JBR - Part 1 - Bangkok 08/09/08 - 18/09/08

Merrry Meet To All!

I have finaly realised a dream of mine that I have wished for, for a long time. Yeahh I made it to Thailand and relise I have only just sctratched the surface of this amazing, kaotic, fenetic, and colourful country.

We arrived on Monday 08/09/08 at 9pm at night, upon exiting the airport we realised pretty quickly how overdressed we were for the climate. Being used to Bali wheather I assumed it would like that, but wow it was evan more humid and hotter. I love humid weather so this was off already to a great start.

Our pre-arranged hotel car had not arrived, tried ringing the hotel and were unsuccessful in getting anyone to answer, so I thought we would just get a taxi. We went through a few taxi%26#39;s and none of them would use the metre so we settled for a taxi on 500baht but by this stage I just wanted to get to the hotel. We were booked into Villa Cha Cha near Kaosan Road. It was raining and on the drive we took our first glimpse of Bangkok. We got to Kaosan Rd where the driver promptly stopped and took our luggage out of the boot, I asked him where the hotel was and he said just walk up there and he was gone. Umm my partner and I by now were a little confused and overwhelmed, Kaosan Rd by 10.30pm at night is fairly jumping and I was a little anxious, a taxi driver on the corner could obviously see the confusion on the new farangs faces and offered to drive us to the hotel for 200baht, I jumped at the offer and we were on our way again, or I should say just around the block, LOL :) you live and learn!!

A welcome drink at reception, and into our hotel room. Yeahh it was aweswome for $35.00Aus a night I was happy, bed comfy, shower and bathroom huge (you could hold a disco in it!) and Pay TV. Yeah I know but for someone who doesnt normaly have time to watch TV at home this was like luxury!!!!

We had a meal downstairs, which came to about 200baht was awesome, the prices at Villa Cha Cha are excellent for a hotel resturant. Stir fries and rice meals are about the 60 - 100 baht price, steak dinners are about 280baht and drinks start at 20 baht. The pool and statues and artwork that surrounds the hotel are just magnificient and show a real diverse range of talent that Thailand Artists offer, very impressed.

Next morning after rice and egg, we hit Kaosan Rd, looking at all the stalls and comparing prices etc before actualy buying anything, then all of a sudden everyone started packing up, we couldnt understand what was going on, but within 15 mins a few spits of rain had started to fall, I thought gee it%26#39;s only a few spits, then it hit!!! I have never seen such fat, big, hard rain drops in my life! It was glorious, Australia has been in drought now for 10 years or so, and to see so much rain fall was just amazing. So feeling silly and excited, Parnter and I decided to do abit of a ';Singing in the Rain'; dance along Kaosan Rd with all the locals looking at us as if we were daft or something, I didnt care it was heaven, until I realised on the way back to the hotel the roads had actualy been flooded, :) our dancing turned into wadeing through about 2 feet of water!!

Laughing our heads off we managed to wade and straggle back to the hotel where we left unfortunately massive amount of soggy footprints and water sploshes on the hotel floor, and felt very guilty as management made a hotel worker walk behind us mopping up our water mess with a towel, I made sure to give them a big tip! My one pair of sneakers were absolutely water logged, and having no other pair of shoes with me made this cause for concern as I didn%26#39;t want to go bare footed out onto the street looking for another pair. After a lovely cool drink and the rain had stopped, the hotel waitress asked me in the resurant ';why I had no shoes';! I explained that my only shoes were saturated and couldn%26#39;t be worn (I didn%26#39;t want to leave wet footprints all the way through the hotel again!) She then promptly took off her shoes and said ';borrow these and return them when you get another pair'; The genrosity of this simple gesture to a stranger was beautiful in it%26#39;s simplicity, without ego, without any expectation this is humanity at it%26#39;s finest. I promptly went out and bought a pair of shoes and a gift for her. Thankyou for your kindness, it will not be forgotten.

This is the first day of a our trip to Bangkok, one which evan as I speak, sitting at work is still weaving it%26#39;s majik and meaning through me. There will be more, thanks for reading... Blessings Adele

JBR - Part 1 - Bangkok 08/09/08 - 18/09/08

';We went through a few taxi%26#39;s and none of them would use the metre so we settled for a taxi on 500baht';

This is strange. If you%26#39;re talking about Bangkok airport, the taxi queues are supervised and you are allocated a taxi by a supervisor and you don%26#39;t even need to talk to the drivers. All fares are metered, so I am not sure what you were doing.

JBR - Part 1 - Bangkok 08/09/08 - 18/09/08

As it is for many, your first encounter with the taxis was a disaster. The second taxi was a classic; any driver that approaches you, asking to help, will offer little help at a big price!

Glad you had the follow up with hotel girl. These encounters will be what you will remember foever!

That Tuesday had a heck of a cell pass through. Most of Bangkok had severe, yet sort lived flooding. I was stuck on a sidewalk, for 2 hours, unable to ride my motorcycle home.

cheapeatsbangkok.com/photos/thai/flood.jpg. The water was above the engine!

Opps!

There was a period after the .jpg!

cheapeatsbangkok.com/photos/thai/flood.jpg

Hi Adele,

glad to hear you really enjoyed your trip. It is a bit addictive isn%26#39;t it. Wait until you decide to explore more of this country. It has so much to offer!!!

Would like to ask why is it whenever someone has a story about getting ripped off by taxis refusing to put on their meters it is always questioned????

Ahh I am just adding the thing about the taxis as just part of my experience. We did go to the taxi table and register for a taxi and as soon as a driver comes up and takes you to the taxi they say 500baht etc and you say no please meter, so then we went back to the table and requested another taxi driver, and so on and so on. There was no help from the women at the taxi table when I said they wouldnt put the meter on and as it was very late at night now I was just happy to get to the hotel. So hoepfuly next time I go back to Bangkok it will be an earlier flight and I wont be so tired to not stand my ground. Not angry about the incident just recording what happened!

Cant waite to spend about three weeks in Thailand so I can go to the more rural/country areas etc and explore, but I recon it would take years to cover just most of Bangkok it is so overwhelmingly big, just wonderful.

Bangkok is awesome, big and very nice, but it definitely wont%26#39; take years to cover! Just a couple of very nice weeks :P

Looking forward to your next instalment.

Just loved reading about your experiences on arrival

in Bangkok. Looking forward to reading more.

Your explanation of your taxi encounter makes a good point. It illustrates a point about ';local'; advice. Locals, especially natives, often have a different perspective.

Many locals have someone pick them up at the airport. Those that hire drivers are quite familiar with them and know the ropes. The drivers will sense the passenger%26#39;s savvy, or lack thereof.

The old airport%26#39;s queue was pretty straight. We have yet to use Swampy%26#39;s queue, but have read countless complaints

Most taxi drivers, at any tourist venue, will first see a ';farang'; as a target for big baht. It%26#39;s why they are waiting at these venues.

A Thai person will be seen as ';one of us';, and always treated differently. It%26#39;s only when a foreigner shows a little knowledge of the game that we get to play with a full deck!

Welcome to Thailand Adele,

There is a %26#39;white price and a right price system%26#39; here. But by the sound of it you had a great time and didnt let your first experience dampen your holiday mood, you will be wiser next trip.

My partner is Malaysian but looks Southern Thai so we tend to get treated more like locals, the only stumbling block is when they speak in Thai with him, his Thai is non-existant. My Thai is better than his.

In India last year he was also taken as a local and on flying into Cairns Airport a few years back he was greeted by a driver asking ';Sir, are you from New Guinea%26#39;. This always gives us a laugh.