Back to Bangkok. I thought about traveling all the way to Hua Hin on down along the western coast past the city, but then I thought maybe I'll try staying in the outskirts of Bangkok for a night. I think I'll have a look at Rangsit, which was pretty hard hit by the floods. I don't think any place around there is flooded anymore, but we'll take a tour and have a look. I'll surely want to visit the old capital at Ayutthaya while I'm in that area.
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View from the top floor of the Hotel Manhatten in Rangsit, looking across
a landscape of factories, warehouses, residences, and rice paddies. |
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| Family dining facilities in my hotel room, Japanese style. |
The trip back to Bangkok was fast and easy, high speed freeways all the way and about a two hour trip. I did not want to stay again in Bangkok proper just yet. I had a choice of continuing on westward along the coast or stop for a while. I prefer my travel in small chunks after the cruddy bus ride from Sihanoukville to Pattaya, so will stay a bit off the beaten tourist path. Rangsit is north and slightly east of Bangkok city center about 45 minutes, home to large complexes of factories and warehouses inbetween rice fields and residential areas. It was boring and that seems to be OK with me today.
My plans for the evening? Just relax, walk around and see how regular Thai people live. I topped up my phone with 100 baht credit at a little shop. Found an internet cafe that caters to gamers, and all the chairs were a type of recliner I never saw before, designed so you can slouch and play computer games I guess. I smile and say hello to people, and some can speak a little English, are happy to try. I'm trying to learn some Thai, not a language with an overabundance of words like English, but the meanings can change with inflection and pitch, all of which I'm clueless about of course. Some are rather odd concepts, like the words yes and no: chai for "yes", and mai chai for "not yes"! Of course we have similar odd things in English, don't forget. There are no signs in English in this part of town...no one trying to sell me anything. Only sincere people asking "Where you from?" (I've learned most of the time it's the calling card of the tout).
I'm staying at the
Hotel Manhattan, a bit older hotel situated in an area that had about waist-deep water last month. The streets are still dusty and there is piles of debris still in front of once thriving businesses that have closed because of the worst flooding in 60 years. After I got settled it's out for a walk in the neighborhood, and watch the sun go down.
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Apartment buildings with store fronts in the bottoms as far as the eye can see.
The tall building in the distance is where I stayed, Hotel Manhattan. |
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Many stores closed due to the flood, and cleanup efforts ongoing. Dark line on
the side of the building indicates high water line, about waist deep to me. |
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| Dusty, dirty streets from dried water, flooded only weeks ago |
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| Hotel entrance ramp to reception. Hotel narrowly missed getting flooded. |
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Closed businesses didn't clean up, just left. Other businesses sweep their
debris over next door if there's no one there now. |
The night market was fun. It just started to come alive when I got there, lots of people getting stuff to take home for dinner. Only regular Thai people shopping for the evening meal at the night market, walking around with their babies, turning their heads to look at me when they think I don't notice.
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Many families at the market, everybody very friendly,
nobody trying to sell me something I don't want. Refreshing. |
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I stopped at this little place and bought what I thought was chicken breast.
It was some kind of cut that was anything but meaty...maybe it was a back. |
On past the market were many other stores, all of them in the bottom of the apartment buildings, and most all with metal roll-up doors exactly like a storage unit back home. Most were specialized in what they sold.
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This shop sold only eggs. They were priced many different ways, not sure why.
They all looked like chicken eggs to me, but about half were dyed different colors. |
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| General store |
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| This one seemed to sell only rice products, all different kinds |
Back to the hotel and try to find something on TV, but no HBO. Most of the time I watch Al Jazeera news. I'm impressed with the global network of this new organization and their in depth coverage of news from around the world. I've always been disappointed with the lack of world news coverage on American television. I'll have to watch it more when I get home. I finally get sleepy and hit the hay, but the bed is hard as a rock--surprise! Makes my bones ache.
Next morning
Woke up about 7:00 AM and headed downstairs looking for coffee. It was a pretty good breakfast, but few American breakfast items like sausage or hashbrowns here, only toast and cold poached eggs. It seems to be how Asians prefer eggs, that or hard boiled, though you can ask for them cooked another way. Plenty of stir fried offerings with rice, same as dinner or lunch food. Coffee was OK.
The hotel does not have computers I can use, but the receptionist graciously allowed me to sit at her desk and use her computer in the back office as long as it was only to check email (I'm sneaking in some typing here), and no photo uploading.
After checking email, I walk around slowly outside and watch the morning. There are babies everywhere, all bundled up with little gloves on. People have sweaters and scarves on. I saw a bus driver with a stocking cap. The temperature here feels like 72 degrees F with a gentle breeze, absolutely delightful for me, but for them it must seem like a real chill.
Since it's early, and this is definitely not a tourist part of town, I'm not quite sure what to do this morning. I might hop on a moto if I can find it, and have him just scoot around the area so I can see some parts. A helicopter ride would be ideal if I were not terrified of heights. I suppose I'll just put my shoes on and take a hike down the street. I walked around a lot last night in my flip flops, but the streets are very dusty and dirty from debris and dried flood water just weeks ago, which had a lot of diseases in it. Are all the germs dead because it's dried up? I don't know. People here don't seem too concerned, but some do have the surgical masks on.
