Travelling by tuk-tuk

The only people more reckless than the drivers in Bangkok must be the pedestrians. We woke up early and took our chances with a cab going from the hotel to the grand palace in the old city. There are a lot of motorcycles on the roads in Bangkok, and they all seem to create their own lanes magically in between the actual painted lanes on the road. How else to explain how they zip up and down in between the cars - moving cars, mind you, not cars calmly sitting and being parked, but moving along at a good clip. And apparently the traffic lights in Bangkok are purely decorative, since no one seemed to even slow down at the red lights.

We arrive safely and in one piece a few minutes before the palace opens for tours. We decide to hire the guide who approaches us since the total of 1000 baht for tour and guide is only about $30. She is quite entertaining, and we have a good time watching her yell at people for touching the statues with the big “DO NOT TOUCH” signs in both Thai and English on them. When she learns we are going to be going to Nepal in a couple of days, her eyes get as big as saucers. I think it’s the same look I would give someone who told me they are going to take a walking tour of north Philly, or downtown Reading after dark. Not a good sign! After touring the palace we walk to a nearby open air market, where I buy some fried meat on a stick and some odd looking fruit that a random stand owner proffers to us. The meat tastes mostly of fat and spices, but the fruit is rather tasty once you peel it open. Sort of like a kiwi in taste, but with the texture of a mango. We later find out it’s called “mangosteen”, when we see some at a local grocery store (where I decline to buy the durian fruit).

We then hire a tuk-tuk to take us to the big reclining Buddha. 50 Baht to go to the “Big Buddha”. After a brief delay where his tuk-tuk stops running, he takes us to the “big Buddha”. OK, it’s a different big Buddha, which is standing up, but it is indeed big. We grab another tuk-tuk to the “Reclining Buddha”, which is even bigger, and surrounded by a bunch of courtyards and a school. It feels a little bit like going to a church for some sightseeing, then popping into the parochial school while classes are going on. But no one seems to notice or mind. We grab some cold drinks and chips and relax before heading out on yet another tuk-tuk to Khao San road, which is known for its shopping.

Now, before I tell you about Khao San, I should explain at this point about tuk-tuks. A tuk-tuk is a three wheeled vehicle that seems to run on a golf cart engine. It has a little carriage for 2 passengers and a seat for the driver. They produce a nice breeze that cools you off when you riding along. And they all drive the same way as the motorcycles, which is to say, with no evidence that they are aware of the other traffic or even the laws of physics. I swear, we had one guy take a full on U-turn in the middle of a 4 lane highway filled with oncoming traffic! Another one was apparently in a bit of a hurry, so he whipped around the line of cars and just headed up the piece of road nominally meant for the oncoming traffic (at least none was heading directly for us, at first. And then the motorcycles just swerved around us like it was all pretty normal, which I guess it is). I am glad the wife is missing this, because I suspect she would be a bit anxious about it, given her reactions to my normal driving habits. On the other hand, maybe then I would get less grief, since I would look better in comparison.

So, back to Khao San. It’s basically a couple of blocks of road with a lot of shops and stands selling stuff. It feels somehow vaguely familiar to me, which is odd given that I am on the other side of the planet, the people are speaking a language I don’t understand, and the writing is all in Thai. Then I realize why it feels this way. It basically like walking down the boardwalk at the beach, where everyone is selling the same t-shirts, lighters, knives and other trinkets, combined with some of the street s in Philly or NYC with cheap electronics and clothes. But with a lot more buddhas and lingams. And false teeth. At least there are awnings over us to keep us relatively cool in the 95 degree heat. We stop for some shakes to cool off, and keep ignoring the “wily strangers” trying to sell us boat rides.

We grab a cab back to the hotel because Daughter #1 wants to take a dip in the pool to cool off. We go to our room, and in the 15 minutes I take to go to the corner store for some soda and chips (nori seaweed flavored Lays – but I think they just taste like sour cream and onion), she has passed out cold. But that’s OK because it has also started to rain. I read, then take a nap. When we wake up around 7:30, we decide to grab a cab to the MBK shopping mall. We only have about an hour before they start to close up shops, barely enough time to grab some donuts from Mister Donut.

I notice that the donuts here are about half the size of the local Dunkin’ Donuts, so I have 2 or 3. After shopping we eat dinner for about 260 baht (or about $9). We grab another cab back to the hotel, where I am finally started to get the hang of haggling. The guy wants to charge about 4 times the metered rate, but I get him down to double. Hmm, still not going all that well. Still, double is only about $2.50.

Tomorrow will be a full day of guided activities, including the famed floating markets, and elephant show, and rose garden tour.

Oh, and just in response “the mom”’s comment on the daughter’s blog: