One one things

I woke up in a dilemma. It was a Sunday, technically a day off, but I hadn’t done a slide of my powerpoint for the next morning, plus I had some research gaps to fill. But it isn’t always you get a day off in Bangkok, so I thought it’ll be worthwhile even burning a bit of midnight oil if I can get some quality exploring done. I met Fernie for the breakfast buffet which was strikingly similar to that from my previous visit to this hotel 2 years ago. That first time was a major culture shock for me, I still remember getting into the hotel late on my first night and walking downstairs to reception to find a restaurant close-by. The bellboy said, “No sir everywhere closed now. Can I help you with anything else? you want lady? massage?” I really didn’t except to be offered lady massage by the hotel reception so I hastily abandoned feeding plans and ordered room service to accompany HBO, half an eye on the door expecting a knock and further offers of dubious company.

Anyway, after breakfast Fernie and I studied his map and circled a bunch of places that we thought would be good to visit. These included Chatuchak weekend market, Yao Wa Rat (Chinatown), Grand Palace, Khao San road, Phatpong and Wat Phra Kaew (emerald Buddha). Before examining the map we asked the reception whether they have any special tours that cover the entire day, the guy suggested the package including the floating market, rose garden and elephant show - all for a bargain price of B 4000 (but for us special discount of B 3500). Out of curiosity I asked him if they have tours to Kanchanaburi (a place recommended by my backpacking friends), and he said that can’t be done in one day since it’s too far. This was completely contrary to what my friends had told me, and it was clear that the hotel wanted nothing more than to take the shirts off our back, and it was obvious that we were on our own. We separated night time places and day time places made a rough plan for the next few days. The plan for Sunday was to find our way to the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha and to drop into Khao San in the evening. Fernie seemed pleased and said, “Must go to red light area also ah, just to see ah! must experience these things no?” I smiled and nodded. As we left the hotel armed with passports, wallets and bata slippers, Fernie patted the map in his shirt pocket and said, “This is our Bible.”

There’s a small waterway that runs next to the hotel, continuing through most of Central Bangkok with public boats travelling along it. A glance at the map suggested that it might take us some way towards our first planned destination so we thought it’ll be much more interesting than a bus or cab. The biggest problem getting around BKK is communication, the average Thai speaks no English other than a few key words like massage and sex. Even pointing at the destination on the map and asking for directions did not always yield positive results. Luckily the map we had had the names of places in Thai in really really small print, so we managed to get a guy to tell us which boat to catch. The houses along the waterway looked really small and cramped, much like those I had seen lining waterways in Manila. The boat ride was fun, lots of splashing and noise but we didn’t get wet, and at the very first stop everyone got off, and the conductor gesticulated for us to leave as well. It turned out we had gotten on at the penultimate stop and this was the end of the road. We weren’t asked to pay anything and a quick glance at the map suggested we were within dashing distance of a couple of temples.

The first temple we walked into was Loha Prasat, a tall black monument that looked fragile and delicate. I’ve never been a fan on Thai temples, they’re much too opulent for my taste, and this was much the same but I was able to climb all the way to the top for a not so exciting view of the city. Just before we entered the temple we were approached by a friendly sort of local who asked where we’re from and started off on a brief history of the place. He then said this temple is closed now bc of some ceremony and pointed out a place on our map that we should visit. He seemed much too eager so we politely thanked him for his advice and correctly decided to brave the non-existent ceremony. Just across the waterway was the Golden Mount temple, Wat Saket. This was located in what resembled an artificial forest. After climbing the short but numerous steps to the stupa we paid 10 Bhat and entered the building. A mini stupa was bang in the centre and ppl kept pasting real gold along the walls of this mini stupa for good luck, over the years this pasting had come to shape the stupa. On the way out there were ppl ringing the numerous bells that lined the path towards the temple, again for good luck. Fernie, in a moment of inspiration, said that there’s no need for ringing bells and pasting gold for good luck, honest hard work is what you need. Said like a true govt servant.

A tuk tuk took us to the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha, but having reached the place Fernie wasn’t keen on paying the 250 Bhat for entrance so we pottered around a bit before wandering back out. Just outside the compound there was an old lady seated on the ground with two middle aged ladies in front of her, each holding little cages with birds in them. The old lady was a fortune teller of sorts and was gesticulating wildly, in curiosity I moved towards her and took a few photographs, just then a cage was opened and one of the little birds flew out. It seemed to be another pursuit of good luck. The birds in all probability fly back to the old lady after a few minutes, a pretty sensible business. We decided to walk back towards the hotel since it was late afternoon and Fernie felt the need to have a nap. On the way back I discovered the reason for all the pursuit of good luck. There was an entire street lined with lottery sellers, and everyone was buying. At the rate the bells were being rung earlier I’d be surprised if the venture was profitable though. The street food was tempting but since I had to present the next day I had to refrain, it would not go down too well if i had to run to the toilet mid-sentence. I tried to take a picture of one old lady selling fried bananas but she seemed taken aback and afraid so I put my hand up and placed the camera away, she smiled and bowed. The walk back was long but it gave us a good chance to see the city, including a flea market and a road that reeked with the smell of urine emanating from damp patches at the foot of the walls. I’d have a couple of free hours in the hotel to work on my presentation, and if I worked well I’d get through almost all of it before heading out again for dinner.

