Thailand Day T+3

Flicking through my lonely planet guidebook, I decided that some cultural sights as well as a relaxing visit to a park would be in order for today. Packing my things, I wrote down the address of Ban Kamthieng which is a traditional 19th century wooden home that has been relocated and converted into a museum. Heading downstairs and presenting the piece of paper to the concierge for him to tell the taxi driver, I realised a rather obvious fact: Addresses written in English aren't always decipherable by Thai taxi drivers.


No matter, the concierge had everything under control and soon I was off in a taxi headed for the museum... hopefully. Working our way through city streets, it wasn't long before the taxi driver stopped, announcing in broken English, "Here, here". I paid and hopped out of the taxi wondering where "here" was exactly. Suddenly I remembered that my iPhone had google maps on it! Looking it up and feeling wonderfully glad that I had gotten the local pre-paid sim working, I found where I was and where I was supposed to be - on the opposite side of the road. Everybody else seemed to be using the intersections and overhead crossings on this busy bit of road, so I thought I should do the same. Several minutes up the road and back, I found myself at the front of Ban Kapthieng. I wandered in slowly and at the base of the house, saw a little desk with a sign indicating a 100 baht entry fee, but nobody was there. Unsure of what to do, I waited a few minutes bfore nervously calling out, "Hello? Sawatdee Ka!" 
Nobody answered. I knocked on the table, I could hear voices from somewhere but nobody seemed to be paying attention to me. I wandered past the desk and began looking at the historical artefacts while waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and ask me to pay. By the time I has finished looking at everything, nobody had tapped me on the shoulder and the desk was still unattended. I crept out of the museum feeling a little thief like..

Benjakiti Park was next on the agenda and it was apparently within walking distance, so I began walking. Given that I get lost in my own city all the time, I wasn't sure why I was feeling so confident but I think it must have been the map in my book and the map on my iPhone. Maybe if I had been paying close attention to them, I would have been okay, but when I passed a sign saying "Nice Girl Massage", my mind went into a spin. I wondered what an oil massage would actually entail.

I also found myself walking along the famous tailor district of Sukhumvit Road where almost every shop is a tailor. Apparently a couple of them are actually decent whilst a lot of them are not. Spruikers sat out the front of the dodgier shops, trying to herd tourists inside. I was taken by the prices they were offering and was later glad that I decided to go do some homework before being taken in. All of this must have distracted me as I turned down the wrong side street, coming to a dead end before having to do the walk of shame back. 

They maintain the mess of
power lines after all!

"You beautiful, sexy", said the spruiker. I smiled, always willing with a smile even if I knew that the spruiker probably said that to everyone. Ignoring everything he said after, I backtracked to the correct side street and made my way down. This street seemed somewhat dodgier than the last one I went down and I checked my iPhone several times to make sure I was on the right track. 

Nearing the end of the street, there was a gate that appeared to be closed. I had no idea what I would do next if my directions were incorrect again. Apprehensively, I walked closer to the gate then realised that the gate was actually slightly ajar. There was a sign in Thai that looked like opening hours and I wondered if the gate was really open since there was still a chain looping the two halves together at the top. As I pondered this, a scooter zipped past, slowed down and edged through the opening of the gate and then zipped off. That answered my question and I edged through the gate also. 

If that was the entrance to the park, I figured it must have been some sort of service entrance because ahead of me was a strange wooden bridge that didn't seem to be constructed for general traffic. It passed over some sort of drain or very poor excuse for a river or stream with masses of garbage lining the banks. 

A walking path branched off to the right hand side leading to an adventure that I wasn't ready to have just yet. On the left hand side, old shacks lined the river just behind the garbage covered banks. I came to an intersection and stopped wondering where I should go next. I looked to the right and saw a little dogleg that went through what looked like some sort of industrial area. It didn't strike me as the roadway to a park, so I headed left.

