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We left Auroville finally on Wednesday night. It was just too damn hot, even sitting still in the shade broke out a sweat. It was hotter than when I cycled down the Nile during an Egyptian heat wave for goodness sake, so when people asked 'are you sure you want to go to Thailand now, just as the monsoon's beginning?' we said yes, bring on the rain.
Wow we're here in Bangkok. It's utterly a different world, and therefore so very, very exciting! We met up with Liz, a friend from university, who took us to an Irish bar and treated us to fish and chips and Guinness - wowwwweeeee what more could you ask for after Auroville? She found us rather entertaining as we were SO excited at being in Bangkok. Honestly, it feels like a futuristic world, riding the sky train, looking out at the brightly coloured malls, huge state of the art video screens adorning every conceivable area of space, 7/11s on every corner, beautiful people posing in their high heels, even the auto rickshaws are shiny. It's definitely not a place you see dirt easily and what a huge contrast that is to Delhi. Bangkok exudes consumerist paradise, brand new everything, the smell of a determined success, Delhi smells of wee.
So we have felt a little like royalty since we've been here (despite the influx of inexplicable ants in our bathroom). We're staying at a hotel called The Atlanta on Sukhumvit road. Liz suggested it but said that they don’t accept complaints. I thought she was just saying they were a little bit funny, but everywhere, all over the walls, the menus, the instruction leaflets in the lobby for how to behave appropriately in Thailand, they state quite clearly that they do indeed not accept complaints; their prices are too cheap for that. They also say loudly and proudly that they don’t accept sex tourists, and that you can only stay here if they like you, it's not about money apparently.
It's a crazy place which has been here for 55 years, and never refurbished. There are pictures in the restaurant of the King of Thailand boogying on his saxophone with Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong and the first president Bush, right here at the Atlanta. It was the first hotel to have a swimming pool in the country and was super posh for the 50s. It still has a fantastic art deco arrogance to it. Being out by the pool makes me think of being at the Lido in Worthing when I was little, I don’t know if I remember it being open but I certainly associate it with the bright candy coloured tiles and the photos of all the guests in the 50's swimwear. I cant imagine a place like this being so popular with the rich and famous now, it's too small, but it's great for the odd backpacker if you can stretch a little further than the typical Koh San Road fare.
I'm writing this blog in the restaurant right now, sitting on red & beige seats, black and white tiled floor, Ella Fitzgerald singing out to take the time away, but in keeping with the feeling of being rich, I've bought a laptop. Yikes. It's true though, we spent an entire day (urgh) traipsing from shop to shop seeing what was on offer. We thought we'd struck gold when someone mentioned an entire mall dedicated to computers. I suggested that perhaps Bob was in heaven, especially when the odd shop popped up selling electric guitars (albeit shaped like random items such as as an axe) but he informed me he was not that much of a geek.
However, after a good couple of hours of wandering up and down the 6 flights of stairs, coming across more and more choice to confuse us, we both felt we'd lost the will to live. I came up with ridiculous reasons to eliminate things and ended up with what I’m now using, and thankfully it seems like a total bargain, plus Bob appears to be jealous so it must be pretty good. The only thing is I didn’t get to buy it off a friend of mine from university who now manages the Sony Vaio flagship store in Bangkok, but sadly, it's just too expensive for me, sorry Graham!
So after a week living the high life and catching up with Liz, Ish and Graham from Uni, we're off up north tomorrow. We haven’t seen any of the traditional sights of the capital, despite trying to make the effort, but there's just something about those enormous video screens and lights everywhere we look that has pulled us towards them. It must have something to do with having been in the virtuous Auroville for so long, or maybe just that in India, there don’t appear to be any shiny things at all.
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Janet
non-member comment
Hi Kate, glad you're enjoying the high life for a bit and have escaped Auroville, that sounded a bit too stressful, oddly given what the place is supposed to be. Slightly surprised you're lapping up the video screens of Bangkok so much: I couldn't wait to get out of Bangkok when I arrived there; but then I arrived from England seeking escape from that, not from Auroville. Anyway hope the rest continues well x