Thailand Day 1 - Buddhas and Tuk Tuks

OK, so today started kind of late. I’m currently writing this the day after at about 5 AM. I got up around 8 AM and browsed the Internet for a while, trying to figure out what to do. Unfortunately, since I didn’t have a map this made things more difficult. I ended up getting out around 9:30, walking down the alley on which Erawan House resides to the corner. I was thinking of getting breakfast but ended up getting orange juice from the vendor on the corner. Thai oranges are very small, similar to the oranges nani once used to make achar. They crush the entire orange to get the juice, imparting a bitter flavor. A 16 ounce or so bottle was 25 baht, about .75 USD. I purchased that and ducked into a 7-11 for a map. This particular one didn’t have it, but I would return later in the day for a SIM card.

I then started down towards the left. UNICEF and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization buildings were across the street from me. Checking in at a local bus company yielded no map, so I continued all the way down the road. As I passed underneath a bridge, I noticed some food vendors so I crossed over. It turns out that I am right next to the Chao Phra Ya river. I purchased five rambhutan from an old woman (which I still have to eat) and then continued to walk. Bangkok in the morning is filled with the smell of eggs, fish sauce, and frying, which would make anyone hungry. All around me people were sitting on plastic chairs or concrete in front of large bowls of steaming noodles. I was concerned about eating anything too heavy though (or big, since I don’t really eat that much in the morning), so I carried on.

The road terminated with Thammaset University. Figuring that I wouldn’t be able to get on campus (and not particularly interested in trying), I turned around and went back to a different 7-11. Here, I found a map and an Ovaltine, so I sat outside trying to figure out where I was and drink my breakfast. I positioned my bag next to my legs so I could watch it easily. This is where the fun begins.

I was approached by a guy who was very friendly. He asked me where I was from, how long I had been in Bangkok for, and when I had gotten in (furthermore referred to as N,R,S#). He then asked me if I had a map, which I took out. Proceeding to mark up tourist sites on the map, he explained that I had a special opportunity, as the government had been running a tourism promotion program where a person could take a tour of the multiple attractions for 10 baht. I explained to him that I wasn’t really that interested as I wanted to walk around, but then another tuk-tuk driver came over. This one must have been a kid, about 14 or 15, with a rainbow earring with a marijuana leaf embedded on it. He gave me the same exact spiel, and I declined again. Both left, and then a third came up. At this point I was rather concerned for my bag, and so I kept my eyes more on their hands (which was easy since they were holding the map) than on their faces. This third one delivered the same exposition, so I decided that I could walk another day. The sky was also threatening rain.

So onto the autorickshaw went I. My driver’s name was Ought, which was pronounced with a rising intonation. Turns out Thai has five intonations for a word, each of which changes the meaning. My destinations altered between temples (which I would describe, but basically all of them were glittery and had a large statue of Buddha in some variation) and stores which were apparently part of the tourism promotion. It turned out that whenever the driver went to a store, he got a coupon for 5 liters of gasoline. Hence, I visited tailors (all of which asked N,R,S# and most of which were pretty unhappy about me not being interested in buying a suit RIGHT NOW) and jewelers. It turns out that a good negotiation tactic in Thailand is to just to look at an item as if you’re not really sure about it and not say anything. The prices start dropping somewhat quickly.

Eventually, after visiting the Marble Temple, Golden Temple, the Lucky Buddha, and I’m sure some other temples my driver dropped me off in front of the Grand Palace. The most I got to see of it was the architecture. Immediately I was accosted by an elderly man carrying a stack of cloth paintings. Asking me if I was Hindu, he immediately flipped to images of Hanuman, Ram, and Vishnu. Declining, he dropped the price from 200 to 100 baht. As I walked away, he followed me down the block, finally offering 50 baht and proving the maxim. I declined and went on my way. Briefl

y pausing to negotiate for some shirts, I came across vendors selling food outside of a university. Since it was about 1 at this time, I purchased skewers of chicken and chicken hearts (referred to as “I love you” chicken by the vendor’s son). Both were good though the hearts tasted similar to kidney. I then purchased a skewer of chicken that was coated with panko and fried. This was also really good, but was basically a large chicken nugget. All together, lunch probably cost me about 1.20 USD.

It turned out that I was too late to get into the Palace (if you go, long pants and sleeves are required but can be rented). As such, I began walking again. I came onto the Chang pier, which had a large number of vendors selling fruit and food. I came across an old woman selling rambhutan and mangosteen. She picked up one of each and cracked them open for me to try.

. Moving to the other stalls, I found longan, lychees the size of jawbreakers, and jackfruit. Eventually, I came upon a stall that was selling coconut ice cream topped with peanuts, jackfruit, sticky rice, and what appeared to be lotus seeds that had become translucent. I purchased a serving, but it was not nearly as good as the skewers I had just had.

Walking away from the market I came across another man who did another spiel. I ended up getting into a tuk-tuk to go back to another temple, which it turned out was the same temple I had been to earlier. In the second temple,

I met a tourism agent who asked for N,R,S# and then explained to me that the tourism promotion for jewelry was because the mines were being shut down. I then took advantage of this to go to The Oscar, a jewelry shop that I had heard about from the tourism official. These guys were friendly and even gave me an explanation of the way that rings are resized. Ultimately though, I couldn’t afford anything (and nothing was particularly nice), so they were a little disappointed.

I came back to the hotel as my shoulders were killing me. Here is where my dislike for tuk-tuks manifests. In India, you can sit in an autorickshaw with your knees at an

angle approximating 90 degrees. In Thailand, not so much. Your legs are at least 130 degrees, and if you are my height (I'm not exactly Shaq), you will have your neck bent. At that angle, you won’t really be able to see anything but the asphal on t

he road, so you have to lean down in order to see what’s going on on the street. In short, unless you are pygmy-sized, riding a tuk-tuk is not a grea

t way to see the great city, but it is a cheap way to get around.

I was intending on going out again, but I ended up falling asleep. I woke up at 5 AM and that’s where we are now.

Blogspot does not play well with pictures, it seems.