Dear Rachel,
Sitting in the “Nice Kitchen” vegetarian breakfast cafe, the sun is coming up, and I watch monks in orange robes wandering the streets with their alms bowls. The air is pleasantly cool, about 60 degrees, and I have just ordered a banana, cinnamon, raisin pancake with a strawberry smoothie. I declined the tea because I do not know the source of their water. So far I have not felt ill, although my sleep patterns are still adjusting. Last night was the first time I went to bed at dark and rose with with the sun.
Sorry for not writing sooner, I actually wrote a letter to your father while in Bangkok, although I have yet to find a post office to send it off.
I just received my smoothie and it appears to be filled with ice, so I guess it is hard to avoid drinking the water here, probably a stupid move on my part. So far I have always carried water with me, and yesterday I went to an Indian restaurant and had saag paneer and drank from my own water bottle.
I left Bangkok after two days because it was very hot (100 degrees), the air was polluted, the traffic insanely dense, and the parts of the city I visited were not friendly to pedestrians. My hotel was awesome, but getting around was hard because the streets are a tangle of circles, squares and other shapes and on my first walk I got lost after 30 minutes and wandered about for an hour more, sweating profusely, and finally gave in and got into a taxi, who also got lost and dropped me off two blocks from my hotel, and I almost got lost again trying to find my way there.
The next day I tried walking to the subway station 1 mile away, but got lost again, and had to take a cab. I got off the subway at Sukhimvit Rd and it was one of the most unpleasant walks ever. I was carrying my full pack (35 pounds), it was 100 degrees again, the traffic was worse than the previous day, and I ended up in Ultra marathon mode, one step in front of the other. When I had to take an overpass to cross a busy road, I was thankful that I had been walking up and down the hill at the arboretum for the month prior to my leaving. After 1 mile of the walk from hell, I got into another cab and told him to take me to Lumphini Park, the biggest green splatch of crayon on the map. I was hoping to find a respite from the exhaust fumes and noise, and when I got out of the cab was disappointed to see a large statue of a military man surrounded by a large circular tract of concrete slabbing. However, after passing the concrete and statue, I went through the gates to the park and was greeted with silence and clean air. The park was large with ponds and old trees and many pedestrian paths. I found a bench in the shade and poured water over my head to cool down. I sat there in blissful terror for about 45 minutes. Bliss because the present was finally something to my liking, and terror because I had no idea where I was headed. I had checked out of my hotel with no real plan. I was hoping to find a hotel closer to the city center, but the city was too hard to navigate on foot, and I found nothing which looked acceptable. As I sat on the bench I remembered seeing a subway station entrance next to the military statue. I knew from my first ride that the final stop was Hua Lamphong, which is where the train station is located. I decided to ride the subway to Hua Lamphong and find the train station and then maybe buy a ticket to Chiang Mai. I was not very happy at the moment and decided getting out of Bangkok would be the best thing. After arriving at Hua Lamphong I discovered the train station was connected by underground tunnel, so I easily walked into the terminal and located the information desk and decided to buy a ticket for the 18:10 train to Chaing Mai, 2nd class sleeper, only $25. It was noon, so I had 6 hours to wait. The station was packed, and I decided to ride the subway back to the park. I wandered around as best I could (still carrying a 35 pound pack, hello Meijer!) and then a thunderstorm rolled into the city and I found a stone bench with a canvas overhang to wait it out, along with a Chinese family of 4 who were on holiday. One hour later the rain stopped, and it cooled things down, although now my clothes were damp and my shoes soaked (which later led them to stink profusely). I wandered to the floating island and photographed large lizard-like creatures, and then I hopped on the subway back to the train station. After waiting pleasantly in the cool hall for 2 hours, I boarded the train and had a pleasant enough 16 hour journey. I got off the train the next morning and was greeted to cool mountain air and a row of cab men calling to me and the other disembarked passengers. “Where to go my sir?” “I don't know”. “You come with me, I take you”. “Ok”. So I follwed the cab driver to his vehicle, but rather than a cab, it was a tuk tuk. From my travel readings, tuk tuks are not a good deal, and usually a scam is involved, so before getting on the tuk tuk I asked to negotiate a rate, and we agreed upon 60 baht (2 bucks). I am happy to say the driver was friendly and no scams were involved, although he did hand me a laminated brochure for a guest house. I got off just outside the gates of the city center and wandered backwards down a quiet soi, and found a beautiful oasis called K.Thip Village, but the price was too high, so I sat in the grass outside the lodge and read my map. I got up and within a block found the Pagoda Inn guesthouse and settled on a room for $16 /night. The room is nice enough, and the hotel itself has a pleasing eastern ambiance of stone steps and foot bridges. I have huge windows on the 2nd floor, but they look out upon the green garden terrace, and thus anyone can easily look up into my room. The bathroom has a seat and a place for toilet paper, but no paper, the shower had no hot water (and later discovered the drain was clogged), and some of the appliances did not work (fridge, light fixtures). The first thing I did was ask the manager about the paper and he gave me a puzzled look, saying I could buy some down the road. So I took off down the road, exploring and in search of T.P. I found a 7/11 and bought some T.P. and also a pair of scissors to cut my hair, and some shaving gel. I had a pleasant walk through the old city, the small cobbled sois filled with charm and character. Feeling famished (the train gave me the sorriest breakfast - 2 pieces of stale toast and an orange sugar drink - 100 baht) I stopped at an Indian restaurant and filled up, but the saag Panner was like the food in Bloomington, heavy in oil, so I ate only half, but total cost for that and naan was 90 baht, a much better deal than the train :)
Later in the day, back in my room, I showered (they fixed the hot water valve, but the clogged drain made me get out of the shower after 5 minutes, the bathroom being flooded) and relaxed in bed, booking a night at a place called CM Apartment for the next day. I hope the place is decent, I really just need to unwind and have a nice shower and a clean room and then attack my next goal - finding a place to stay long term for a cheap price ($300-450 per month).
My banana pancake now finished, and half a smoothie drank (if I am going to get sick from it, drinking half is probably better than drinking it all), I will end my letter from the “Nice Kitchen”...
Love,
C.T.T. (Calm and Terrified Traveler)