In hindsight, the way left didn't really have the feel of a roadway to a park either. It seemed to be some sort of shanty slum, with families sitting in the front of their houses staring at this stranger walking past and wondering where she came from and why she's walking down their street. 

A man stepped out of his front gate, pushing his cart in front of him. Sausages lined the cart screen and they swayed in rhythm as he stopped the cart to close his gate behind him. If it was like the sausage cart I had bought from the other day, each one would be worth 10 baht or roughly 30 cents. Another man on a scooter putted past, again staring at this stranger that didn't belong in this neighbourhood. I continued walking along this poorly maintained road, hoping that it actually led somewhere useful. Up ahead, I could see flickers of cars on the highway that I had heard for some time now. The end of the road came into view and it looked like a dead end. My heart sank at the thought of having to do a walk of shame back down that road. Continuing nervously towards the end of the road, I hoped to see some pathway that would lead me onto the road and I considered jumping a fence if I had to, even if I was wearing a dress... 

A dirt path led off the main road and I wondered if it was just the driveway to the shacks at the end or if it was my road to freedom. Edging closer and closer, I had almost resigned myself to the pool of lost travellers when I saw an exit. I almost leapt for joy as my pace quickened and made my way up a poor excuse for stairs onto the road.

Not far to my right was the park I had been looking for and what a sight it was. A large lake, lined with gorgeous flowering bushes, filled the middle of the park. Walking trails and a bicycle track circled the lake with grassy undulating lawns on western side sheltered by a plethora of palm trees. At the southern end of the lake were paddle boats for hire, some shaped as swans.

Although I was tempted by the idea of paddling around the lake on a swan, the morning's walk had taken it's toll on my stamina. I was already on a residual diet and, besides fruit, really hadn't had anything else to eat. Those shady palm trees looked more inviting and I decided to try and find a nicely shaded knoll and have a bit of a rest.

As I tried to find my patch of grass, it became apparent that I was not the only one with this idea. Several other girls, some with boyfriends or friends or family, had also decided that it was a good idea and had taken refuge from the Thai heat under these palms. Probably the only people not lying down were the film crew that appeared to be filming a movie or tv show in part of the park. I continued past them just as I heard the director yell out "CUT!!" and I hoped that I hadn't accidentally wandered into shot. Maybe I'll be that extra in some Thai commercial...

Finally, I found a patch to lie on. It wasn't exactly secluded, but it was grass and it was shaded. Even though the sun was shaded by clouds and layers of smog, it still felt cooler under in this blessed shade. It was even better when a slight cool breeze softly caressed my face.  I stretched out and ate the fruit and yoghurt that I had brought for lunch. It was all I was allowed to eat and, fortunately, it was the type of lunch I liked to eat when I don't feel like eating a lot.

Lying back, I took in the view of the lake and the city buildings adjacent. There was a mix of new and not so new including the ironical white run down building with large lettering proclaiming it to be the "Lake Rajada Office Company". Flanking and towering over it on either side were pristine, mirror window clad office blocks. 

After a shortish nap under the palm trees, I decided to continue on through the park. I came across a rather interesting looking sculpture. In the distance were four tall apartment or office buildings, each with a helipad at the top. I couldn't help but wonder at the affluence of some of the people here as compared with the poverty of the people I had passed earlier.

I wondered what this sculpture was about so, seeing a plaque around the other side, I walked around hoping to find some explanation. I'm sure there was an explanation written there, but it wasn't something I could read. 

It was time for me to go visit my travelling friend at Pivayate Hospital, so I made my way out of the park and past the most impressive cafe attached to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. Once on the road again, I found it easy to hail a taxi but less easy to find one that would take me to the hospital. Again, I realised that handing a taxi driver an address written in English would not always work. Also, taxi drivers regularly decline fares if they think it is too far away. Despite their willingness to stop, sometimes uninvited, I still found myself without a ride several taxis later.

