We woke up, and what do you know – we’re in Bangkok! We both slept so well, I think we forgot where were until we opened the curtains and saw the Chao Phraya river snaking off into he distance. If the amount of activity on river was any indication, it looked like we must have slept in, because things were hoppin’ down there.
After arriving in Bangkok yesterday, we met our friends as planned, went out to dinner, and called it a day. We don’t have any firm commitments today until this evening, when we’re going to take a “foodie tour by tuk tuk.” (That should be interesting, eh?)
Our traveling buddies wanted to see the Grand Palace and some of the other “must-see” sights around town. But since we’ve been to Bangkok before, and we’ve seen the main attractions, we decided to split up for the morning and rendezvous this afternoon.
A Plan for the Morning
So, what were WE going to do? I had been reading about Bangkok’s above-ground transportation system called the BTS Sky Train. “BTS” stands for “Bangkok Mass Transit System.” I’ve read nothing but good things about it.
I thought it’d be fun to try it out. It would be a good way to immerse ourselves into the real Bangkok, learn a new way to get around, and have some fun. We could get on, ride until we saw someplace interesting to get off, have some lunch, then ride back. We might be able to see a lot of Bangkok in a short time. OK, it was settled. We’d take a ride on the Sky Train.
After hanging out for a while, doing some last-minute research, and studying maps of Bangkok, we headed out on our little adventure. To get from the hotel to the nearest BTS station, we could take a free shuttle boat provided by the hotel. It makes a run every 30 minutes. Neat! A boat ride on the river — an added bonus.
In no time at all we were on the boat, on the river, and on our way. The Sheraton’s shuttle is really nice. I’d say it can probably hold 30 people or so. It’s part indoor, part outdoor, so take your pick. With the obvious exception of the engine, prop, etc., it appears to be completely made out of some kind of dark wood. Beautiful.
It’s great to be on the river. There’s so much activity. Long-tailed boats whizzing by. Water taxis. Working boats of all kinds. It seems like everyone is going somewhere fast.
We arrived at our getting-off point too soon, as far as I was concerned. It was a busy place, and not the easiest to navigate. The signs weren’t helping much. We started walking toward what looked like it might be the BTS Sky Train stop.
Lost
We were trying to figure out which way to go when a lady who worked at the hotel asked us if we needed some help. She had her hotel uniform on, and I think she had been on the boat with us, but I’m not sure.
She was extremely nice, as so many people here seem to be, in that gentle Thai way. When we told her that we were looking for the Sky Train stop, she told us the Sky Train wasn’t running that day because of some kind of national holiday.
She asked us where we were trying to get to. We said we didn’t have a definite plan, but we thought we’d do some shopping, get some lunch, etc. Clothes shopping? Sure. (We couldn’t just say we were just going to roam around Bangkok until we found something interesting, could we?)
She said the place we ought to go for clothes is so-and-so. And for an authentic Thai lunch that’s really good at a fair price, we should go to this other place. They’re actually not far apart.
“Great”, I said. How do we get there?
She said, “You should take a tuk tuk. Very cheap. There’s a line of them right there. I’ll tell the driver where to go and fix the price for you so they don’t try to rip you off.”
Tuk Tuk to the Rescue — Or??
I was getting the feeling like this is starting to smell a little fishy. No one in real life is this helpful. But she wasn’t pushy at all, the places were close by, and it seemed like we had a good plan.
We walked the short distance over to where a line of tuk tuks were waiting for people coming from the dock, probably. She and the tuk tuk driver started talking. She showed him the map we’d been using. They quickly came to terms. The tuk tuk driver was a kind-looking older guy, (as opposed to some kid), which was reassuring.
Tuk tuk drivers are notorious for taking people everywhere except for where they want to go. You get in, tell them where you want to go, then they take you to the wrong place. They say it must have been a misunderstanding, then take you someplace else – maybe to where someone paid them to take you. Everything I’ve read says that you have to be careful, but not so careful that you should miss the experience of whizzing through the streets of Bangkok in a tuk tuk.
The deal was set. The tuk tuk driver would take us to the place she recommended for shopping, wait for us, then take us to the recommended restaurant for lunch, wait for us again, then take us back to the hotel. I think the pre-negotiated price was something like the equivalent of $1.50. Ridiculous. We thanked the nice lady, and we were off. We weren’t really sure exactly where we were going, but we were on our way.
A tuk tuk, (pronounced “took took”) is a three-wheeled motorcycle with built-in seats for 2-4 passengers. The name supposedly comes from the Thai version of the sound that we’d call “putt-putt.” They do make a “putt-putt” sound when they’re idling, but when they’re on the move, it’s more like “WHAH WHAH!” There are a million of ’em over here.
Tuk tuks are inexpensive, easy, fun, a little bit crazy, and a little dangerous. Hey — that’s Bangkok in a nutshell.
To say that riding in a tuk tuk is exhilarating, at least if you don’t do it all the time, is an understatement. It’s a blast. Warm, humid air rushes by you. The engine is loud. REALLY loud. It sounds like it’s out of an old hot-rod, revving up, getting louder when the driver steps on the gas, then making all kinds of other noise when he shifts gears.
Bangkok is full of smells, and when you’re riding in a tuk tuk, you can take them in like a cocker spaniel sticking his head out of the window of a moving car. (But without the floppy ears). You’re whizzing in and around and in-between cars and trucks like they’re standing still. But then, all kinds of little motorcycles are whizzing around you, too, like you’re the one who’s standing still.
After driving for only a few minutes, our driver turned into a little nest of alleyways. A sharp right down this one. A sharp left down that one. Hmmm. “This doesn’t look very good,” we were thinking. I don’t see anything here that looks like a store, not to mention a store that someone would recommend going to. Maybe we should have trusted our instincts.
The driver stopped, turned around, and made some hand motions, as if to explain to us what he was doing. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but I was glad he was making an effort. He really didn’t look like the type of guy who would take us into an abandoned alleyway and do us in. But then again, I bet that’s what they all say. Or said.
To be continued…
Credit for the BTS Skytrain photo at the top of the post: My Train Pix, Wikimedia Commons, https://www.flickr.com/photos/30291875@N06/5745368349/
