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Published: January 22nd 2007
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We took a short, cheap and badly scheduled flight from Kochi to Chennai (6800 Rs for both of us), and sat in the Chennai airport for 10 hours. When we booked the noon flight, we assumed we would be let into the passengers' waiting section of the airport where we could try and find a Thailand guidebook and have a bite to eat. Of course it didn't work that way - the Chennai airport was surprisingly small, and entrance into the airport was restricted to passengers with tickets and visitors with a guest ticket (enforced by armed guards). So we sat in the slightly shabby viewing gallery for 7 hours until we were allowed to approach the Thai airways desk for our boarding passes 3 hours before our flight. The Thai airways flight was also cheap (18000 Rs for both), had great flight attendants and they served food at 1:00 in the morning (that was delicious! But, I love airplane food..i know, i know).
We landed in Bangkok at 5:00 in the morning and we sleepily made our way to the taxi area. The second we entered the huge, modern airport we knew we weren't in India anymore! So far
Thailand is providing some much needed relief to everything that was bringing us down towards the end of our India trip - no one harassed us to get into their taxi when we left the airport; at the tourist desk, we just picked up a map and there was no sales pitch to sign up for some outrageously priced tour; the first ATM we tried acepted our card and gave us money; the bus sped along the wide, fast roads; and the streets are clean and there are garbage cans. We hopped on an airport bus and got dropped off at the Royal hotel (1700 Baht). The sheets were bright white, so I think linens are washed in a washing machine instead of being scrubbed and beaten like in India. We slept the morning away and ventured out in the afternoon to try and get our bearings. We weren't that far from the famous Khao San Road, so we went there to pick up a second-hand guidebook and plan our stay in Thailand. We didn't intend to stay in Bangkok for very long but we needed a couple of days to get our visa for Laos, since we'll probably stay
there longer than the 14 days allowed with the on-arrival visa. Khao San Road is exactly like everyone says it is - packed with tourists (mostly young backpackers) lingering in restaurants and bars, browsing in the streetside vendor stalls, getting their hair braided and dreadlocked, enjoying Thai massages, or searching for a place to stay in one of the many guesthouses lining the road. It's a fun destination, and a good place for cheap accomodation - our current hotel is 550 baht a night for a basic, clean room that resembles a dorm room.
We walked along to the waterfront afterwards and stumbled onto an open-air aerobics class, which seemed like the perfect way to end a workday (I tried joining in, but wasn't dressed for it). Walking back from the fort we met our first tout. We were reading the plaque explaining the fort's history, and a friendly man said hello, made some small talk, and then mentioned that some festival was happening in some other part of town, and suggested we check it out. We chatted for a second, then out of nowhere a tuk tuk appeared. He told us that the fare would only be 10
baht, but we really should go now since it would be over in a couple of hours. His insistence and urgency that we get into that tuk tuk set off alarm bells, so we just took the auto to our hotel and called it a night. The next day we ran into a number of these guys - the most common approach is that they tell you that the attraction that you are about to visit is closed for a couple of hours (Thai holiday, they're doing maintenance, it's packed with students right now) and try to get you to go see some other sights instead. The attraction has always been open - we're assuming they're trying to take us shopping...So far they've been the only real nuisance and we've just been ignoring their greetings.
We saw the Grand Palace the next day. Neither John or I had any idea what Thailand palaces would be like, so we were blown away when we arrived! The palace and Wat Phra Kaew are beside each other, and we started in the temple. There was so much to take in - golden buildings, buildings covered in ceramic mosaics, a model of Angkor
Wat, and mother of pearl inlaid doors.The emerald buddha lives in the main temple - he was a small, jasper figure wearing his winter attire (his robes are changed with the seasons). I was surprised to see that scenes from the Ramayana were painted on the walls - some names were changed, but it was the same story
(TBC)
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