Now we know why there’s a Bang in Bangkok

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Welcome to Bangkok- a strong dose of modernised thinking and noise after delving into the Thai countryside. Wow. This is an insane, traffic-congested city. The energy here almost throws you into epileptic fits- but in a good way. A lot of travellers we have met on the way say: ‘yep- one night in Bangkok is enough’- but I disagree! There is so much to see, although much of it is seedy and unclean and polluted- there is still the Thai flavour in every over-crowded street corner- with a temple only ever a stones throw away. Through the smog the culture still shines.

We stayed in a lovely dorm- the only drawback was our room-mate who thought that showering at five am- repacking his bag at five thirty, dressing at six, playing with his safe until seven and then going back to sleep for four hours at seven thirty- was a good idea!

Jian and I saw the nightlife here- and boy does that life run strong! I won’t divulge too much into what we saw- but let me assure you, there is a reason the word Bang is in the name Bangkok! You cannot go three feet in the night without someone emerging from the shadows of some dimly lit alleyway offering you pornography. The street stalls are awesome- Jian and I are in chicken heaven! The markets are everything they are cracked up to be: I went crazy on the DVD front, Jian in Thai refrigerator magnets and silk-tie land.

On our final day Jian’s back was killing him (from way back up magic mountain where we rode on the top of a jeep)- so I ventured off into the day to do some self-guided touring of the city before leaving. Jian and I in the past have had tuk-tuk drivers drop us off at random places- and I researched about it before setting off into the day and realised that they do this because they receive commission on the places they take you. I found this interesting and wondered to myself: was it possible to out-smart the out-smarter? Could I play this their way and come out better? I thought I’d give it a try!

I found a tuk-tuk driver who told me that ‘yes, we do receive commission- free fuel- when we take you to three places on your trip. But most tourists don’t like it and just yell.’ Well I told him that if he took me to all of these places (I threw my hand ridiculously over the map) over the next five hours- he could take me to any three places of his choosing (he was very happy!), on the condition that my fare was low. He said, definitely! So I threw a number at him- not expecting him to fish at my hook, and to my surprise he took hook , line and sinker all! And this is how I saw all of Bangkok, personally chauffeured in the back of a tuk-tuk for five hours for a meagre 20 baht- less than one Australian dollar! His stops were two jewellery stores (where the lovely shop owners turn into fire-breathing bitches when they realise that you don’t want to buy anything!) and one tailoring place, where I actually bought a cheap shirt! My lucky day!

To end it off, we left the city and booked into a hotel close to the airport. There we met a man who went by the name ‘Crazy John’. Well Crazy John is a 65+ man from central America, travelling alone. His stay in Bangkok is just a stop over after being in Vietnam where he had just visited for the first time since fighting there against the Viet Kong in the war! He actually stayed at the place of a Vietnamese man he fought against- both of whom had war scars aplenty and had been carrying emotion baggage no normal person can comprehend. The way he explained it was that this was his goodbye to almost 40 years of therapy. The man was hilarious to boot- having rocked up near us high as a kite after giving a couple kids free ice cream at a local market, only to be taken by the children’s parents into an alley way (he was scared at first but thought- shit, well they didn’t kill me the first time I was here…) only to have them give him a joint as a thankyou! He offered us a place to stay if we ever get down his way in the U.S- I think we just may take him up on that offer.

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Comments

[Emma]

Aaron you crack me up. Could so picture you going dvd crazy and jian going silk tie crazy lol