First, apologies for not updating in awhile. Between painfully slow Internet and daily power outages, updating from Kathmandu proved difficult. My last week in Kathmandu was fairly uneventful; constant strikes and the usual horrific traffic and pollution made it hard to convince myself to leave the relative peace of Boudha. I arrived in Bangkok last night, and am heading off to Cambodia early tomorrow morning (I’ll be back in Thailand in about a week).
After over two months of traveling through India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, Bangkok is a welcome change. I haven’t gotten a chance to explore much of Bangkok, but here are some anecdotes from walking around today.
Booking plane tickets from Nepal proved impossible but Lao Airlines (yes, that Lao Airlines) helpfully agreed to hold our tickets until we arrived in Bangkok and could pay in person. A distinct lack of building numbering made it hard to find our destination. We arrived at their office, still not fully sure we were in the right place, on the 10th floor of a very white and very clean high rise. “Take of your shoes before entering,” a Lao Airlines representative told us before ushering us into an even cleaner and even whiter waiting room where we received impressive individual attention in getting our tickets booked.
Bangkok is full of modern coffee bars, but soy lattes have still proven to be next to impossible to find. I figured I was out of luck when the man told me they didn’t stock soy milk. Instead he went out and bought soy milk so they could make me a latte.
The traffic situation (constant gridlock) has resulted in Bangkok developing every imaginable transportation avenue from the Metro and Skytrain (which runs above the city) to motorcycle taxis and boats. The Metro and Skytrain are by far the best ways to get around Bangkok.
Traveling by boat was by far the most interesting way to get around. Public boats ferry commuters along the waterways in the same way that buses take passengers long the roads. The scenic ride took us from the Skytrain along the river by Chinatown, the Grand Palace, and numerous temples.
View from the Boat
Banglamphu (the main backpacker area) seemed to consist primarily of dive bars and street vendors selling fake IDs and DVDs and clothing of dubious quality and origin. We saw a woman getting a “pedicure” that consisted of letting fish feed of her feet.
We waited for the boat back. Below the dock were thousands of abnormally large catfish writhing around. As we struggled to find the reason behind the odd occurrence it suddenly became clear; folks waiting for the boats would buy scraps of old bread and toss them off the dock to the waiting fish.
River at Sunset