But wait, I was right outside a rain station! This could be an interesting experience, I thought. If nothing else, stepping onto the escalator down into the station provided me with the comfort of air conditioning. Passing through a checkpoint with metal detectors, which piqued my interest somewhat, I saw the maps and ticket machines and found that three stations away was the intersection of the road I needed to get to. Unfortunately, the machine took 100 baht bills at a maximum and the smallest I had was 500 baht, about $15. Where was I going to get change? There was an attended window ahead and I tried asking the lady for change for the ticket machine. Some waving of my 500 baht bill and a lot of pointing later, she understood and gave me the change I needed. 

Fortunately, the machine had a touch screen with an English option, so a few presses and 20 baht later and a token was dropped into the bottom of the machine. I reached for it, expecting some sort of fancy brass coin and was a little disappointed to pick up a black plastic coin sized disc. It seemed a little cheap, but then again, so was the fare. 

I must have looked like a tourist, because as I approached the station gate, the guard stepped forward and motioned to the ticket pad on the gate. I looked down and there was a little sign showing that smart cards should be touched onto the pad. Looking at my disc, I held it up to the guard to indicate that I had a disc, not a card. He motioned me to touch it to the pad so I shrugged and did so and the gate opened. Hrmmm, this little disc is more than it seems.

The underground station was of the double door variety. A windowed wall separated passengers from the track and doorways clearly marked where the train would stop. Monitors announced when the next train would arrive as well as playing several advertisements. When the train arrived, doors of train lining perfectly with those of the station, both sets of doors opened automatically to let passengers through. Inside the train, the layout was similar to that of Japan where a single row of seat lined either side of the carriage to maximise standing space and plenty of hand rails and hangers were available for those standing along the middle of the carriage. This sort of layout seemed to make more sense to me for crowded peak hour traffic although, in shoulder periods, you may find yourself short of a seat even though there aren't that many people on the train.

I was glad to find that announcements for the next station were given over the trains pa system in both English and Thai. As a result, I had no trouble determining when it was time to get off. At the exit of my destination station, I discovered why my token was disc shaped as I had to put it into a slot to exit which was a shame as I was looking forward to taking it home. If I had had any sense of mind, I would have taken a photo of it before putting it into the slot, but the days trip had already taken it's toll.

Above ground, a quick check on my iPhone and I set off towards the hospital. It's surprising how long a 20 min can seem to be when it's humid and you're walking on a dirt path that barely passes for a sidewalk next to a freeway. As I neared the hospital, I realised I might be in trouble as I was on the wrong side of the road and although there were a few lanes enabling cars to cross under the freeway, there was nothing for pedestrians. In the middle of the road was a bus stop and the opposing lanes were divided by a fence so I was at a loss to determine how you would cross the road if you got off at the stop on the opposite side of where you wanted to be. No matter, I kept walking, hoping that I would find a crossing or overpass soon.

Those taxi-scooters I had seen at the station began to seem like they would have been a good option. I trudged one foot in front another passing all manner of shops and construction sites and attracting stares and looks from locals who were probably wondering what this foreigner was doing walking along the freeway. A group of young Thai men headed towards me and as I moved to the side of the path, they turned off, entering a construction site. One of them caught my eye and and kept looking at me as he entered the site. I smiled back at him as I passed, feeling secretly happy that I was able to deal with the situation in that matter.

What seemed like an eternity later, I saw an overhead crossing and my heart jumped for joy. Hopefully, a walk on the other side of the freeway would lead me to the hospital. I began my journey back, checking my iPhone as I did so. One should know that when walking along dodgy dirt footpaths, one should always look where they walked. Being too busy looking at where I was on my iPhone, I learnt my lesson the hard way, stepping in a puddle of gritty, concrete like, soft mud. A short stop to wipe my foot on the only bit of grass I could find, and I was back on my journey again.

Before too long, I made it to the hospital just before it began to rain. Actually, that's the wrong word to use since it doesn't rain in Thailand. It buckets down like all the residents of heaven have decided to turn on their showers at the same time. I was glad to be inside after such a long days adventure, albeit a good one.