I landed in Bangkok. This is my first time in this city, apart from transiting the airport; the first time in Thailand; the first time in South East Asia; and the first time in a tropical country. So being an open minded, cosmopolitan, experienced traveller, why were there so many surprises for me? It can't possibly be that I came to this city with expectations could it?
My first surprise was that Thai traffic drives on the left. I had thought it was only English speaking ex British colonies that had this habit - the rest of the world having standardised on the right hand side of the road. On the drive to my hostel, I was also surprised by the fact that, not only is Bangkok a modern, vibrant, city, but they seem to have achieved this without the adverse side of Chinese development - if its more than six months old it is too old and needs to be demolished. Equally the Chinese, who use vast amounts of concrete, always seem to have the attitude "slap some more concrete here, and never mind how it looks". Bangkok by contrast looks as if they know how to both use concrete, and how to finish it off so it looks good. Equally, Bangkok has its own pattern of wear on concrete buildings. I expect this is a pattern shared by all countries subject to a rainy season - the rain leaches dirt and solutes out the concrete from the top down. So all the older concrete buildings look very dirty at the top and much cleaner at the bottom.
The taxi operated in a way I have not seen before - though it makes as much sense as any other. When there are tolls for expressways, the passenger is expected to pay, not the driver. There is a lot of traffic and it moves considerably quicker that what I have become accustomed to over the last three months. Much of Bangkok's streets are laid out on a plan similar to the ginnels in the North of the UK. There will be a main street with a large number of straight offshoots. These are just wide enough for one vehicle to go down the offshoot. some of these run straight from major city intersections direct into farms and farmlands. Unlike ginnels, the houses and other buildings front onto these. My taxi driver was unwilling to go down the alleyway , leaving me to negotiate the length of the alleyway with all my luggage. Had I mentioned that I was surprised by how hot it was? Though to be fair, the humidity was having less effect than I anticipated. I later learnt that Bangkok has a very equable climate at this time of year - varying between 34 and 36 oC during the day and 26-28 during the night.
Bangkok shares with Beijing and Moscow a first rate metropolitan transport system. This is basically three fold. Down the East of the city is the Metro, which provides NS routes throughout Bangkok, and which extend Westwards to include the Railway Station. There is the Skytrain - an elevated railway that runs down the middle of the city again providing NS routes throughout the city, and which links in at several points with the Metro. It has an Eastward extension to the main international airport. It also links in with the third part of the transport system. This is the river, which has fast river buses; shopping and hotel boats; and (regrettably) now comparatively few long tail boats, which seem all to be used for tourist excursions. Why is it that a city that has a functioning, vibrant river system of transport, seems so much more alive and fun to be in than one that does not. It is not even a question of knowing about the river - just being there and being part of the life of the city seems to be enough.
Most of the tourist sights seem to be in one area - round the royal palaces and the two main temples there - the Emerald Buddha Wat and the Reclining Buddha Wat. The reclining Buddha (above) is immense - I think I heard somebody say it was 61 metres long. The complex is very extensive, incorporating a Thai Buddhist Massage school, and the Thai equivalent of the Tibetan medicinal tankas - pictures on one of the walls showing the channels, the attributes, the massage remedies for various aliments.
There are plenty more surprises awaiting me, I am sure.
My first surprise was that Thai traffic drives on the left. I had thought it was only English speaking ex British colonies that had this habit - the rest of the world having standardised on the right hand side of the road. On the drive to my hostel, I was also surprised by the fact that, not only is Bangkok a modern, vibrant, city, but they seem to have achieved this without the adverse side of Chinese development - if its more than six months old it is too old and needs to be demolished. Equally the Chinese, who use vast amounts of concrete, always seem to have the attitude "slap some more concrete here, and never mind how it looks". Bangkok by contrast looks as if they know how to both use concrete, and how to finish it off so it looks good. Equally, Bangkok has its own pattern of wear on concrete buildings. I expect this is a pattern shared by all countries subject to a rainy season - the rain leaches dirt and solutes out the concrete from the top down. So all the older concrete buildings look very dirty at the top and much cleaner at the bottom.
The taxi operated in a way I have not seen before - though it makes as much sense as any other. When there are tolls for expressways, the passenger is expected to pay, not the driver. There is a lot of traffic and it moves considerably quicker that what I have become accustomed to over the last three months. Much of Bangkok's streets are laid out on a plan similar to the ginnels in the North of the UK. There will be a main street with a large number of straight offshoots. These are just wide enough for one vehicle to go down the offshoot. some of these run straight from major city intersections direct into farms and farmlands. Unlike ginnels, the houses and other buildings front onto these. My taxi driver was unwilling to go down the alleyway , leaving me to negotiate the length of the alleyway with all my luggage. Had I mentioned that I was surprised by how hot it was? Though to be fair, the humidity was having less effect than I anticipated. I later learnt that Bangkok has a very equable climate at this time of year - varying between 34 and 36 oC during the day and 26-28 during the night.
Bangkok shares with Beijing and Moscow a first rate metropolitan transport system. This is basically three fold. Down the East of the city is the Metro, which provides NS routes throughout Bangkok, and which extend Westwards to include the Railway Station. There is the Skytrain - an elevated railway that runs down the middle of the city again providing NS routes throughout the city, and which links in at several points with the Metro. It has an Eastward extension to the main international airport. It also links in with the third part of the transport system. This is the river, which has fast river buses; shopping and hotel boats; and (regrettably) now comparatively few long tail boats, which seem all to be used for tourist excursions. Why is it that a city that has a functioning, vibrant river system of transport, seems so much more alive and fun to be in than one that does not. It is not even a question of knowing about the river - just being there and being part of the life of the city seems to be enough.
Most of the tourist sights seem to be in one area - round the royal palaces and the two main temples there - the Emerald Buddha Wat and the Reclining Buddha Wat. The reclining Buddha (above) is immense - I think I heard somebody say it was 61 metres long. The complex is very extensive, incorporating a Thai Buddhist Massage school, and the Thai equivalent of the Tibetan medicinal tankas - pictures on one of the walls showing the channels, the attributes, the massage remedies for various aliments.
There are plenty more surprises awaiting me, I am sure.