The last few days in Bangkok before setting out to Chiang Mai were filled with sightseeing, reading and trying to sleep. The little hotel I had found just by the river was just perfect. WiFi in the room was useful as I could do research on the areas I was plan to visit in Nepal and India after by course in Thailand.
There is lots to see in Bangkok. Most of the authentic stuff is off the beaten track. If there is one disadvantage of the Khaosan Road are it is the transport links to other parts of the city. I had not bothered to investigate the
local bus or boat but certainly if you wanted to get to the major attractions you had to either walk or take a taxi or TukTuk. The prices were just so inconsistent. It is recommended that you always ride in a metered cab but many of them are anxious not to put the meter on and want to haggle a price. I worked out that I had spend more money getting to and from the Indian embassy than I had on food and drink..
By Monday I was getting a bit bored of the big city and was desperate to get north. Fortunately, logging onto the Indian embassy website my visa was ready for collection. I needed to pick it up between 4:30 and 5:30 that evening. I took a taxi to the BTS station. The train to Siam Square and the walked the couple of miles to Embassy building. Pavements in Bangkok are not good. Add to that the fact that half of it is invariably clutter with street sellers and tuktuks, it makes life a bit difficult for the average pedestrian on a mission. The walk took probably twice as long as it's should have and I arrived at the embassy sweating like a bacon pig. I didn't have to wait long. The numb I had picked up at security was called. I was given an envelope, signed a receipt and I was the proud owner of an Indian visa for 6 months rather than the standard three months with 're-entry permitted' stamped across the middle. Ding Dong.
I did the same walk back to Siam Square, this time opting for the skywalks. An elevated walkway above the street. It was much more civilised and altogether less frustrating. Rather than take the train to the National Stadium I jumped in a taxi queue at Siam. At the front of the queue I was asked my destination and the taxi guy shouts it out over a microphone. A good half dozen drivers shook their head. The traffic in Bangkok is appalling. Not as bad as it used to be 20 years ago but still appalling. Taxi drivers seem to be selective about their fares on the likelihood of getting snagged up in a traffic jam. Khaosan is one of those routes where that is likely. Especially as this was a taxi rank and the drivers are obliged to use the meter, who can blame them. The metered ride costs around £2 but can take up to 50 minutes, especially at 6:00pm on a Friday evening. Eventually one nodded to the microphone holding chappy and I was on my way. 100baht and an hour later I was at the lobby of my hostel, in the travel agents organising a ticket for the 7:35 train to Chiang Mai the following evening. Booking it through the travel agent did attract a premium as you might expect. The travel agents had to make their money somehow. That said, the service delivered the ticket to the hostel and the premium was less than a one way trip by tuktuk to the railway station.
That evening I ate at the street food stall, not brilliant but an edible fried rice and Thai green curry for just 80p. This budget has to last !
Another restless night interspersed with membership to the 'wide-awake' club. I think it was actually getting light when I felt tired enough to put my book down and get some sleep. I needed to check out at midday. I could have booked half a day in the hostel but thought better of it. Looking at accommodation in Australia, it was much more expensive and I'd need to have more than the $50 dollars per day that I had budgeted for the trip. Reducing my daily spend in the next three months was a requirement..
I had breakfast over the road from the hostel. An american breakfast and my first cup of tea in weeks!
It was a lovely day. Across the road was a little park with benches so I took the opportunity to spend a few hours reading in the sunshine in this quiet oasis bang slap in the middle of a big city. I'd been there less than 15 minutes when the park was swarmed by schoolgirls and an English teacher. I may learn something here I thought so put my book down and observed.
The English teacher was giving the girls instruction. What he wanted them to do was go and pick out a tourist and ask them questions using the video's on the mobile phone to record the 'interview' what a brilliant idea. I got picked and spent an interesting 30 minutes being asked questions. 'where was I from', 'did I like Bangkok' , 'where was I going' that sort of stuff. I tried my hardest to lose my accent and we seemed to understand each other. When they got stuck they called the teacher over. A really nice bloke. Got his work cut out with 30 schoolgirls. He had done his TEFL course two years ago and had been working in this girls academy ever since. He loved it. His MD ( most of the private schools are businesses and run as such' had mandated that every Tuesday afternoon he took the girls out and they got to use the English conversational skills in the real world. A cracking idea.
Time was getting on. I needed to be at the railway station by 6.45. Picking up my bags from the hostel I took at tuktuk to the station. The drive there made me even more relieved that I was leaving the big city for the provinces. As usual it was a race against time. For the driver rather than me. He was stressed out big style. Darting, braking, tutting, pressing his horn. We had agreed on 150 baht. It took almost an hour. I could have probably walked there faster. I'd have been sweaty but nowhere near as stressed. His anxiety and stress was actually transferring to me. We finally got there in one piece, which was a blessing in itself. At times I had visions of being despatched to somewhere more permanent than the railway station such was his static driving.
The station was packed, loads of backpackers sprawled on the floor waiting for their trains. As usual, at 6:00pm everything stopped and everyone stood for the national anthem. I think that is so quaint. I got speaking to a young Turkish lad who was on his way to Tokyo to study. He was absolutely amazed that I was travelling for so long. He was also absolutely amazed that I was doing it at my age. He suggested I was 40 ( which was nice, bless him) when I told him I was over 50 he nearly fell over. He was intrigued how I financed the trips. 'work hard and save hard' I think in 30 years time he may well be doing the same thing. He loved it.
At 7:00 the gate opened and I made my way to the platform. ....
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Location:Phra Pok Klao 13 Ko.,Mueang Chiang Mai,Thailand
