My time in Bangkok was brief but enjoyable, I definitely look forward to returning later in the month to explore more of the many places I left untouched.
Arriving at 6am I managed, with a little help from locals, to successfully travel via local bus to my hostel. However, as my bed would not be ready until 2pm I had around six hours to kill. So after a quick wash in the ladies room, I collected a map and headed back out. My plan was to explore the shopping district first and then take a detour through Chinatown on my return leg.
It took just over an hour to reach the shopping area, stopping for many photo opportunities on the way. The further I walked the more the size of the city astounded me. The size of the buildings seemed magnified by all the space in between, with many streets having four lanes on either side of the road. The eclectic colour of taxis, pink, green, yellow, blue, to name a few, added a metropolitan feel to the streets, while billboards did the same in the sky.
I spent four hours walking the city before deciding I wanted to head back to the hostel. By this time I was on the edge of Chinatown, but exhaustion catching up with me, I no longer had the desire to explore. From this point all I had to do was return the shortish distance to the hostel. Simple. Or so it would have been if the streets hadn’t been a criss-crossed winding maze. It didn’t help that one intersection has street signs pointing every direction saying the same thing! I knew which general direction I should be heading anyway, so with the help of my map, and GPS, I powered on determined not to have to concede and get a tuk tuk or motorbike taxi back. Deciding to a take a punt on a side street I felt confident I was making real progress in the right direction, until it doubled back into a horse shoe type shape and I realised all I had done was progress further into the middle of the back streets, which weren’t on my map.
Thanks to the GPS on my trusty Nexus I did eventually make it onto the correct street. As a victory gift for myself I bought a pineapple at a street fruit vendor, and made a nearby traffic warden’s day when I attempted to repeat the word in Thai. I had completely misheard so the attempt was terrible, but he seemed to appreciate my efforts!