I don't put the shoes on, nobody else does. Go for a walk, southwards I think. Found an old guy to run me around for a while. He was standing around waiting for a fare and said hello to me, one of the few who could converse a little. We chatted a while before I decided to hire him to take me around for half an hour or so. We haggled on the price for a little while, finally settled on 100 baht. I don't know if it's too much. He said something to his buddies who laughed. Did he tell them, "Hey look guys at me guys, I got me a whopper!" or "This stupid farang doesn't know how to dicker!" As we rode off, I yelled "Too much!" and they all busted out laughing.
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| This moto caught him a whopper. Bet I weigh as much as some entire Thai families |
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| These machines are quiet, smooth, economical, and ubiquitous. |
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| Factories and such, along the canal |
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| He drove me around until my butt hurt, pointing out this and that |
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| More illegal structures built out over the canal |
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| An ENORMOUS food market |
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| Each avenue seemed to carry only one thing |
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| Strawberries I think |
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| Durian fruit: "Tastes like heaven, smells like hell" |
Finished up with the taxi ride, walked some more to work out the kinks. In the car park of the hotel I find the attendant having tea with his wife in the booth, and hanging outside were about five small bird cages with some pretty little birds in them. Some were singing.
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| Anyone know what kind of bird this is? |
This one was sitting atop the hood of an SUV in the parking lot and was not singing, just turning somersaults over and over again--don't know if he was stir crazy or just having a good time and showing it. Here's a video of him, hope it works OK for you.
Stopped at a fruit stand because the seller said hello and asked where I'm from, just being sociable. I try to chat with him, but he doesn't know enough English to talk very long He hands me a small citrus fruit, looks like a "Lil' Cutie", very ripe and delicious and 100 baht per kilo. I chose a container of sliced papaya. They say papa-YA.
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The papaya was not as sweet as I've had before, but it was good
so I ate all of it. 20 baht. I'm a little behind on my fruit |
Not far down there was a canal, and a little past that a freeway so turned back and walked along the canal a bit. All along it were squatters who built shacks out over the water with their front doors on the road. I'd read about the "illegal structures" built in the canals which had hindered drainage of the flood waters...don't know if that's these or some other kinds of structures. Supposed to be a crackdown on them but not yet, apparently. I guess people need to live somewhere, but do they have to bring their
!?%$#@ roosters??
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| Housing built out over the canal |
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Shut UP you FREAKIN' ghetto, mangy bird. Struttin' around like MICK JAGGER
squawkin' your stupid lungs out. |
Did I mention how much I hate roosters? Goddamn little sleep killers.
Walked around a little and found an internet cafe that was opened, so posted these photos and typed some. It's just about noon now, tired of this, thinking about lunch. Maybe a beer. Later today I'll try to head over to Ayutthaya for a tour, it's straight west of me I think.
I never did get to Ayutthaya. Maybe next time, still have a few days. Was informed it's swamped with tourists anyway since it's still so near the new year. However, I did get lost in a monster mall and stopped in to meet some angels in a hospital.
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Pen, Prayer, and Kan. Prayer is pretty proud of the dress Kan made for her doll out of NOTHING.
Well, out of a napkin and a pin. These people are geniuses. |
Prayer is an 8 year old whose mother is an emergency room doctor. She speaks stunningly excellent English. She informed me she learned it when she lived in California. I assumed her mother was an intern there or something. She said she was born in California, but does not remember what city. Her parents left California when she was three. THREE?? I don't even remember anything when I was three. How can you learn perfect English by age three?? She told me all about her neighbor's dogs that she likes, and what she studies in school, and how much she likes dance, and opera--she covered her mouth and made a little squeak and I asked her what that was. She said it's an opera voice but she didn't want to get too loud. I hit my lowest tone and rose an octave in barely-tone splendor and turned heads in the waiting room to show her I like opera too.
And now, some more pics of the regular, daily, everyday, no problem, everybody has one, no helmet, cheap, excellent, and IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND IN THE USA bicycles you find everywhere in Thailand. I remember as a child my friends and I "pumping" each other on the handlebars, or middle bar, or banana seat of our crappy stingray bicycles. Who remembers banana seats? Anybody? High five me. I remember offering a lift to some certain un-named people in my office when I had my bicycle. You know who you are. I wasn't kidding. You missed out, buddy.
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| This beat up machine has seen some. Wish it was mine. Just look at it. |
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| This one is the exception. A rack instead of a cushioned pumper seat. Love it. |
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| Some guy pretty pleased with himself in his fancy new polo shirt |
Rangsit...at first I thought it was a good idea. Then, as the day wore on and the next day started, I thought "Why did I do this?" Now, as the second day draws to a close, and I've had a taste of how regular Thai people live, I'm really glad I did this. Tomorrow I head southwest to Hua Hin to the land of the retirees and golf courses.
