "downtown" Bangkok. Not that easy, but manageable. The bus terminal is a 20 minutes shuttle ride away from the airport. Then the bus takes you to the sky train and then the train to the hotel, well close to it. With over 50 local buses to choose from and as many different stops on the way, I am glad I have met that young and handsome Thai guy to help me out on my journey. The sky train was fine, well not easy to understand how to get a ticket, but in the end, it is quite close to the Japanese way, so I figured it out.

On the other hand, the bus trip from the airport to the sky train was quite an adventure on its own. Indeed, we drove over an hour on a very bumpy highway full of all kinds of motor engines. 2 wheels, 3 wheels, 4 wheels, helmets, no helmets, big, small, trailers, everything seems to be fine as long as it runs. We nearly got into an accident when this elephant, carrying a trailer full of unknown goods to me, tried to cross over the highway while  4 people mopeds (well normal mopeds but with the whole family on them) were going on the wrong side of the road on the left lane (they drive like english people in here that is to say on the wrong/left side of the road). So picture that, a full old bus driving 50 mph on a busy highway, an elephant crossing and bikes coming towards you on the left. The whole trip was as interesting and filling with sightseeing as the local day to day travelling experience. A very warm welcome in Thailand !

The hotel booked on the internet was very european and very chic as well but enjoyable for the first night. I dropped of my bag and left straight away for the posh quarter of Siam square as open late at night. A weird place, very similar to the shopping maniac departement stores of Tokyo. I randomly strolled the stores and streets of this chic quarter feeling more and more tired as I was going. By the time I was ready to go back to the hotel, it was already 10 pm, so rushed back, went to the outside swimming pool, the sauna and straight to bed.
Don't worry the next night is nothing like it !

I spent the day visiting all the touristy stuff, you can just get a guide book to tell you all about it (well I wish I had done that ! and a map of Bangkok would have helped too) but 20 wats (temples), 100 buddhas and 3 thai massages later, here I am in my hotel room of the famous San Khao road ! It was very interesting to take the boat everywhere as traffic is horrendous in Bangkok, the boat was the best way of transportation and quite easy to find your way as well, you can't really go wrong with boats rooutes, can you ? The emerald buddha is tiny, like the manneken-pis in Belgium, the reclyning buddha is amazing :

Reclining buddha

46 metres long and 15 metres high and the royal palace is worth a visit

Royal palace

. It rains a lot in Bangkok and when it rains, it rains. no umbrella needed but a big, thick plastic poncho would do...or you just stop for a massage somewhere and you can imagine that was actually my pick.

After a massage

Massage places are everywhere, open nearly 24 hours a day, never busy and they are all amazing. For $5, you get the perfect full body massage you have never experienced before. well worth it ! I walked back to my first hotel where I had left my bagpack and this walk was quite an expericen on its own as I went through the smallest, most asian streets of Bangkok. Very interesting.

Then "ni vu, ni connu" a last dive into the swimming pool, a little sauna, a drinka at the bar and off I go to the backpaper quarter of Bangkok....very filling, very international and very noisy. Only 1 room left in the famous street at the Khao san road palace inn...well if they got rid of palace and jsut stick with inn, that would be closer to reality. No A/C, but a fan and you actually want the fan on all night, not because of the temperature but because the moise of its motor is very soothing compared to the outside noise : the club next door, the drunk neighbourghs, the honking taxis, the 50cc mopeds all night and the national hymn on loud speakers in the morning...a real experience. Well I think I had enough of very, very, very polluted Bangkok and I am heading towards Ayuthaya, the former capital of Thailand. I need to catch a train next to Chinatown, so I am first going to stroll down the streets of this huge district and off I go !

Not sure when I will have the internet next, but I'll keep you posted...

Sorry no pictures yet...next time...I hope. The reason being is while I was out at breakfast this morning, a very funny person came into my room (welcome to the backpacker quarter of Bangkok !) and changed my lock combination. I have a little lock for my backpack well, now it is completely locked and I have not figured out how to unlock/break it yet...but I will...