July 3
If I had a monkey face they wouldn't be so mad at me. It's spooky. I'm going to avoid monkeys in the future. I thought about coming home a couple of days early, but I decided to stay a few days in Bangkok and just get a feel for the city - it is the great cosmopolitan city of Asia, after all. Anyway, I had an interesting day. I biked the 60 kilometers to Samut Songkhram (where I was planning to stay tonight). However, I didn't particularly like the town so I decided to take the train in Bangkok. The lonely planet guide said that there was a direct line from this town to Bangkok and that's why I decided to go there. Turns out the train only goes half way there, whereupon you have to get off the train, take a ferry (more like an overblown rowboat) across the river, and walk a kilometer to go to a different station. Thank goodness I had a guardian angel who led me through the whole process (nobody could speak enough English to explain what I needed to do). I was quite a spectacle hauling my bike on and off the trains and ferry. I had to jump on and off the ferry (they don't bother to rope it to the dock - they just sort of got close) carrying my fully loaded bike in one hand above my head. A couple of people did help me getting on and off the trains (the steps are really steep and the bike would barely fit through the door). Anyway, it is was third class rail - cost 25 cents to take the two trains (two hours total). The train stopped at every village along the way and went through fields of grass that were taller than the train. At a couple of points I could have stuck my hand out the window and plucked bananas from the trees. The whole time, sweat was just rolling off me. I've actually gotten quite used to the slime of sweat - I think it is probably healthy.
Once I got to Bangkok I was about 6 kilometers from the Siam Square area where I will be staying. I thought "what the hell, I'm an in expert in Thai traffic now, I can handle this". Well that thought lasted about thirty seconds. I was cycling three feet from the curb, pedaling as fast as I could, and motorcycles were flying by me on both sides. You wouldn't believe how scary that was. I got on the sidewalk and walked the rest of the way. Thankfully, in Bangkok it is possible to walk on the sidewalk (in most Thai towns there are so many vendors it is impossible to walk on the sidewalks). I stopped at McDonalds for lunch - what a treat! There are two McDonalds within 200 yards of my hotel, as well as the gigantic Siam Square.
I am in Siam Square, a gigantic modern shopping mall that, like all Thai malls, has blaring disco music coming from about 5 different sources. It is really an assault on the senses but the Thais don't seem to pay it any attention. Generally, they don't seem to be afraid to blast their music at levels that would bring prison terms in the US. In the countryside there are loud speakers mounted on telephone poles that blast music and talk all day long - also, there are loudspeaker trucks going by all the time (I think it has to do with a political campaign but it's hard to tell). Anyway, I got a pretty nice room for $10. My $3 room last night was not the greatest because it was just too hard to sleep without air conditioning. I ate at a restaurant last night that had 238 entrees. Kind of tough to make a choice. Tomorrow I am going to be a tourist and maybe do some shopping or take photos. I feel like I have an embarrassment of riches here. I can eat anything I want!
July 4
I'm not really sad that the trip is over. I have had enough of the biking. As good as it has been, it has been hard to be unable to communicate for such a long period of time. I am disappointed that I did not meet a single cyclist - sometimes we need that just to validate what we are doing. It would have been great if you were with me, especially because you would have been more willing to do certain kinds of experimentation. On the other hand, I think you would have had real problems with the heat and dealing with the traffic in the cities. It would have been a completely different trip because I have been doing all my biking in the morning and going much faster than when we bike together. I don't know how we would have done 100 kilometer days like I have been doing and still be done before it got hot. Anyway, it would be perfect to tour here together in the cool season.
Bangkok does seem a lot more familiar this time around. I kind of like it actually, despite the traffic. Today I walked down to the area that has all of the famous wats (about a 6 kilometer walk) and it helped to give me a sense of proportion to the city. I did a bit of the tourist thing (saw the biggest reclining Buddha in the world - it's about 50 feet high and 200 feet long) as well as some wonderful architecture in the wats. It then started to rain, which cut my touring day short and I headed back to Siam Square and went to a movie. I saw the Jim Carrey film, which you know is a bit moronic. They played the national anthem before the movie, with a montage of pictures of the king. Everybody had to stand up for this. They also gave assigned seats, although I didn't bother to sit where I was given a seat. It was a great theater, with a big slope (the back rows were about 50 feet above the bottom rows).
I rode third class on the railroad yesterday because there was no choice. There were only two cars on the train. I will be moving to the Comfort Suites hotel on the 7th. The hotel I am at (for $10 a night) does not have a phone, but I think I am going to check into a better hotel tomorrow - what the hell, why not splurge a little. That hotel certainly should have a phone where you can call me on BigZoo.
July 4
Today I went to the Shangri La and Oriental hotels (both rated among the best in the world). Wasn't all that impressed with either. Then I went to the Baiyoke Hotel which at 93 stories, is the biggest in the world. Again, I was not all that impressed although the view was pretty good. I could stay at the Baiyoke for about $60. I didn't ask at the others. I decided to stay one more night in my cheap hotel because I am gone all day anyway. No point in spending extra money for a room that I am not going to use. I rode the SkyTrain, which is the ultramodern monorail type of system they just opened a few months ago. It is only about 100 times faster than taking the buses (which are actually quite good despite the traffic - they come about every 2 minutes). I spent a lot of time just wondering through the various giganto shopping malls. The one nearest my hotel is 1/4 mile long and has 8 stories. I walked 6 floors from one end to the other and back, so that means I walked at least 3 miles in that mall alone. I am really surprised to find that I actually like Bangkok. Unlike Africa, you can go anywhere at any time here and feel safe. The transportation system is slow but cheap and there are innumerable options (buses, trains, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, minibuses, ferries on the river and canals). Nobody hassles you or pays much attention to you. And you can stay at a quiet, decent hotel in a good area for less than $10 a night. You could rent a really nice hotel room for less than $200 a month. Also, unlike in the rest of Thailand, almost everybody speaks some English and many people speak it very well. There are two excellent English language newspapers in Bangkok as well as an English language magazine and a couple of English radio stations. A retiree on social security could live like a king here.
I woke up this morning feeling pretty frisky so I thought I would do some more touring. I ended up taking one of the river ferries and doing several miles of walking. I tried to take one bus, but it was "lady only" and they wouldn't let me on. I visited a really wonderful park (a big one, about a square kilometer) and there were hundreds of people doing tai chi, yoga, calisthenics and karaoke (yes - karaoke in the park!). There were a lot of older people and it was real nice seeing that as the mall crowd tops out at about 22 years old. I also visited the most famous wat in Thailand, the temple of the emerald buddha.