5.24.12

Thailand.

I don’t know what I was expecting. For some reason I had it in my mind that BKK would be some sort of backwards airport with chaos and livestock. I know, I know. That’s ignorant. In fact, it is a very modern, very large and quite beautiful airport.

The whole flight from Singapore I was worried that they wouldn’t let me in the country. I didn’t have an address to put on my arrival card (which I had completely forgotten that I would have to fill out). My mind kept flashing back to when I went to England the last time and was basically threatened by the customs officer that I had better leave the country at the end of my two week stay…

In fact, I had no trouble at all. I greeted the customs agent in Thai (sa-wad-dee-ka) and handed him my passport and arrival card. He did ask me about the address, but all he really wanted to know was the name of the town. I told him Ban Phe and that was the end of it. Stamped and stapled my arrival card in my passport and it was done.

My bag arrived with me! Completely intact and unmolested. Moms worry too much.

I totally didn’t need the spare change of underwear and tee shirt in my carry-on… I was, however, glad in Singapore for the toothpaste and face-wash that I carried on. Thanks, Mom.

First order of business– find an ATM. While the airports take cards, I imagine that just about everywhere else cash is going to be the standard. Took out 2,000 baht ($64.73) which cost me another 150 baht ($4.85) ATM fee.

Then the fun begins.

I got on the free shuttle to take me out of the airport and to the transportation center. No problem. And the air conditioning was heavenly. After a few inquiries at the bus depot, I was able to get on a van that I was pretty sure I had established would take me to the On Nut (pronounced ‘new’) BTS station. Sure enough, 30 minutes and 200 baht ($6.47) later, I was there. My directions told me that I then needed to get from On Nut to the Ekkamai bus station. I dragged my suitcase up the 3 flights of stairs to the elevated train. Ekkamai was two stops down the line and I must have looked as farang and lost as possible staring at that sign because a very nice, older Thai man with impeccable English asked if he could help. He told me how to use the kiosk to get my ticket, went with me to the train, helped me with my luggage on and off the train and wished me the best of luck.

From Ekkamai, I went down the 3 flights of stairs (the suitcase goes down stairs very well) and headed in the direction I was told in order to get to the bus station. The scooter taxi drivers were very helpful. As I am dragging myself up to the station, a man shouts out to me “Ban Phe, not Rayong?” And I respond with “Yes! Ban Phe, NOT Rayong.” “Ok, you get on bus. They are leave now. 200 baht.” If you remember, that’s the same price as my half an hour van ride earlier. This time I would be traveling two and a half hours south. I piled in to the van with about 8-10 other people and started the journey. Felt like it took forever to get out of Bangkok.

Side note: Bangkok. I kind of expected a city skyline and it didn’t really have one, from what I could see. There were tall buildings here and there (most of them seeming to be under heavy renovation). All in all, though, it had a fairly low skyline. Pretty dirty and chaotic. I can’t imagine ever driving here. On more than one occasion, thought we were going to get in an accident. Lanes don’t really count for much. And they drive on the “wrong” side of the road. I loved watching the scooter taxis. Sometimes a girl would casually be sitting side-saddle on the back. Sometimes there were three adult men on one scooter. Sometimes a mom and a couple kids. Really fun to see.

Back to the bus trip… Everyone sat mostly in silence unless they had a phone call to take or make. Blessed air conditioning, especially with that many people in the van. I sat in between a man who slept most of the drive and another guy who was on his way back home to Koh Samet with an oscillating fan that his mother had given him. He goes to see his family for a week every two years. He was now headed back to work. As a bartender on Koh Samet. He said that I must come and visit him. Only 30 minute boat ride from Ban Phe. If I was spending more time in Ban Phe, I would probably take him up on that.

As we drove through Chon Buri and Rayong, the scenery became much nicer than that of Bangkok. Arriving in Ban Phe, I discovered the Thailand I had imagined. Not the tropical beach, emerald waters one. Just the small, sea-side town one. Lots of open-air shops, piers, signs directing you to this beach and that beach, constant, welcome breezes off the water, and, yes, the occasional wafting scent of raw sewage. Most of the traffic consists of scooters, scooter taxis and scooter taxis with side carts that hold about 4 people. I think I may have to take one of those.

