Hello all! We have been in Thailand for about a week now but only now have we had sufficient internet access (and time) to actually launch the blog, With that said, we kind of have to retrace our steps back over the past week to re-cap everything that has happened. So I will start with my own perceptions of our time in Bangkok...
We were thoroughly exhausted after about 24 hours of travel time and once we landed in Bangkok, we were ready to begin the next phase of our adventure (the phase that didn't have to do with in-flight movies, lack of leg room, and fitful attempts at sleep). Upon arrival at the airport, we were almost immediately whisked away by our hotel's car service, en route to Amari Atrium, an immaculate tower looming over eastern Bangkok. There was a brief interlude between airport and car when we were greeted by the wall of oppressive Bangkok heat, but before we could digest the muggy warmth of the evening, we were ushered into a car with all of our bags, back into a sealed world of air-conditioning and complimentary bottled water. We careened through the Bangkok night and into the bowels of the city, catching glimpses of the night markets, motorcycles, and street stands - while the skyscrapers of modern Bangkok loomed in the distance, lit up like jewels, reaching toward the sky, untouchable by the mere mortals we saw around us. The city was a blur of blinking lights and exhaust fumes and pulling into the Amari Atrium entrance felt opulent and grand, almost like more than we deserved.
Our hotel was in a somewhat isolated part of town and by that I don't mean devoid of activity or people, but of the touristy areas of Bangkok. Up on the eleventh floor, we could press our noses against the chilled glass of our window and look down on streets bustling with sputtering motorcycles, fumes and wavy heat, panting streets dogs lying on their sides blinking against the sun, sizzling grease in pans, the light glinting off the aluminum and metal of cars and storefronts. And with that glance, we could turn and retreat, back into our air-conditoned limbo, balancing precariously between two worlds.
Our first foray into the city came on Tuesday morning, after a night of stop-and-start sleep, with the final waking time somewhere around 4am. We ventured out early and made our way down the streets on crumbling, non-existent sidewalks, careful not to be sideswiped by the cacophany of traffic roaring by. Crossing the street in Thailand is a tragi-comedy. The tragedy being that it's near impossible and the comedy lying somewhere in all of that. Whenever we could make a clean break, we would, just narrowly missing a car, motorcycle, or tuk tuk (motorized rickshaw) careening past. It was sticky and hot, the unrelenting sun beating down on our faces, arms, and the backs of our necks. But in the excitement of a first day anywhere, all hardship was lost on us, our bags bouncing against our sides, shielding our eyes against the sun.
The subway system in Bangkok belies the outer chaos of the city. Chilled and immaculate, sleek and modern, efficient machines deposit plastic token in lieu of yellow Metro cards and escalators hum quietly, up and down, as passengers slip in and out of air-conditioned trains, an entire functioning universe functioning deep beneath the guttural, choking bustle and heat of the city above us. And then slowly, you emerge, one hand on the arm-rail of the escalator, ascending back into the white heat of Bangkok. The heat afixes itself to you, like a blanket over your shoulders, your entire body, until it gradually dissolves into normalcy.
We found our way to Lumphini Park...
