if it all gets too much, just head for the mountains
Well finally back in the big smoke Bangkok after a month of lushing-out in laos, meeting inspiring people and doing blissfully little.
iNDiAN PREPARATiONS
i stayed in Vientiene for a week while i waited for my indian visa to be processed – a story in itself. i arrived at the indian embassy feeling ultra prepared armed with my passport, two passport photos and both lao and thai currency. But of course one needs three passport photos, the fee can only be paid in us dollars – $56 (of which $16 is a “facsimile fee”), and there needs to be a photocopy of your passport to accompany the application form. Naturally, the indian embassy is on the perimeter of town where there is neither a currency exchange nor a photocopy facility. So after 4 hotly negotiated tuk-tuk rides to and from the embassy, and follow-up phone calls to wrong extensions or receptionists that don’t speak english, my visa was processed without a hitch and is now in my hot little hand. i have a ticket to fly to Kolkata in two days time!!!!
TUK-TUKS – A BAROMETER OF LiFE
i have decided that one’s reaction to tuk-tuk drivers is a reliable barometer of one’s mood. The constant “miss, miss” “where you go” “tuk-tuk” that accosts me at every street corner, can elicit a variety of reactions.
On a good day these chaps might receive a smile and a polite “sabaidee (hello), not today, but thankyou” as i glide along the street.
On an average day, a simple feigned deafness in my right ear and walking as though blinkered will usually be the defence.
On a don’t-get-into-this-with-me kinda day, a frustrated and bitterly spat “NO!” with an accompanying (usually inner) monologue “yes please rip me off and yet allow me to feel that you are really doing me a favour, please remind me that tuk-tuks are a viable transport option by auditory re-enforcement at punctuated intervals because clearly my sense of sight is poor, and that because i am a woman alone i am obviously in need of some random bloke’s assistance”
One of my goals for india is to develop the ability to not get so easily frazzled when being constantly hassled, conned or propositioned. Obviously i have a long way to go in that direction.
GETTiNG OUT OF LAOS
Transport in Laos is notoriously fraught with overbooking and uncomprehensible bureaucracy. “Yes miss, there are sleepers available tonight to Bangkok, but no we cannot sell you a ticket”. i kept repeating my handy laos phrase “baw khao jai” (i don’t understand, i don’t understand). But it seemed i was unable to book a train ticket anywhere in the capital because it was 3pm and there was a lot of hushed discussion as to whether i could possibly make it to the border train station only 25km away by 7pm – despite me pleading otherwise i left empty handed. in good faith i made my way to the station in Nong Khai Thailand – but of course by the time i arrived (5pm) all second class tickets were sold, leaving me the option of an expensive first-class journey, or riding with the rest of the locals in sardine-like third class without the comfort of a bed.
Being travel hardy now 🙂 i took the third class seat and rode a 13-hour overnight journey sandwiched between the carriage wall and a mass of Thais, many of whom were forced to stand the entire journey and kept themselves amused by staring and talking loudly about the only farang woman on board the train. it amazed me how Thais seem quite comfortable about falling asleep with their full body weight on the shoulder of a complete stranger in incredibley contorted, improvised sleep positions.
Bleary-eyed and ravenous, i arrived in BKK this morning to taxis locking their doors when i approached or gesturing me away from their vehicle – i must have looked scarier than i thought! it took all my energy to finally negotiate a taxi that would use the meter and not charge me a ridiculous flat rate – this is my 3rd time in Bangkok now and each time i seem to pay a little less for everything. Today is the beginning of Chinese New Year so i am planning to head to the centre of the action in close by China Town with a traveller i met on the train.
BEFORE TAKE-OFF
i am incredibley unprepared for india (blissfully unaware perhaps!) having only got a copy of the lonely planet guide today; which i am reading verociously, as if somehow reading about touts and harassment will actually help me on the ground. i will spend tomorrow stocking up on probably inessential items that will help me feel more prepared (psychologically, if not practically) for india. With the Nepali crisis i have decided to forego my trip there, but have been recommended an area called Sikkim which is bordered by Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan and sounds just magic. A fellow traveller i met in Vientiane shared many of his experiences in india and a little sage advice “if it all gets too much, just head for the mountains”. Mmm, i think there’s something in that for all of us. . .
Tags: Thailand
Jyai