I really didn’t have much of a concept of time at this point. I reset my Nook’s time zone and I arrived in Ban Phe at the 7-11 at about 1:40pm. 2 days after I left. Called Bruce to come pick me up. He drove me about, oh, 50 feet down the street to my hotel. The Diamond. Sounds fancy, huh? Totally. En suite and everything. Cost me 1200 baht ($38.84) for the three nights that I will be here. I paid the extra 100 baht per night to have A/C. We take this for granted in the States. Here it is an absolute luxury.

They set me up on the 4th floor with a view over the main street and the ocean in the distance. The poor little girl who valiantly tried to take my 50 pound suitcase up all those stairs… I kept trying to get her to let me take it. It was bigger than she was. She took it two flights before I was finally able to get her to trade me for my carry on. Got it to the room and she had to take a minute to collect herself. She turned on my TV, closed the window and turned on the A/C and left me to it.

You know the first thing I did was get out of all the clothes I had been wearing for the last two days and get in to a cold shower. Which is the only kind of shower I could have taken anyhow. Right in the middle of the bathroom. You don’t leave the toilet paper or anything else that it might be bad to get wet in there. The whole bathroom gets wet when you shower. And there is a nice sink sprayer next to the toilet as a bidet, I am guessing. Has better water pressure than the shower head.

After refreshing myself, I grabbed my camera and stepped out. I was terribly thirsty but had refrained from drinking the tap water. Paid 7 baht (.23¢) for a water at the 7-11 and wandered down the pier. Lots and lots of very colorful boats. The water close in wasn’t very appealing, as it was littered with refuse, but if you looked out to the islands in the hazy distance, you really wanted to just jump in. Got waves and “hi’s” from a few men on their boats, took some photos and made my way back to the street.

I was getting rather hungry at this point. Didn’t eat much of the breakfast on the plane from Singapore. Some fruit, a chicken sausage and the hashbrown and roll. Opted to not test my stomach with the strange mushrooms, beans and suspicious poached eggs. So, I hadn’t eaten much of anything in the last two days. And hadn’t yet had any Thai food.

I wandered down the road and settled on a bar/restaurant that had shade and inviting cross breezes. One of the women was helping her son with his homework at the bar. I asked her for Pad Thai, but the other woman said they didn’t have that, but they could fry me some noodles. I told her that I would have whatever they wanted to make me. “Oh! Thank you so much!” was her response to this. The woman who seemed to be the owner sent her son off to the store, I think to purchase some ingredient. I believe it was eggs. She went to the back and started cooking my dinner. I was a little afraid, I admit. However, what she came out with was delicious. Noodles made from carrots with onions, egg, cabbage, chicken, and carrots. All pan fried and sweet and wonderful. And so much of it! I added another bottle of water to my meal and tucked in. About halfway through, I started to hit the delirium wall. After inquiring about the time, I found that it was about 5pm. I finished as much of my food as I could, paid my 65 baht ($2.60), stopped for a larger bottle of water at 7-11 and then headed for my room.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay awake so I turned on the TV and laid down on the bed with the curtains closed. I think I woke up around 8pm and turned off the TV to go to bed for real. Slept until 1am. There was no way I was going to stay up, even though I felt thoroughly rested. So, I decided to take an Ambien and then write until I got tired. Mistake. It kicked in so fast and made me feel drunk. Could barely stand up. I WAS able to go back to sleep until about 5am, but then I just felt hungover. It was awful. Won’t be taking one of those again.

Watched a movie on my Nook until 7am or so. Got myself back to sleep until 10am. Got rid of most of the “hangover”. At this point, I think I was overly hungry and just needed to get some food in me.
Made my way to the Coconut restaurant across the street from my hotel. Very nice. The interior is just full of tropical plants and breezes and it feels like you are eating in a tropical hut. Since I wasn’t feeling like having a German or American breakfast, I opted for the bowl of fresh fruit with yogurt and muesli with a bottle of water. Amazingly delicious. I have never had yogurt over pineapple, watermelon, and bananas. I think this will be my breakfast spot for the next few days. A little “pricey” at 150 baht ($4.85) by comparison, but worth it. A skinny little brindled kitty sat down in the chair next to me. Made me miss my fur babies.
Chatted with my mom for a bit, made my first journal post and then decided that I needed to go and lay down for a while. Hoping the Ambien hangover goes away soon…