Visiting cities like La Paz and Kuala Lumpur turned out to be excellent training for the Level 10 boss of busy cities, Bangkok. The temperature and humidity were off the charts (well, not really ... mid 30s Celsius and around 80% humidity). The worst part was the sheer volume of traffic. Crossing the road requires speed, agility, and above all, confidence. A simple trip to the shops turns into a real life game of Frogger.
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| For the benefit of anyone under the age of 40 |
While walking around the city required about three changes of clothes per day, on the other hand, Thai people are some of the kindest, friendliest, and politest that you could ever hope to meet. They love doing that traditional bow/blessing called a wai - which you're supposed to reciprocate (although they usually wait till you've got your hands full before doing it!). My hotel was very pleasant and owned by an Italian couple. They also ran the Italian restaurant next door, and I'm ashamed to say I ate there for the first couple of nights until I forced myself to eat more local cuisine.
While I wasn't brave enough to try the buses, the MRT (train) was fast and easy to use, so I visited a local park where I marvelled at how hundreds of runners could run in the blistering heat (albeit very slowly and rather strangely, all in the same direction.)
The park boasted two "wild" animals. Hundreds of stray cats and river dragons, the latter of which looked like it fed very well on the stray cats. I didn't like to get too close.
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| A river dragon in a river. Although they often climbed trees as well. |
The National Museum was well worth a visit, if only to see the fantastic amount of effort and money that is spent on the pomp and pageantry of their Royal Family. For example, here is the hearse for King Rama IX (they build a new one for each king), and every tiny detail would take hundreds of man hours to implement.
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| Wives and mothers get wood instead of gold |
I'm no fan of our own monarchy, but at least it's not illegal to criticise or take the piss out of them. Meanwhile, lèse-majesté rules in Thailand mean criticising the king, his family, or even his poodle Foo Foo (who the king named as Air Chief Marshal of the Air Force) can land you up to 35 years in jail. And say what you like about King Charles III, but at least he has the decency to live in the country that he reigns over. I'm not sure why, but King Rama X prefers to spend most of his time in Germany.
One of the more sobering tours I've done on this trip was a visit to Kanchanaburi, the location of the railway and bridge (over the River Kwai) built by POWs during WWII.
The cemetery contained the bodies of some of the thousands of mainly UK and Dutch soldiers who lost their life in the horrific working conditions (and torture) imposed by the Japanese military. Even more shocking was the deaths of thousands of Asian workers, none of which were even documented. There was a fascinating museum next to the cemetery which explained how nearly 100,000 people lost their lives, and also told the story of Eric Lomax, a Scottish soldier who
ended up meeting and forgiving his torturer, Takashi Nagase.
Despite the gravitas of the exhibition, I still couldn't help but chortle at possibly the most inappropriate use of the Comic Sans MS font I've ever seen.
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| Not very accessible when it's yellow on grey! |
After the museum, we took a trip on the railway over the River Kwai and out into the country, where were served some delicious Pad Thai (I was getting fed up with pizza and pasta anyway!) and driven home again. Some of the people on this tour visited an elephant sanctuary instead which sounded quite enjoyable, but I think I made the right choice.
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| View of the bridge on the River Kwai from Kanchanaburi |
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| View from the bridge |
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| The train takes you all the way to Myanmar |
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| The "Death Railway" |
Of course, Thailand is also very famous for its Buddhist temples. They were rather strict about not letting you in with your knees (or shoulders) on show, so I planned to come back with my GAdventures tour (a two week tour of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia). Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men....
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