LZ - Bangkok

The last I left off, I was at the border between Cambodia and Thailand. We were next to a bus depot that contained several large luxurious busses as well as some old, covered pickup trucks with long wooden benches lining each side. Nobody in the group knew whether our prayers would be answered with passage onto the newer bus or if we were going to spend the next 6 hours to Bangkok in the back of a pickup truck. I should mention here that what was advertised on the tickets bought in Cambodia was a big tour bus, not the minivan from hell or a covered pickup truck. Needless to say, when we were ushered into the back of the pickup truck our hopes for getting some sleep and having a relaxing trip into Bangkok quickly evaporated into thin air. However, just being in Thailand gave us a bit of assurance that it wasn't going to be all that bad...certainly not as bad as the Cambodian road we were just on.
As we headed down the nicely paved street for about a mile we all came to grips with the situation and readied ourselves for the next adventure. Aiden, the South African horse veterinarian who I met, told me more about his job back home and some more run-ins with African wildlife. A few minutes into the ride, the truck pulled over and into a fairly decent looking outdoor restaurant. We were told to unload and to wait there until our next ride would arrive in about an hour. This "drop off at a restuarant and wait for another ride" was all part of the tourism "scams" that go on all over Asia and other parts of the world. It's not really a scam, but you can be sure that the restaurant owner is in-cahoots with the tour/travel agencies to get some of the tourist business. Not a big deal, just prolongs the trip.
While we waited for our next ride, I had my first Thai brewed beer. It was called Singha, pronounced "sing", and it was a fairly good beer. So good, that it soon became a staple in my diet over the next few weeks. After about an hour of chatting it up with Aiden, our next transport arrived. The beauty of the moment was topped off by enchanting sounds of angels singing, "alleluia!" at the top of their lungs. Ok, maybe that was only in my head that I heard them, but sure enough, it was one of those big ole luxurious touring busses. The kind we drooled over at the border. This thing was gigantic and there was going to be more than enough room for us to stretch out and sleep. We were truely loving the fruits of the modern world. As soon as we boarded and found our comfort zones, the bus was silent. Every one of us was out cold, dead asleep.
When I awoke we were on the outskirts of what looked like a tremendous sprawling city. I quickly found out that we had just entered Bangkok. This was like no city I had seen before, even in the States. Skyscrapers were everywhere and traffic was pretty bad as well. I was also a bit shocked to see us driving on the wrong side of the road when I looked out the window. This left side of the street driving will never sit right with me...it's even worse as a pedestrian. You have look to your right first before crossing the street...Who does that? Well, half the world, apparently.
My anticipation of the legendary Khao San road was growing, and thankfully, I had a mate to explore it with.

(to be continued...)

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