Showing posts with label Bangkok. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bangkok. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Road tripping to Bangkok, part II


2 weeks later the red shirts were wreaking havoc in Bangkok and I prepared to go north to pick up my newly arrived passport. This time I could not get a ticket in Phuket as it seemed government had cut bus rides up north in order to stem the flow of people to the ongoing demonstrations. Anyway, I got a ride in Krabi and was once again on my way. Same routine repeated itself with dinner in Chumphon. I bought for dessert a bag of "mak" from an old lady selling them outside the rest stop. It was so strong it made my head spin.

The Lion of Finland

This time I arrived Bangkok at 4.30am next morning and I was smarter than last time and bought my return ticket straight away. Then I took a taxi to Wongvien Yai where the start of the western skytrain line is. As I had so much time on my hands I just started walking along the road towards Chid Lom. 

Bangkok morning rush 


I passed several street hawkers that were preparing to setup shop for the day. Stray dogs were roaming the streets in packs, luckily they did not bother me. I also passed Patpong roads thatwere being cleaned up after the nights excesses. I saw police men doing their part in enforcing the law. Bangkok was waking up as I walked along Sathorn Road, Silom and Witthayu until Sukhumvit road.



Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn)

I arrived about an hour and half later to the embassy and read a book while waiting for the bureaucrats to come to work. Once the doors opened I got my passport and was once again free to roam the streets of Bangkok. This time I had a date with Brendan and Lyn who were also in Bangkok for business. After some half a dozen phonecalls to find my bearings to their hotel I was there by 9.30am. I was grateful of being able to loan their bathroom and wash off the dust and sweat from the trip. 

Bangkok riverside architecture

After that we headed off to Surasak and took the ferry boat up to Banglamphu district (close to the famous KhaoSan road). This area has nothing to with Thailand but tourists seemed to love it. We found a nice restaurant under a huge shady tree where we ordered several Singha's accompanied by lunch. As we were chatting away I realized time was drawing close and I found myself looking for a taxi that would not try and shaft me. The first 4-5 would not open their meters and quoted ridiculous prices to get to Sai Tai. 

Old rice barge converted to service the tourist trade

When I reached the main road I caught a taxi who was honest enough to open his meter and take me where I wanted. I arrived SC plaza with 20minutes to spare. Finally when I was waiting at the platform I was informed that the bus is late so I ended up sitting there for perhaps an hour. Anyway, once again I was on the way south again, mission accomplished. This time there was no dinner stop or I slept through it. Next morning I woke up in deep south again back home.

Banglamphu

By the time of writing this the red shirts had smeared the Parliament House steps and the Prime Ministers house entrance with their own blood...

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Road tripping to Bangkok part I

As my passport was running out of pages despite only 4 years in use I needed to get a new one before the bureaucrats started bitching about it. For those who do not know, one is required to have at least 2 blank pages and more than 6 months validity (as I recall) left in order to be admitted to any country.

Bangkok Southern Bus terminal

I was down to 4 pages so I thought now or never and phoned up the embassy in Bangkok whether I could do it remotely here in Phuket or via the honorary consul placed here, "nope" was the reply. All passport applications to be made in person, bring b/w passport photo with neutral expression and your own fingerprints. Oh well, I swung into action and lashed off to nearest photographer and got myself a set of ugly passport photos, packed an overnight bag, my own fingers and bought a bussticket to Bangkok, same evening I was on my merry way.

One of the mega shopping malls "The Mall" @ Rama II

The ride was a bit bumpy and I appreciated the working seatbelt as when I was napping I felt that the bus could topple any minute. As usual the aircondition was not next to absolute zero as I have experienced an earlier occasions but quite pleasant. While enroute we stopped for a complimentary dinner in Chumphon. Next morning I arrived at the southern busstation (Sai Tai) at SC Plaza. From there a friendly lady offered me a ride to Pratu Nam which was close to the Finnish embassy. I arrived abt 30minutes before opening time to file my application.  Bad news was that the Finnish embassy do not employ any courier services so I had to come back after 2 weeks to collect the new passport. Unlike Indian embassy or even the Thai government, they use courier to send documents back, so I would have to impose another CO2 imprint onto the atmosphere to come back the Big Mango once again.

On the road again...

Embassy opened at 8am and I got down to business with the Passport Officer and forms were filled and my fingerprints taken. Apparently all went electronically to Finland as I saw the signed form with my ugly picture and fingerprints being scanned. At 8.30 I was all done and wandered around Bangkok until afternoon when I headed back to SC Plaza to get a return ticket to Phuket. I had still some 3 hours to spare until the bus departure so I decided to take a Thai massage that was in the plaza. An old Isan lady kneaded me with her elbows, knees and feet so hard that I felt like being run over by a ten-wheeler, she was just saying the farang is very stiff. I was indeed after that treatment.

Tollway queues

Finally on the way down south again I discovered a totally new route (to me) down south. The bus was taking the seaside road and we passed numerous salt ponds were seawater was being processed into salt, unfortunately nightfall came fast and darkness surrounded soon everything and there was not much to be seen after that. We stopped for complimentary dinner in Nakhon Si Thammarat and next thing I know I was being thrown off at the Yacht haven junction.

Salt flats