Day 5 - Thursday, February 17 - Bangkok

TODAY I ESCAPED DEATH - TWICE

There were 3 key words of today's events:

Unbearable - un·bear·a·ble ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-bโr-bl) adj.
So unpleasant, distasteful, or painful as to be intolerable: unbearable heat
adj : impossible to bear; "unbearable pain";

Traffic - traf·fic ( P )Pronunciation Key (trfk)n.
The passage of people or vehicles along routes of transportation.
Vehicles or pedestrians in transit: heavy traffic on the turnpike; stopped oncoming traffic to let the children cross.

Death - death ( P )Pronunciation Key (dth) n.
The act of dying; termination of life.
The state of being dead.


So I awoke early for my trip to the Floating Market. Unfortunately, they never came to pick me up. I now had to plan a new day for myself.

Had breakfast (cheese omlette) at Shanti and read a little. Met Adam and Emma Bell -a Brisitsh brother / sister team who were traveling together. Chatted for a while and made a plan to meet up in Chang Mai as they were taking an overnight train this evening and I was heading up there Sat AM. Decided to check out Jim Thompson's House and Museum. I had no idea who Jim Thompson is / was. Do any of you? To learn alittle about the man and the legend:

http://bangkokmag.infothai.com/thompson.htm

It's actually a pretty interesting story.

Took a Tuk Tuk to the Sky Train. BIG MISTAKE as it took forever to get to the Sky Train to only to go 2 stops. The traffic was unbearable. Sometimes, you don't move for 10 minutes. You just sit there breathing the exhaust. Some of the worst traffic I've ever seen. Being stuck in a Tuk Tuk in traffic SUCKS! The exhaust is HORRIBLE. You might as well camp out in a cars tail pipe for a few years. I thought I was going to meet my untimely death by exhaust or by falling off the back of a motorcycle.

It was my first experience with the train. It's blasting with A/C so it's nice for a change. It's elevated so you can see where you are going. The one drawback is it doesn't really go very far. Found Jim Thompson's House and it's all guided tours so I had to wait about 25 minutes for the next tour to leave. Was met by the greatest tour guide and began. She was cute, knowledgeable, and funny. Was in a group of 12 people and it's a prety cool house. It's a Thai House but with Western Influence as well. I learned a lot and thinking of building myself my own Thai house when I get back.

After the tour, walked around Siam Square a bit. Stumbled across a food lined alley and got some thick noodles with chicken and egg all stir fried together. Sort of like Pad Thai, but not really. It was very tasty and once again 20 baht.

I was then on a corner watching the cars, motorcycle taxi's, tuk tuk's, and regular taxi's whiz by whilst reading my Lonely Planet to see if there was anything else in that area that I needed to see before heading back. I met Matt and Jamie - 2 young Canadian's who also had their eyes glued to their own Lonely Planet. We chatted it up for a while and shared some experiences. They are passing through Bankgok on their way to Phuket. They are doing the whole Asia thing (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Hong Kong) for 3 months.

I then took a glimpse inside this HUGE, and I mean HUGE indoor Mall. This was a Mall like we know the term to mean but it may have been the biggest thing I've ever seen. Tons of gold shops, and everything else you can imagine. It was PACKED with locals and tourists and after only 20 minutes I had enough. On the way out, I passed a Swenson's and couldn't resist a Rocky Road cone - one of the only American things I've eaten so far.

Decided to take the water taxi home. After all, by now you all know how much I love the water taxi's. I have mastered the RIVER boats - they are SIMPLE. However, the area I was in wasn't near the river, yet on a little canal. How difficult could it be to take a canal taxi to the river, transfer to a River taxi and head home? Got on the canal taxi and went for quite a while. Thought I should be seeing some signs of the river by now but none came my way. Then thought Buddah would send me a signal that I was going the wrong way - none came. Many many stops later, I found someone on the taxi who spoke enough "Tinglish" to tell me I was going the wrong way.

I still don't understand that NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, can read a map. Even if you show them a map, and ask them in THAI where we are NOW, they can't pinpoint it. They can't even SEE the huge RIVER on the map and point in the direction of where they think that river may be. It's frustrating but I survive and don't get too upset. Kim from Shanti says Thai's aren't good with maps - they can't read them so don't try to show them one.

Well, I got off the boat and walked off the pier to the street. I had NO CLUE where I was. I'm not even sure I was still in Bangkok proper. I found someone who said, "you lost". With help from 3 other people, he managed to unfold the map a few times and point to where we were. We were not anywhere I had ever been and was in no way, shape, or form going to get in a taxi and try to explain where I needed to go in RUSH HOUR. It then dawned on me.....show the guy the SKY TRAIN MAP and see if there is a stop nearby. OH, he got excited and pointed to the nearest Train stop. I thanked him and started to walk. He said, "no, no, no, no can walk - cycle", and proceeded to find me a motorcycle taxi. This was a first too.

I emptied my pockets, put everything I had in my day-pack and hopped on the back of this motorcycle with my flip flops dangling and went for a ride. These things are CRAZY! They don't follow ANY traffic laws. They weave in and out of lanes of traffic. They even drive on the opposite side of the road against oncoming traffic and then weave quickly back into the correct lane when another vehicle comes their way. If you need to get someplace quick, this is the way to go. Needless to say, the driver wears a helmet burt doesn't carry a spare for the passenger. At one point, traffic let up and we had a good straightaway. I looked down at the spedometer and we were going 75. I'm not sure 75 WHAT, but it was 75 and it seemed too fast to be driving like a maniac without a helmet on exhaust filled streets in the middle of rush hour. It was a pretty far ride and the whole way was spent weaving in and out of traffic sometimes even at a red light to get to the front of the pack so we could be the first one off when it turned green.

We made it to the Sky Train.

I survived motorcycle trip #1.

I boarded. The closest train stop to Shanti isn't close at all....I needed cheat death one more time and get another motorcycle taxi. It would have taken at least an hour if I was in a tuk tuk or a cab. It only took us about 15 minutes.

Got back to Shanti.

I survived motorcycle trip #2.

I booked a new tour for tomorrow. This time, I'm going to attempt a full day trip starting out at the floating market and then to River Kwai. I hear there's a bridge I'm supposed to see.

Had dinner at Shanti with Adam and Emma - I had cream of mushroom soup with chicken and Indian Curry with Prawns. Both were spectacularly excellent.

I'm hanging at the Shanti tonight so I'm posting this now. Just know, I'll probably be in bed by 11P and will wake at 6A (if not sooner) - I'm being picked up at 7 for my day trip.