Thankfully I finished writing up my powerpoint pretty quickly, and felt that rewards were due. It was dusk and my stomach began to complain about the lack of attention. The morning’s exploration gave Fernie and I more confidence in getting around BKK. Armed with the map we set off for Khao San road. From what I was told by my friend at the airport, Khao San sounded pretty good, and I was hoping for something lively to compensate for the previous night’s quietness. I had made a note in my phone that read “Ko San Road”, but the map had the proper spelling and it seemed quite closeby so we decided to try the bus. A youngish guy at the bus stand told us which bus to take, and when we got in and asked a passenger he confirmed it and told us when to jump off. The bus dropped us a hop, skip and jump from Khao San and we were pretty pleased that we went with the bus option rather than a tuk tuk - the risk of failure makes it a bit more interesting. As we turned the corner ppl were streaming in and out of Khao San, music could be heard all around, and it began to drizzle.

Khao San is a typical backpacker street that you find in pretty much every city/town frequented by backpackers. I could draw comparisons to Varakal in Kerala, Thamil in Katmandu and even to a lesser extent places like Hikkaduwa. You find the same stuff as you’d find in these places - Westernized restaurants catering to young Western backpackers offering pizza, international beer and milder Asian food, loads of shops selling pirated CDs, T-shirts parodying standard brands,necklaces and other generic neo-hippie paraphernalia. But Khao San road was far more intense, and felt like it belonged in a major capital city rather than a beach town. There was loud neon lighting, street vendors selling everything from fake IDs to wooden frogs allegedly originating from Tibet, techno pumping from every other shop, Thai girls in short skirts promoting what looked like underground bars and a even little hair dresser doing instant dreds. Another thing that surprised me was the “minibars” that seemed to freelance on the main road. These simply comprised of a desk with bottles of alcohol piled one behind the other and all lit up, just like a bar. The sign at the bottom read “Cocktails” and in smaller print just below “very strong - 80B. There were clusters of chairs seating foreigners with their very strong cocktails, looking pleased with life. Fernie and I were thrilled with the step up from the previous evening - this is what we expected of Bangkok, hustle and bustle, music, atmosphere - life. The rain began to intensify so after a fair amount of wandering around we decided to get some food. I usually have difficulty making choices on menus, and this time I had difficulty with choosing a restaurant to start with since there were so many options. We both wanted something local but it was unlikely to find authentic Thai food at Khao San road. But we were fairly lucky in finding a nice place right at the far end of the road. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but it was part of a small cluster consisting of a sea food restaurant, an ice cream/drinks parlour and a more upmarket coffee house. I went with a coconut milk based Tom Yum Kum, boiled rice, frogs legs in basil and kaffir lime leaves and veges in green curry, all washed down with a fabulous lemon grass iced tea. The food was great - the classic blend of corriander, kaffir lime and basil with just enough chillie to give it that kick. I was more than satisfied.

The rain had eased so we quietly moved out towards one of the other branches of Khao San road. We passed a vendor selling pancakes and crepes, and just then the song changed in the next shop to Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. I considered buying a pair of fisherman’s trousers since I’ve always wanted a pair, but I felt I’d get a better deal from a less touristy area. While I was browsing through the comfortable and colourful shirts available, a girl from a stall in the opposite aisle shouted out, “Sir you want Thai massage?” I turned around, smiled and shook my head, and she smiled back and said “No problem, thank you for smiling.” I thought it was a nice touch and smiled some more. As we walked around we passed a bar called “Bar Siddhartha” and Fernie got all fanatic saying he’s heard about places belittling the name of the Buddha but this was apparently the first time he’d seen one. He took a photograph for evidence but was dismayed that the neon signpost just came up as a blur on his screen. I stopped in a couple of the CD outlets on the main road while Fernie went to find toothpaste. There were loads of Buddha Bar and Cafe Del Mar CDs but I was more interested in getting some Hotel Costes. I asked the vendor; “You have any Hotel Costes?” He looked perplexed, I repeated my request and he shook his head and called his assistant who asked me what exactly I wanted but he too didn’t seem to know what I wanted. I tried again, this time pronouncing the last ’s’; “Hotel CosteSSS, like Buddah Bar/Cafe Del Mar?” their eyes lit up; “Ahh Hotel CosteSSS, say so man” and out came 6 CDs of which I picked a couple and made off. It was quite late and since we’d have to wake up early the next day (taking into account the remainder of jet lag from traveling east), we decided to head home. The bus on the way back was less crowded and nobody understood where we wanted to go. I tried a couple of landmarks that I scratched up from my memory and finally struck a chord with the conductor who told us when to get off. A long shower felt fabulous and I finished off the day fine tuning my powerpoint whilst sampling the CDs I picked up. They were fabulous and would go down very well on a night in unawatuna or Arugam Bay. After an hour or so I felt good about my presentation and decided to get some sleep. Things were falling into place nicely.