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Published: March 22nd 2008
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....is about how long it takes to inhale exhaust fumes equivalent to a month's worth in other major cities around the world. My bus got stuck in traffic as soon as it got near the city, and that's where I would spend a fair chunk of time during my stay.
Now, before I go any further, I have a confession to make. Due to the lack of convenient, fast-moving public transport in certain areas of the city, I did catch the odd taxi, tuk tuk and motorbike to get me to the nearest subway or skytrain station. As an advocate of public transport, this weighs heavily on me. In my defence I must say that this was mostly done when trying to get to the Chinese embassy, which had limited opening hours and was at the other end of the city, to organise my visa and when trying to get back to my guesthouse late in the evening. Of course this isn't much of an excuse, but should serve as an explanation for my unconscionable actions in a city where any more traffic on the streets should be strongly discouraged.
I did favour the back seats of motorbikes. These I figure,
while far more dangerous (riders have no regard for most of the important traffic regulations, such as speed limits, traffic lights, consideration for other vehicles, the need for a helmet, etc.), are better for the environment, able to weave through traffic faster (did I mention the heavy traffic?), cheaper and ultimately much more fun.
Having said all that, Bangkok is apparently working on extending its current network of skytrain and subway services and well it should. I have nothing but praise for both these superbly run services. I realise I'm spending a lot of time talking about transport, but it's such a big part of travel that it's hard not to.
Okay, so what did I actually get up to? I checked into a dirt cheap guesthouse near Khao San Road. "What a clichee!" I hear some of you say. For those that haven't been to Bangkok, Khao San is a major haven for backpackers from all over the world and as such is heavily geared towards tourism. But that also means you can arrive late at night and are still guaranteed a cheap room, my motivation for going there. Admittedly after the first night I was just too slack
to move somewhere else. Funnily enough, Khao San and the area surrounding it does have a perverse kind of charm to it. For instance, at one end of the street is a cop shop (police station for you non-Aussies), but walk down 50 metres and streetside vendors are selling fake IDs (I was debating getting an International Press Pass for a mere AU$7.50!) and advertising the fact that they happily sell alcohol to minors. Too bad I'm already an accredited journalist of mature age (yeah, right). In any case, I spend most of my time sightseeing in other parts of the city.
So on my first night I walked down and marvelled at the madness of Khao San (inclusive of a poor, young elephant dragged through the loud and crowded streets to make a quick buck), settled down for a beer, got my head shaved followed by a massage and then bumped into Matthias in an internet cafe. It was his last night in Thailand and so the next day, in between being all but physically molested by tuk tuk drivers offering their services, we did the obligatory cultural trek and visited Wat Phra Kaew (The Temple of the Emerald
Buddha), the Grand Palace and the very impressive Wat Pho, which houses one of the biggest collections of Buddha statues along with one of the biggest reclining Buddha statues in the world.
On day two I checked out some excellent art galleries and then, to offset the cultural experience, let Sandy & Steffie (who had arrived in Bangkok in the meantime) talk me into joining them on a trip to one of the many massive shopping centres found in the city, namely MBK. Housing seven floors and more shops than you would find in all of Canberra's shopping centres combined it's an absolute retail heaven (as is most of Bangkok and Thailand for that matter - Steve and Wiz, you would love it). MBK isn't even the biggest mall in Bangkok and within walking distance are several more of these monsters! It was my worst nightmare and after two hours in there I was nauseous, not to mention completely lost. (I didn't get away unscathed from this shopping extravaganza, having purchased a little tripod for my camera, some new underwear, toothpaste and a tootbrush.) While the girls stayed behind and had an absolute ball no doubt, I went to meet
up with Nui, who was also in town for the night. Ending the day and with that the first part of my Bangkok exerience on a high note, the two of us went to Saxophone, a pumping Jazz and Blues bar, but not before enjoying a delicious dinner of pork offal soup. Yummy!
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I remember HK. Walking into a bar at the age of 16. There was a sign saying "We do not serve alcohol to persons under 18". I was wondering if I should attempt to order or not. At the end of the bar there was a 12 year getting booze. Bangkok has a certain smell that is quite addictive. Evening rain on a hot oily road. It is addictive in the sense that you know you are in Bangkok. Every place has a unique smell. Bangkok has one of the strongest. Also Bangkok has the best facilities for penis reattachment in the world. It is quite common. My advice is that you do not piss off a female native.