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Life in Thailand Part 2 So I remember arriving at the hotel, full of sweat, overloaded with unneeded baggage and a little disoriented. I was immeadiately greeting by a couple of bellman who 'waied' me graciously and full of smiles. I walked up to the counter and was once again 'waied' by a couple of very pretty Thai ladies. I was of course full of smiles myself at this point. My lack of Thai language skills was not a problem and I was quickly checked into and escorted to my room. I had not really slept, in almost a day. I don't usualy sleep too good on flights, even the long ones. I should have just went straight to sleep, but it was seven o-clock in the morning, and I was in Bangkok! I walked out of the hotel, of course not without being greeted and 'waied' multiple times by the well groomed and cheerful staff. I took a couple of steps outside and inhaled a big breath of the dirty, smelly, humid Bangkok air. Ahh, I had arrived. All the planning, the saving, the Visa, the Passport, the good-bye's, etc. were now all behind me. I choose a direction and just started walking. Walking, turned out to be more like navigating an obstacle course. All my senses were turned up and assaulted in every direction. There were sights, sounds, feelings, and of course, ahh the smells. Everything was amplified and a little overbearing. I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights. It was a challenge just to keep moving without running into or over anything, or being ran over myself. I stepped over and around beggers on the sidewalk, random trash, street stalls, food carts, holes, and touts. Ok, try to relax and act normal and stop staring at everything and everybody like they are from mars. What have you never seen a man with no legs dragging himself down the side walk with a begging cup in his hands? "DVD" "Sexy Movie" "Happy Hour" "Tuk Tuk" "Massage" "where you going?" the touts were all yelling. One Tuk Tuk driver was slowly moving forward as a I walked, continuously trying to get me to talk to him. I would walk a few steps, he would drive a little bit. "where are you from?". "what are you looking for?" 'where are you going?" "I give you tour of city 50 baht!". Helpful little guy, and very persistant to say the least. It was then that I realized my attempt at being cool and acting normal were failing miserablely. Hordes of people were scurrying by me, and this little tuk tuk driver had instantly picked me out of the masses as a complete noob, fresh off the plane without a clue. I of course played the role perfectly. I stopped walking and started talking to this friendly smiling kid. My how friendly the people are in this place! So easy to talk to and start up a converstation with. I told him where I was from, how this was my first time in Bangkok and how I didn't even know where I was going or what I should go see or do. They say there is a sucker born every minute......... Fifty baht for a tour of the city eh? Sounds like a good deal to me, er I think. I do the math and it's like a dollar fifty. So I climb into this little thing they call a Tuk Tuk. The whole thing is skinnier and much smaller than a car, has one backseat that looks like a bench, and is full of color and chrome and topped off by a flimsy looking roof. In, fact, this whole contraption looks a to be a bit on the flimsy side. I scrunch myself into the back seat and soon realize these were designed with much smaller people in mind. The front where the driver sits, is rather simple, he has a handle bar like a motorbike and a gas pedal and brake like a car. The whole thing is rather comical, a cross between mad max and roger rabbit. I have stepped into a Sci-fi cartoon, and I was loving it! Off we went, making a big loud show. I felt a little embarrassed for all the noise and scene we were making, but of course, it went unoticed by everyone but me. These things are loud, to say the least, and when you are sitting inside one, every other sound is blotted out. We headed off into the big main street that I now know to be Sukhimvit. I felt a little more exposed, I had left the safety and comfort of the taxi and was now at the mercy of this strange thing they call a Tuk Tuk and its' smiley faced operator. I started out the day full of smiles, wonder and awe. I was alive, being whisked through bangkok in a Tuk Tuk. The heat was unbearable, the humidity and pollution was so thick you had to chew on it before breathing, ridiculous amounts of traffic and people, and ohh can't forget the noise, but as a newby I was having fun! That is, until we pulled up to an intersection and stopped right next a big ugly bus, the wrong side of the bus I might add. Many of you know whats coming next. It was not my favorite memory of Bangkok. You see, a Tuk Tuk is rather low to the ground, and busses tend to be a little higher up off the ground. As fate would have it, the tailpipe of many busses in this city are a little too close to where you are sitting in these 'open air' Tuk Tuks. You get the idea, the result is a great big, unbearable face full of black noxious exhaust fumes from twenty year old busses. As traffic moves forward, they switch gears and at each gear change you get another big cloud of 'death fumes'. I now understood why my driver had put on a white surgical looking face mask and why all the traffic cops were wearing similar masks. We drove a little further, and my driver pulled over to the curb, pulled down his mask and started asking me questions. "What do you want to see? Do you want a suit? I can Take you to the best tailor in Bangkok! Only looking. Only looking. You don't need to buy anything, only looking!" It turns out, that this guy has a lot of "brothers" in the city! His "brothers" run every tourist trap and scam business imaginable; boat rides, custom tailors, jewelers, massage parlours, art galleries, etc.. and it also turned out that all the temples were closed due to "buddhist holiday". Like I said I was playing the role of a newby perfectly.... I liked the kid though. I knew I was figuraly and literaly being taken for a ride, but I was still having fun and really had not spent too much money in the process. About halfway through the day, it was clear that I knew the game, but was playing along anyway, and he was very honest with me. He told me if I would go into a shop and look around, and talk to the salespeople that he would get a coupon for some free petrol. I did not need to buy anything, just looking, just looking! I played along, maybe a little more than I should have, but all in all I had a fun day anyway. I did have a great time exploring the Chao Praya and the canals of Bangkok on a longtail boat. Very fun experience, and while I'm now sure I paid too much for the experience, I did enjoy it and took some nice pictures. I also saw some snakes and other animals in a show that was mildly entertaining and I generally got a good taste of street life in Bangkok. I was now feeling the full effects of a sinus headache from the onslaught of noxious fumes, and was tired from the constant busyness of the day and the fact that I had not slept now in about 37 hours. He took me back to my hotel, I over tipped him and staggered into my room. Day 1 was finished. |
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