The eagle has landed
Friday, November 5th, 2004Well first 24 hours in Thailand behind me, and already i’ve learnt a few
things. . .
1. walking through Bangkok iS NOT easier than using public transport – it has taken me all day to get orientated, get lost, find my bearings, and
eventually find khao san rd – and lots of time waiting at street corners
summoning the guts to cut through six lanes of non-stop traffic – there appears to be no traffic lights here, and pedestrian crossings are simply meaningless.
2. the heat is thick, intense and claustrophobic – when i arrived at 2300 it was 30 degrees outside. i had a challenging cab ride with a old thai guy bitter about “you a strong woman” – i got the whole inquisition in broken thai about why i’m alone, no children, not married etc. that was okay, but him pulling off the highway to yell at me about directions “Soi! Soi!” to the hotel etc. was scary – i realised then the enormity of what it means to be here, and be alone – i had very few options if things got nasty. i now know the soi number locates the side street (thanks lonely planet) but luckily i arrived at my little hotel, with my own little room – its grungy but fantastic because it is my recluse from the intensity of the streets.
3. being here alone is an awesome experience, it is like a walking silent
meditation, i barely spoke to anyone today but took in a thousand different
sights, smells, and sounds of the street; visited wat pho and national museum; cruised down the chao praya river (i love the canal system)
4. 3 weeks will definitely not be long enough. i am here in bangkok for another two nights before slowly making my way by train up to chiang mai. then i’ll head for a quiet island somewhere. that’s the plan anyway.
Jyai