Archive for May 6th, 2005

Smell of the East

Friday, May 6th, 2005

The most profound way in which Bangkok strikes you is the smell sense.
The combination of sewage, sweat, bar-b-qued reptiles (and mammals, and birds, and marine creatures, and vegetables), burnt oil (in which all the non-bar-b-qed food is being fried), beer, and all other odors that wash the street is just as immense and condensed as can be.
I checked a few of what Bangkok has to offer: the pineapples are still great (both fresh and as a shake), the Singha beer is still somewhat bitter, the one-hour Thai massage still costs 180 Batts (10Batt=1NIS) and it still hasn’t lost its capability to find in my body muscles that just weren’t there before it.
Regarding Cambodia: This is the dill: either a bus that costs 200Batts but is probably a nightmare that lasts for an entire day, or an airplane that costs 6000 Batts in every direction. My big pack will stay in Bangkok until I return from Cambodia, and I will only take my day-bag.
The bus leaves at 07:30. It is an airconditioned ‘VIP’ bus, but the ride is expected to last 10-12hours on poor roads (especially after the border cross). I will decide which way to take in the morning, when I see what hour I get up (I will finish packing for Angkor today before going to sleep).

That’s it for now - I’m going to explore the nightlife here at Khoa-san.

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Land of Smile

Friday, May 6th, 2005

The airport in Bangkok has a sign saying ‘Welcome to the land of Smile’. Indeed, since I reached here some 3 hours ago I haven’t stop smiling.
The flight from London went great. The plane was half empty, so I took myself a row of three seats, layed down and slept most of the flight - not exactly a bed, but I’ve had worse.
Upon landing, the travel excitement finally hit me, and in full strengh. Until reaching Bangkok things were more or less automatic with no time to think. Now, I finally calmed down and started to enjoy.
I found out that on Wednesday they have some ceremony here in Bangkok, and I am considering delaying my flight to Hong-Kong by one day to participate in this ceremony (it will thus include me, his majesty the prince of Thailand, and a bunch of other Thay people). If so, I will probably go to Cambodia tomorrow and stay there until Monday or Tuesday. I will see later.
I went to Khosan road, which is just as I remembered it but more extreme: just like Eilat when it will grow up. Lots of street food and thingys. I picked a hotel room with aircondition, because it was here 38 degrees today, AND 80% HUMIDITY or something close to this.
I did a nice trick at the airport. I went out to the road leading to the airport, and picked a cab there. As a result, it only costed me 150 Batts!
Driving in Bangkok is stricktly not desired. The cars have their wheel at the left side though they drive at the right side of the road (I think it is because crossed cars are cheaper). I saw dozens of traffic errors. It seems that the lane marking on the roads here are just a recommendation. Usually there are three cars align horizontally on two lanes, and everybody is trying to get in front of the others, regardless of road signs, lights, the existence of other cars on the road, etc.

That’s it for now - I’m going to look for a way to reach Cambodia tomorrow.

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