Monday, 8 March 2010

Bangkok -> Kanchanaburi

I’m on the train from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, and a Thai man
came and plonked himself down next to me. He has been working 
as a taxi driver in Chicago for the last 20 years so I think he wanted 
to talk to the white girl, despite there being plenty of empty seats 
on the train. 40 minutes in, conversation run out, is it rude to turn 
my laptop on? I just don’t know, I wish I wasn’t so socially awkward!

Anyways, I’ve been in Bangkok for the last 7 days waiting for my Indian 
visa to come through, which it did on Friday, but I decided to hang 
around another couple of days because Lynette invited me to a BBQ 
at Shirley’s.

I was properly dreading spending a week in Bangkok, but I’ve actually 
had a pretty good time, and I haven’t yearned to be back on Samui once!

I was staying at a little guesthouse called Bluefin, a Thai style wooden 
house miles away from the horror that is Khao San. For 200 baht a night 
I got a room in the house, just a single bed and a little table. But the 
house was amazingly clean, there were showers downstairs and I was 
in an area of Bangkok where I was stared at for being the only farang 
around. It was awesome!

The only downside was getting around, as I had to get a motorbike
taxi to the skytrain if I wanted to get anywhere quickly.
The pier was about 10 minutes walk away though, and from 
there I could get anywhere along the Chao Praya river for 13 baht.

My little room got the brunt of the morning sunshine, so I tried to be 
out of my room by 9am, otherwise I started to melt. This was a bonus 
I guess, because it kept me out and about all day; having no air con 
or tv or even a place to sit is probably the best cure for laziness.

Sooo I’ve had a few daytrips, I spent a few hours at Dusit zoo, and 
took a trip to Chinatown, Wat Po and around Khao San with Lynette 
and Steve, who was also staying at Shirley’s apartment. I went 
shopping, lots. And to the cinema lots too! I figured out that the 
ultimate way to spend a roasting Bangkok afternoon is sat in an 
air conditioned cinema. Lynette and I went to see Alice in 
Wonderland in 3D, it was completely wicked! I’ve never seen 
a 3D movie before, but it’s definitely the future!

Yesterday Lynette and I spent 5 hours at Chatuchak weekend 
market. I must have been to this market 5 or 6 times, but I don’t 
think I could ever get bored of it. I bought some stuff, and then 
we headed back to Shirley’s for the BBQ! I watched Ben 10 with 
Shirley’s 2 boys Finley and Ethan, I miss cartoons! I’m sure lots 
of other things happened too, but I’m rubbish at remembering 
these days!

My spare time, i.e. between 7 and 8am, is taken up planning 
India. My cousin Daniel is coming too, which I’m really excited 
about! I just really home everything works out, because the 
responsibility will sit firmly on my shoulders; I have sorted 
flights, trains, accommodation, EVERYTHING. And while I’ve 
loved every minute of it, I worry that my dad and Dan having 
a good time is dependent on my planning skills. It’s like being 
a host, some people thrive at it and some people don’t. I 
freaking hate being a host, I’m paranoid people are having a 
bad time.

So it’s been a pretty good week really, but boy am I glad to be 
heading out of Bangkok! Kanchanaburi is famous for its Bridge 
over the River Kwai. I don’t know a thing about it, other than 
what I read on wiki the other day. Something about the Kwai 
not even being the rivers name, so they had to change it.  I 
should probably try and be more cultured when I visit places 
like this.

I just bought some noodles. And then the Thai man, whose 
name is Norman (!!?) gave me his card and told me to ring 
him if I have any trouble in Kanchanaburi. I’m off to eat my 
lovely noodles now, laters!

No comments:

Post a Comment