Thailand - chapter II

We returned to Bangkok from Chang Mai by train and we had couple of days to explore Bangkok alone before flying off to Phuket where our southern adventure would start.

Bangkok is a very big, busy and polluted place. Pollution was indeed very frustrating as we travelled in tuk-tuks many times. Tuk Tuks are very like motorcycles with an open back for carrying passengers. They're quite cheap and you can negotiate with the drivers, which is quite recommended before you set off on the trip, otherwise you can be asked to pay ridiculous amounts once you reach the destination.

Bangkok also has a Sky Train or BTS, which is a sort of surface train travelling suspended on concrete pillars, travelling above the traffic, thus the name Sky Train. I guess it's an easier alternative to digging the ground to have a tube line. But unfortunately, although modern and very convenient, the Sky Train only covers small portions of Bangkok.

Another feature of Bangkok is the love for huge malls. You just get in one and you find all sorts of shops on many levels. I guess it all has to do with the fact that they have ridiculously high temperatures during the summer season and they like shopping in aircon environments. The look is very modern and the malls make the most part of Siam, a very commercial district.

We travelled around Old Bangkok mostly, visiting wats (that is temples), the royal palace, the Golden Mountain temple, seeing the reclining Buddha, we also went for a thai massage (which I didn't enjoy very much, at points being quite painful, or ticklish, or being concerned that the woman would impair me for the rest of my life by trying to crack every bone in my back), we played some bowling (and I'm ashamed to say that I lost, despite all the preparations I had in London!!). We also just lazed around the swimming pool where Carmen works, enjoying a bit of sauna too. We also visited a very touristy area of BKK called Khaosan, where you could buy anything and everything. There were even signs on the street selling UK driving licenses, student cards and other illegal stuff. DVDs everywhere. The land of the copyright-free.

Thais are very friendly people, overly friendly as we discovered. Our first contact was at a corner of a street where we stopped puzzled to look for a zebra crossing. A guy next to us just asked us if he can help us. I was a bit reluctant, thinking he's trying to sell us something, but soon enough we realised he was genuinely trying to help us and also exercise his English. Touting is one thing I hate and we got a lot of it in Thailand, but this time, the guy was just friendly. I was impressed.
After walking for 5 minutes, another guy stops us and asks us where we’re going and shows us on the map all the attractions, suggests we should take a tuk-tuk and doesn’t understand our desire for pure walking.
After another 5 minutes another person stops us and forces us to listen the same story, the same story all over.
Needless to say it was happening every 5 minutes and it stopped to be funny anymore! We couldn’t waste all day talking to nice thais full of good intentions. So I came up with a solution … we don’t speak English! And when the next guy approached me I replied in Romanian “I don’t understand”. The guy was relentless “Where are you from?” in English. Of course this is a tricky question as you might be tempted to reply without thinking. But I continued to say things in Romanian. The guy gave up soon enough and I saved 10 minutes of good intentions and time wasted.

I must say I didn’t like Bangkok too much, it’s too crowded, too polluted, everything London is but worse. I was looking for something else, something more relaxing. Furthermore, Bangkok is not for walking and everyone will think you’re absolutely crazy if you want to walk around. No wonder our minds were set on the sunny south! Little did we know about all the twists laid ahead of us. But all about that in the next chapter!