Day 16
Today I'm in: Bangkok, Thailand
Not a lot to report on today... I left Laos at lunchtime and flew back here to Bangkok, where due to flight times I have to overnight before flying to Jakarta. Once again, since I have an early-morning flight and don't want to contend with Bangkok's notorious traffic, I'm staying near the airport, at the Queen's Garden "Resort" (that title is a bit dubious) in a neighborhood not far from Suvarnabhumi Airport.
This is the same place I stayed while en route to Chiang Mai about a week ago; however, this time around, I had more time to kill. I wasn't planning to leave the hotel (I arrived here at about 3pm local time) but then I noticed there was a station of the newly-built Airport Rail Link only about a half-mile away. I figured I may as well head into Bangkok and at least spend part of the afternoon and evening there.
Walking to the train was an event in itself. I had to walk through the neighborhood about 15 minutes, and it quickly became clear that the area doesn't see a lot of Westerners. Calls of "farang" (foreigner) went out as I walked by - none of them were malicious, just more curious than anything - and I had a following of about 10 little kids for a few blocks, all calling out "hello" over and over again.
The train sped me into the city in only about 25 minutes and I switched over to the elevated SkyTrain and headed for the Siam Square area. I saw most of the sights in Bangkok on my trip back in 2008, and most of the really historical and/or cultural stuff is impossible to get to on public transit (unless you take your chances on one of the city's insanely crowded buses) so I spent a few hours wandering through the city's myriad shopping malls and down Thanon Sukhumvit, where I stayed on my first trip here.
Overall, Bangkok isn't my favorite place. It's hot, crowded and a little on the seamy side. It was good to get into town and walk around a bit, though. Tomorrow it's off to Jakarta!
Today I'm in: Bangkok, Thailand
Not a lot to report on today... I left Laos at lunchtime and flew back here to Bangkok, where due to flight times I have to overnight before flying to Jakarta. Once again, since I have an early-morning flight and don't want to contend with Bangkok's notorious traffic, I'm staying near the airport, at the Queen's Garden "Resort" (that title is a bit dubious) in a neighborhood not far from Suvarnabhumi Airport.
This is the same place I stayed while en route to Chiang Mai about a week ago; however, this time around, I had more time to kill. I wasn't planning to leave the hotel (I arrived here at about 3pm local time) but then I noticed there was a station of the newly-built Airport Rail Link only about a half-mile away. I figured I may as well head into Bangkok and at least spend part of the afternoon and evening there. 
Walking to the train was an event in itself. I had to walk through the neighborhood about 15 minutes, and it quickly became clear that the area doesn't see a lot of Westerners. Calls of "farang" (foreigner) went out as I walked by - none of them were malicious, just more curious than anything - and I had a following of about 10 little kids for a few blocks, all calling out "hello" over and over again. 
The train sped me into the city in only about 25 minutes and I switched over to the elevated SkyTrain and headed for the Siam Square area. I saw most of the sights in Bangkok on my trip back in 2008, and most of the really historical and/or cultural stuff is impossible to get to on public transit (unless you take your chances on one of the city's insanely crowded buses) so I spent a few hours wandering through the city's myriad shopping malls and down Thanon Sukhumvit, where I stayed on my first trip here. Overall, Bangkok isn't my favorite place. It's hot, crowded and a little on the seamy side. It was good to get into town and walk around a bit, though. Tomorrow it's off to Jakarta!
No comments:
Post a Comment