Bustling Bangkok

---

---

Well, it’s a good thing we left Phuket when we did. Apparently, the weather got so bad there that the airport shut down and even tour buses were on standby. After three days of being locked in our hotel room, watching the downpour outside, the last thing we would have wanted to do was add a few more days to the list. After a smooth one-hour flight on Air Asia, we touched down in Thailand's sprawling capital city of Bangkok. The monsoons have been heavy here, too, and we had a great view of flooded fields and rice paddies on the way in. Luckily, it was not raining, although we could have done without the haze and overcast. Sigh.

Anyway, after a quick train ride and taxi ride, we found ourselves stepping into the home of our dear friend Kate, one of my friends from massage school in Palm Beach four years ago. She lives in Bangkok now, pursuing her master's at one of the universities here, and it was a joyous reunion as we zipped up to the 26th-floor of the beautiful high-rise where she's lucky enough to reside. After dropping our bags, we, along with Kate and her German beau Andreas, headed down to the Siam shopping center - spectacular enough to make the Gardens Mall look like a run-down Wal-mart. Their food court is a little slice of heaven - literally hundreds of stalls boasting cuisine from every corner of the globe - really good, really fresh, and really cheap. I introduced our new German friend to Auntie Anne's Pretzels (it's tough to impress a German with pretzels, mind you)...and he loved them so much he went back for seconds. We laughed at the hundreds of people standing in line at the new Krispy Kreme doughtnut shop, which Kate swears is packed with people 24 hours a day. Out with Dunkin' Donuts. If you want to look cool, you go to Kripsy Kreme.

Upon leaving the mall, we walked along the main street and past the sites of several bombings/burnings from the protests and unrest that happened back in March. An enormous shopping center was rising from the ashes, as it had been completely burned to the ground. All over the city, there are posters and advertisements expressing hope in the people of Bangkok and assuring visitors that the city is safe for them and their families. In a strange way, it reminded me a little bit of visiting Ground Zero after 9/11.

Moving on to a slightly more cheerful topic, I have to tell you about the Panda Channel. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Lin-Ping the Panda has her very own television station. There are no commercials, no shows, nothing except a video camera pointed at this panda in her cage at the zoo. For hours, she does nothing but sleep. Occasionally, she gets up to use the bathroom or eat some bamboo. It is strangely mesmerizing to watch, even during the long periods of inactivity. At the end of each day, they even run a "highlight reel" of the day's activities. (Let's face it - a panda's life is NOT that exciting). Yet the citizens of Thailand are enamored with their little Lin-Ping, and I must admit...she is pretty cute. We found ourselves sitting on the couch and watching her sleep or eat bamboo for alarming amounts of time.

Kate is taking Thai lessons and has been teaching us some of the basics: "sa-wa-dee ka" is hello, "korp kun" is thank you, "jin lao" is really (as in, a sarcastic response to something..."Really?"). Our favorite, though...and you guys are going to love this...is the word for socks. "Thong tao", literally translated, means "foot bags." Foot bags for socks. You gotta love it. The Thai word for traffic jam literally means "car glue." It's adorable.

Anyway, back to Bangkok. It's enormous and sprawling and hectic and busy, like an Asian version of downtown Manhattan. On every corner, though, you can find gigantic outdoor eateries where the locals gather and down massive plates of pad thai, fried rice, and curries for 30 baht or so...make that a dollar. Wash it down with a Coke or a Fanta for another 30 cents. After spending a week in the beach resorts of Krabi and Phuket, the prices in Bangkok are a breath of fresh air. For 20 baht (or about 60 cents), you can flag down a passing motorbike and hitch a ride to anywhere you happen to be going. Kate and I did this one night when we went out to grab some dinner. She flagged down a driver, told him where we were going, and motioned for me to hop on (she hopped on a subsequent bike, since three is a little bit of a squeeze). A moment later, I'm straddling the back of this motorbike, whizzing through downtown Bangkok with the wind in my hair and the smell of car exhaust filling my lungs. In and out of traffic we weave, like some sort of crazy arcade game. Except it's real. And exhilarating. And a little scary. But definitely a must-do while in Bangkok.

We were exceptionally lazy for our three days there, enjoying the privacy and air-conditioning of her lovely flat. Our one day of sightseeing consisted of visiting Wat Pho, a gorgeous Buddhist temple ornately decorated with gold, stained glass tiles, and Buddhas of every shape and size. We even ended up (quite inadvertently) sitting down with a monk and chatting with him for a bit so he could practice his English (he also, of course, gives religious guidance to those who are seeking it, although Jeremy and I were quite happy to talk about his dogs and which state we were from). Monks are a common sighting everywhere here - walking downtown, talking on their cell phones, sitting on buses, strolling through the temples. I even found myself brushing my teeth next to one on the train ride up to Chiang Mai (which was a little unnerving, as the train was swaying violently and the sinks were quite close together - a woman touching a monk, even on accident, is a BIG no-no). Luckily, I wasn't my usual klutzy self and managed not to lose my balance during the precarious task of brushing my teeth. (On that note, you want a great test of your balance? Try using a squat toilet on a fast-moving, swaying train. There's a fine art to it.)

We'll have a few more days in Bangkok at the end of the month, as that is where we're departing from after my massage school wraps up. So we weren't too worried about trying to see everything right away (the Royal Palace, for example)...we'll catch that on our way back. For now, we are sitting in Chiang Mai after a painless 16-hour overnight train ride on Thursday night. After our train rides in China last year, we were fairly dreading it, but it was actually very pleasant. Everyone has an individual bed, which is long enough to lay flat and quite comfortable. In the morning, the bed converts into two cushy seats so you can sit up and relax for the remainder of the ride. I battled a bit with motion sickness on the departure but was feeling much better by the time I woke up. At two in the afternoon, we arrived in Chiang Mai, and here we sit for the next three weeks!! Will have pictures and stories for you, for sure, as we're planning fun activities like rock climbing, elephant camp (where you get to feed, bathe, and ride elephants, not just as a passenger, but actually steer and command them), Tiger Kingdom (where we get to play with tigers again)...and, of course, Monday thru Friday, I'll be attending my Thai massage courses all day long. Should be a great couple of weeks! Catch you guys soon. Hope all is well in the Western Hemisphere.

---

Photos

"Pink Light Street"
Plenty safe for the ladies, but hang on to your men!

Comments

[ina]

So gorgeous!!!! That Reclining Buddha is a must-see... I've seen it on my friend's pictures earlier.... Did anything remind you of the movie " The Beach" with Di Caprio.. I will never forget that scene in hotel... Great times... Learn as much as you can at the thai massage lessons!!!!