Thailand - Bangkok (again)

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Wednesday 2 January 2008

A very punctual ‘red bus’ (songthaw) collected us bright and early to take us to the Indra Tour Office from where we were due to catch a bus to Bangkok. The red bus was late, as usual, and then took more time collecting locals around town and dropping locals off at their front door. However, once we actually got going, it was a very comfy ride. We tried at the tour office to change our seat numbers because we realised that we would be seated at the very front of the bus. The bus was full so it was not possible. Seated in the front row on the top level, there was only a small railing covered the Buddhist ‘safe journey’ offerings between us and a cracked glass windshield between us and the open highway (photo). So with Buddha’s protection, we settled in with our complementary pink frilly travel pillows for a nine hour bus ride (photo).

It was a generally uneventful, but still interesting ride. From our front seats we witnessed many of the interesting things that happen on Thai highways such as carriage of passengers as sleeping cargo and theft (photos). Approaching Bangkok, the traffic became quite heavy (photo) and so our arrival was significantly delayed. This was quite inconvenient as we were due to meet Phil and Kim (the British travellers we met in Vietnam who are recently engaged - Congratulations!) for dinner, which we were very much looking forward to. However, being stuck in traffic wasn’t boring because as soon as the sun went down, the bus turned into a mobile disco (photo) with neon lights and Thai country-western karaoke.

Two and a half hours late, we arrived at Bangkok northern bus station. From there we were to catch a taxi to New Siam Guesthouse No 1 (there are 1, 2, 3 and Riverside - 1 is the cheapest) in the city centre in a small lane off Phra Athit Road near the Chao Phraya River and Khao San district where Phil and Kim were staying. However, catching at taxi at this bus station is not as easy a task as it sounds. There isn’t just the matter of negotiating with the taxi driver if he doesn’t wish to use the meter. To get a taxi in the first place you have to queue on one of four median strips next between the driveways where the taxis arrive. So you have to dash up and over the median strips and driveways between taxis to get to the far queue which is shorter. Then, as the queue moves forward, you have to jump down off the median onto the driveway and back up again to get around the large pillars that block the queue. This is the point where Barbara came unstuck. The queue moved forward so she checked for taxis and then hopped down onto the driveway, but the queue hadn’t moved forward enough to fit her WITH her bag on the other side of the pillar. So she went to jump back into her prior place but the queue behind her had already moved forward. Then along came a couple of taxis...mmmmm. Scrambling for a space on the median out of the path of the oncoming taxis, she fell and banged her toe which she had already been nursing since she had bruised it while trekking in Chiang Mai. The pain was overwhelming. We won’t torture you with all the gory details - nor the photos, but basically Barbara could barely stand so we hopped in the first available taxi and rushed to our guesthouse to drop our bags and find medical treatment. Unfortunately it looked like we may not have a chance to catch up with Phil and Kim that night. Coincidentally, we found out later that Kim had also fallen ill so the boys were both playing doctor that night.

Arriving at New Siam Guesthouse 1 we quickly checked into our room - very cheap, only 380 Baht for a double room - and reception were surprised that we didn’t even want to see the room before checking in. At that point, we were content with anything clean, dry and safe - and cheap! The room fitted all criteria so we dropped our luggage and turned our attentions to Barbara’s toe. Given the choice of Michael’s ‘bush remedy’ or the possibility of a dodgy clinic or hospital, Barbara chose the dodgy hospital! We sought the advice of the very helpful reception staff and decided not to travel across the city to Sukhimvit for a fancy expensive hospital as first choice, but to try our luck with one more local. We caught a taxi to Bangkok Mission Hospital (aka Bangkok Adventist Hospital) where the staff were very helpful and friendly. Upon our arrival three nurses discussed at length amongst themselves the problem with my toe and whether it required a doctor and/or surgery - because they didn’t want to wake up the doctor-on-call in the middle of the night unnecessarily. They decided that a doctor would be required. A very competent looking doctor arrived a short time later and administered the necessary procedure very efficiently - again, we will spare you of the gory details. During the procedure, Michael was given smelling salts (in Thailand this means a cotton bud soaked with ammonia) to stop him for fainting. Barbara required the same afterwards. We were very impressed with the hospital, the cleanliness, efficiency, compassionate service and competency of staff. We were also pleasantly surprised at the price. The entire procedure, anaesthetic, extra dressing supplies for the coming weeks, medication, AND taxis to and from the hospital cost us less than 100USD - we wouldn’t get that back in Sydney!

Returning to New Siam after 1am and with Dr Phil (lol!) also on duty taking care of Kim, Michael decided to stay in for the night.

Thursday 3 January 2008

After resting for the morning and then enduring a painful dressing change for her toe, Barbara ventured out to Khao San Road to buy a pair of fake Tevas to wear to make travelling with her sore toe a little more comfortable and Michael headed out to find a post office to send home a package of snorkel gear that we would no longer be using. Barbara then headed back to New Siam for rest and some internet research for our trip to Hong Kong - with an elevated foot of course. Michael headed out to see some more Bangkok sights and meet Dr Phil and a mostly-recovered Kim.

First stop was Wat Phra Keow, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and part of the Grand Palace complex (photo). Located in a most beautiful and ornate building (photo), it’s a key religious icon. No photos are permitted inside, but postcards may be bought outside. Gold and interesting statues are the order of the day (photos), but for reasons Michael couldn’t understand, there’s a model of the main Angkor Wat temple there too (photo)! The next temples visited were Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn (photo) and Wat Pho. The former had the steepest stairs of any temple we visited (photo) with great views at the top. On the way to Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, which by the way is only 46 metres long, we passed a gleaming temple (photo) an amusing postbox (photo), and inspiration for a Pirates of the Carribean character (photo). One of the other temples in Wat Pho is most ornate (photo) and we saved given the Reclining Buddha’s reputation of huge and spectacular, we visited it last. It lived up to it (photo) and even sported a damaged toe, perhaps in sympathy with Barbara (photo).

With “beer o’clock” approaching, the jolly trio headed to New Siam to meet up with Barbara and toddle down the lane to the Gecko Bar where we had pre-dinner beers (photo). Barbara had softies as she was still heavily medicated! Our entertainment was provided by a passing heavily decorated cyclo (photo) and the random bunny rabbit that was playing under our chairs (photo).

We negotiated a taxi to take us to Sukhumvit district for dinner which is a difficult task at night when there is heavy traffic. About half way through the taxi ride, Phil seceded he needed a loo so he provided entertainment to us during the journey and while we were walking (and he was running) up possibly the longest soi (lane) in Bangkok past numerous water fountains to our restaurant so he could relieve himself. The restaurant we chose for dinner was Cabbages & Condoms (photo). The restaurant is named as such because its purpose is to raise awareness about the problem of HIV & Aids in Thailand and to raise funds for related community programs. Accordingly, it is located near the red light districts in Bangkok.

While waiting in the long queue to enter the restaurant - it is very popular - we amused ourselves with the paraphernalia on the walls in the foyer (photos - you may not want to look as you may find them a bit rude!). The food was delicious but a little expensive - although we were happy to pay more than usual for a good cause. After dinner the four of us had our photo taken with Santa Condom (photo - note the superhero Condom Man in the background) and Michael and Phil happily collected their after-dinner treats (photo).

After a very jolly entertaining evening, we bid farewell to Phil and Kim and headed back to New Siam to prepare for our flight to Macau the following day.

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Photos

Grand Palace Complex
Wat Phra Keow

Gulliver travels to Angkor Wat
in Bangkok???

Steeeeeep stairs
at Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn

Binary postal system
There are two sorts of places