Tuesday 16th November 2004
The flight was starting to get really painful and I had no real sleep for the entire 11 hour flight. Being sat in the middle of 3 did not help, but I was so excited about what awaited I didn't mind too much. Transport is already arranged to pick me up from the airport and take me to my hotel in Bangkok, which was included as part of the "Back Street Break" tour I booked for my first day tomorrow.
On arrival at Bangkok International airport I spent some time walking around the terminal looking for someone with my name held proudly aloft (crazy I know I just imagined it that way). After a while I concluded that they were not there and I proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes fighting off touts all wanting to take me somewhere. "You come with me, very good hotel!" They are nowhere near as hardcore as some of the touts I experienced in Turkey though and they are polite. If you look them in the eye and tell them "No thank you" or as I now know in Thai "mai ow khrap" they tend to respect your wishes.
What with the heat and humidity hitting me like a hot bath I was sweating within seconds and thanked the lord for the opportunity to be carrying 34lbs of backpack around with me as I searched for some assistance. At least I'll get some exercise! With the help of a very kind airport lady I found the Thai travel agent office and they called my tour agent's 24 hour mobile number..no answer. After taking another 10 minute tour of the arrival hall to see if my driver had arrived late I returned to the travel office & asked them to call the mobile number again. As they were about to do that he called their mobile phone, returning his missed call! Thank god for that. He instructed me to get a taxi and I would be re-imbursed the next day when I meet my guide for the backstreet break tour of Bangkok. His instructions were "Get a taxi from the taxi rank, where they will give you a ticket for a metered taxi. The fare should come to about 300 baht and get a receipt". The taxi was quite funny, trying to flog me hotel rooms, "massage", hookers, the works and charged me 600 baht for the trip. I tried to argue the toss, but he just went all "shruggy-shouldered" on me and told me he couldn't give me a receipt either. Well not to let it ruin my trip before I've started I'll say "fair do's" or should that be "fare do's"? I'll just tell my guide tomorrow that I couldn't get a receipt and see what they say.
Apparently there is festival* today in Thailand and the street is full of people. The night is buzzing with music and laughter. It was all going on right outside my hotel, which is called New World Lodge. After checking in and inspecting my room I looked out of my balcony and saw a pyramid of people all standing on each other displaying their balancing skills. What amazed me about this the most is that they were doing this on a roof top and the person at the apex of the human pyramid looked no older than 1 or 2 years old. It looked great silhouetted in the night air, but I couldn't get my camera in time. I will meander out tonight, get some food, send a few emails and adjust to the new environment. I couldn't have picked a better night to arrive. There is such an amazing atmosphere here. It really has set the tone for my experience of South East Asia. I feel like I'm in a Bond film it's just really exotic and exciting. I love it already. Tomorrow it's a tour of Bangkok's backstreets.
* The festival turned out to be Loy Kratong, the festival of light. A yearly, full-moon festival where people float rafts made of banana leaves, carrying lanterns on the river. I believe that people also say prayers for those they love, rather like making a wish as they float their candles on the water.
