Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Wasn't expecting that one. + some photos day 2 Bangkok
















































We had an awesome day planned... Grand palace, walk to the top of the mountain, Thai massage, giant swing, democracy monument and food food food.





But the best laid plans.... So we had arranged for the tuk tuk driver from yesterday to meet us and take us out again for the day.... Guess who was a no show.!! Oh Oh Oh, and guess who didn't bring extra passport photos for the Cambodian border? Yep that would be me... so off down the street to find a chemist or photographer... Talk about funny... I was photo-shopped... au-naturel was an offence... Is that a violation?




Anyhoo we got another tuk tuk driver who asked if we could help him by going to, but NOT shopping at 2 stores for which he would recieve petrol vouchers and in exchange he would charge us only 10 baht each for the day... So off we went to the shop. Happy to report didn't buy anything. Coming back out he said ok, so now we go to the next shop... "warning Will Robinson". So we told him no... He tried desperately hard to play us off against one another, saying Dudu agreed, or Tutu agreed, but we held firm and declined to go to anymore shops...




So the little blighter kicked us off the Tuk tuk.... Has anyone ever been dumped from a Tuk Tuk in Bangkok??? Is this a first for the tourist industry??




So there we were in a completely unknown location in Bangkok, no map (didn't think we'd need one), with no inclination whatsoever to hail another Tuk tuk down and being the kinds of Kiwi's we are decided to walk back to the hotel. Did I mention that the temperature was 34 degrees? The only thing we knew was that there was a really tall bridge that we could see from the hotel room. Couldn't be that difficult really.




Having a pretty good sense of direction we started walking..... We started following an elderly couple who were in their 80's but I'm embarrassed to say they out walked us, ie: we couldn't keep up the pace with them but I did mention that it was 34 degrees, didn't I and neither one of us had bought along any hats. We did catch their eye a couple of times, and learned from them how to play frogger on the roads, so it wasn't too bad they left us behind afterall.




We got lost numerous times, as the roads turn back on each other and what appears to be dodgy side streets are proper roads. Bought some food from a bakery, but it tasted wrong, so bite, chew and spit.... Bought some food of a street vendor, and when I turned the corner there was a man on the road "Madam I'm hungry"so I gave it to him... so no transport, no sun cover, no food, and no clue where we were going... Great really..




We caught glimpses of the bridge so we were ok... Dudu is a machine, head down and go go go, personally I was whoa whoa whoa, and so took a lot of photos of things that I thought were more interesting than the tourist destinations.. Certainly had a closer look at the Bangkok that you wouldn't see in any brochure...




The contrast between rich and poor, the ingenuity of the people, the complete trust they seem to have between themselves..




I've been thinking lately that calling / labelling things as a slum or a shantytown is completely misleading and is only a means with which to describe differences, between that to which I'm familiar and where I am right now. It is what it is, and it is their life..




We talk about how lucky we are to come from NZ and the things that are taken so much for granted.. a four and a half hour walk in incredible heat and humidity will do that for you... so this update is a lot more introspective.. I don't believe that you can walk the streets of another city, lost (but not alone) truly observe how people interact and generally go about their business with such high unemployment. Education is highly prized and the children who do attend school seem to attract a high level of respect from the general poplace. I can't say that there is a caste system here or not, but if there is, it is based on education and that's not a bad thing at all...




Children of school age work in the streets, in the shops or laugh play and occassionally annoy their parents. I saw many smiling faces, and many sombre ones too. Weighted down I just wish I could have captured those moments, but the hands outstretched whenever a camera was bought out I admit jaded me somewhat so it's only distance views, impressions that were taken and will be eventually uploaded.




Despite the long hot day, I think that it was the best one so far........ Our lives are so completely different and their lives are no longer visceral. It has left an impression. We both knew that we had an airconditioned room to look forward to along with icy cold drinks and as much food as we wanted to eat..



Anyway it's time to go, last night we met the group for our tour, all females, for one poor male leader... Hés going to have an interesting time of it... we all went out to dinner and Michelle and I went for a 2 hour thai massage last night.... total cost $15NZ... Have been stretched, emotionally and physically and today we crossed the border and this is coming to you from Cambodia, but another time... and soon....




:o) Tutu and Dudu


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