Buddhas, Buses and Being Bossed About

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Bangkok hasn't been what I expected if only because I was going on something that another traveller had told me in India:

"Bangkok's airport is completely different to the city itself."

So when I arrived from Delhi and got off the plane I wasn't surprised by the modern and bright airport, but I quickly expected that once I left I'd be in a city similar to Delhi where poverty and infrastructure lived side by side and there was noise and confusion everywhere. I was half-right because Bangkok's traffic certainly has a similarly optimistic view of road regulations as Kolkata's but the city itself is extremely modern. Certainly there are many more high-rise buildings than Delhi could manage. As a contrast to India it's really welcome and my previously rigid rejection of street food and fruit juice has lessened somewhat simply because the city feels more western.

I recommend Bangkok for the purpose I'm putting it to: a pitstop before I launch headlong into seeing Cambodia and Vietnam. I'm here for 6 days and on Saturday (5/6) I'm taking a bus to the Thailand/Cambodia border.

I have also picked up a travelling companion; Yvonne Zhang. We met in September last year for the first time and 3 hours later decided to go travelling together. 10 months later and we are, which I think is testament to our friendship. Or maybe Yvonne couldn't find anyone else to go with. I know I tried. However I think I got a pretty good deal as for reasons I haven't ascertained (witchcraft) Yvonne can work out the frankly, to me, baffling Bangkok bus system. This saves lots of baht in taxi and tuk-tuk fares.

Together we have visited Wat Pho, a huge Buddhist temple that contains an almost as large statue of a reclining Buddha, 46 metres long and 15 high. The grounds are also scattered with stupas and the buildings have high tiered roofs. It was a continuation of what I got a taste of at the Thai Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya. In fact I felt the entire complex had the feeling of Bodh Gaya, one of incredible calm and a refuge from the bustle of Bangkok.

Unfortunately whilst at Wat Pho I discovered a characteristic in Yvonne that I wasn't previously aware of. Quite frankly Yvonne is a Photo Nazi. A girl who normally is not the least bit overbearing normally suddenly becomes quite frightening when she gets hold of a camera. "Left, not right! No, Move! Smile! But smile differently from that! Now take a photo of me! No! You're doing it wrong! Hold it like this! Now stand still!" It's not helped that Yvonne has no space left on her memory cards to take more photos so I'm often frozen with a rictus grin while she deletes photos from her camera to make room. If I don't improve soon I think she's going to start hitting me.

I would write about the Metro and Sky Train systems they have in Bangkok but I really would be repeating what I said in my previous post about Delhi. Just know that what I said about Delhi's metro goes doubly for Bangkok's. I'm starting to think civic planners come to London to learn how not to design an inner city train system.

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