The 5th of November 2008 - my first taste of Thailand and the day Barack Obama is elected President of the United States.
Our journey begins in West Hampstead, from where Mother and I (bleary-eyed from too much merriment the night before) fumble our way to London Heathrow, Terminal 3 (at some un-Godly hour).
Mother radiating enthusiasm!
Elaine feeling slightly under-the-weather!
Check-in, security, coffee, boarding and we are off to Abu Dhabi thanks to Etihad Airways. The airplane is quite empty so we have an entire row to ourselves. Despite this luxury of space, the Kinsellas (true to nature) sleep little! Between us we watch 6 movies - including the recent Pixar film, Wall-E (so sweet!) and some amusing Asian 'rom-coms'. The food is really quite delicious! We arrive in Abu Dhabi, slightly behind schedule - no time for a coffee - "proceed to Gate 9 immediately!".
Abu Dhabi airport is quite 'funky' in terms of decor, and seems to have a range of shops and eateries, there is even a piano bar!
Time for one picture in Abu Dhabi airport!
Our flight to Bangkok is full. We are exhausted and, provided with the opportunity to stretch out, we may even sleep! No luck, so we continue the movie marathon, and between films, I plan (or ahem, should I say, add some detail to..) our itinerary for Bangkok!
At last we touch down in Bangkok airport (about 25 kilometres from the city) at 7am on the 5th November - I am giddy with excitement! Through security, collect bags (last ones to emerge, grrr), proceed to the arrivals hall and find our hotel transfer to hotel - no problems. The airport is so quiet! As we zoom along the shiny, new highways we have a good view of the city skyscrapers. Mother was here three years ago, and points to places she remembers. The Holiday Inn (Phoenchit street) where we will stay for 2 nights (recommended by Sam) is clean, friendly, helpful and efficient. In an ideal world, we would head straight out to absorb the daylight to minimise jet lag symptoms. However, in reality we sleep soundly until lunchtime :-)
Day 1: Bangkok (post-nap)
We are both feeling quite groggy. Luckily the heat is not unbearable (a manageable 26 degrees centigrade today). We walk along the Skyline path towards Sian Square.
Crazy streets below
I am amazed by the vast shopping centres lined on either side of the road. After passing a number of designer outlets, we eventually succumb to the gentle pull of consumerism, and enter the 'Siam Paragon' - what a fabulous store! On the penultimate floor there is a grand collection of sports cars on display AND a Porshe tractor! This meant little to me, until Mother explained that her Father (a farmer) had purchased one of the few Porche tractors in Ireland in the 50s, and that she had grown up with a model not dissimilar to this!
Evoking childhood memories for Mother!
We pause for a reviving juice!
Hmmm, vitamin C!
Then, we wander around the Foodhall inside the Siam Paragon and the "Dai Niigata" festival stands; sampling curries, noodles and some tasty matcha and cocoa-powdered sweet nibbles (I didn't quite catch the names!).
Once satiated, we wander around some of the surrounding streets - including Th Pra Ram VI and Th Phayathai. These areas are buzzing with school children, motorbikes,large screens blasting Asian-TV programmes and loud music pumped from small corner stores. There are a mixture of smells - delicious food from street stalls, sickly-sweet perfume, rotting food, sewerage & car fumes!
All day I am surprised by how few (white) tourists are around. Perhaps something to do with the "credit Crunch" or the recent political demonstrations south of Bangkok that have been picked up by the media? Or, perhaps it is just this shopping district?
We are a little delirious at this stage, and are finding everything amusing.....
Massage with Miss Puke anyone?
About 8pm, we jump into a 'Taxi Meter', and head south to Lumphini 'night bazaar'. The market is relatively quiet (sorry no pictures!), the local vendors are friendly, charming and polite - there is (of course!) haggling to be done (I'm picking up tips from a Telegraph article (yesterday, November 4th) on "How to haggle your way to a bargain"!). I am relieved there is no pressure to buy and we do not feel harassed in any way. We potter for an hour or so, and I pick up a new pair of cheap-o sunglasses to replace by previous pair which did not survive the journey from Abu Dhabi....
We retire to the hotel about 10pm (which appears quite empty). It is so easy to get around here - taxis are cheap and readily available. In terms of navigation, one annoying thing is that many street names are not obviously signposted, so one ends up wasting time taking wrong turns. We are not in a hurry, so this not a big deal. I'm working hard to adjust my London-walking pace to a more leisurely, laid-back Bangkok stroll! Mother collapses into bed, she is worn-out and barely manages to whisper goodnight!
I lie in bed a while and ponder my first impressions of this city - one that I have heard so many stories from others! Funnily it is calmer than I imagined, and there are fewer tourists than I had expected. While the street traffic is noisy there seems to be (some) order to the chaos. Many things are familiar, thanks to globalisation and the spread of Thai people, restaurants and culture in Europe. I lived with a Thai girl in university halls, Liverpool who introduced me
to dried Dorian and many Northern Thai dishes. Yet, despite some familiarities there is something different in the atmosphere that brings a certain edge to the city. I like it!
OK it's late, I'm turning off BBC World News. I am fed up of hearing about the US elections!
Day 2: Bangkok
Up at 7.30am, despite a somewhat broken sleep. We taxi across the city to Wat Pho, the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok - where a huge reclining (gold-leaf) Buddha sits.
Gold Reclining Buddha, Wat Pho
After leaving the temple, we pause to look at the map and are approached by a friendly man offering his guidance. We chat to him for a while (it turns out he is a guide from Wat Pho) and he suggests that we visit the Black Buddha (Chinatown), "Export" and the Marble temple, before returning to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Once we agree a route, he hails down a government 'tuk tuk' (they have a yellow number plates) and negotiates a deal with the driver for 60 baht to bring us to each of these places. Our driver, a lovely man from Chiang Mai, is chatty and curious, and he tells us all about his wife and family. We weave in and out of the traffic, pollution and side streets of Chinatown until we arrive at the residence of the Black Buddha. There is a Chinese-Thai man praying and when we arrive he stands up to introduce himself - it turns out he is a Thai Airways pilot who will be flying to London Heathrow later today! He tells us a little bit about the history of the Chinese Black Buddha (which the local community recently pooled together their money to have painted with 24 carat gold).
Chinese Black Buddha
He also explains to us what 'export' is - the Sapphire and Diamond exportation company (who sell their goods to the likes of Tiffany & Co) where he recommends we buy some Royal Blue Sapphire (to bring us luck). He also tells us about his wife and three daughters, the eldest of which is the same age as me - however, she is married with new baby!
Onwards to the Marble Palace, but we cannot gain entry because of the street protesters (will look into this later on the Net). No point in wasting time, so off we go to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (the temple of the Emerald Buddha) - all of the buildings are stunningly beautiful and ornate. It is so hot now, and for the first time in our trip we see numerous groups of tourists - mainly Chinese and Indian, with a handful of German, Spanish and English. It is imperative to dress conservatively so we wear long sleeve cover-ups and floor-length sarongs.
Mythological Giants (yak)
Phra Sri Ratana
Chakri Mahaprasad Hall
Next we head to the Mae Nam Chao Phraya river to cool down, passing a smelly fish market and we get the boat to Saphan Taskin.
Then, we get the Skytrain to the National Stadium and wander around MBK shopping centre (which we found to be a horrible place where the food halls sell unappetising food). We start heading back to Ploenchit, picking up some Tom Yum and take a look at the Erawan shrine on route.
A busy day - really hot and polluted! Everywhere was busier, even our hotel - where was everyone yesterday?
Flying to Vientiane, Laos tomorrow......really looking forward to it!
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