You might remember that Bangkok wasn’t my favorite part of Thailand. Unsurprisingly, it still isn’t.
My way here was a little more complicated than I’d expected: When I got to Sheung Wan around 10:30, the next bookable ferry was at 11:35. Macau no longer runs a special shuttle from the port to the airport, and I didn’t think I had time for the often-stopping public airport bus, so I split a cab with another guy I saw looking at the “shuttle service suspended” sign. 45 patacas split in half.
AirAsia was, as I’d been told it would be, delayed. Not too bad. Made it to BKK, waited an HOUR in immigration (finally somewhere to compete with the US), found a FamilyMart, had my rogue’s dinner of yogurt and malaria prophylaxis, and caught an airport bus which tried to speed me past my stop.
Big John’s (guesthouse) is irritating. Clean beds, yes, but: locks not provided for lockers (this isn’t that hard to do) and he does (confirming a report I read on a review site) berate his Thai staff mercilessly and racistly. It makes me feel slimy to hear, but I’d already paid. It’s hard to complain, as the accomodation is pretty good for the money this time of year in Bangkok, but… minus 1000 for atmosphere.
Tomorrow I hope to catch a bus from the Morchit terminal to Aranyaprathet, on the border with Cambodia. From there, I’ll either overnight (if it’s late) or try to make my way directly to Siem Reap (near the Angkor Wat temples). It should be interesting either way.
Those of you clamoring for pictures will remain disappointed for now, as I had to shut off all rational thought (including thinking about taking my camera out) in order to make it through Bangkok without going insane today. If commercialism in the United States has taken Christ out of Christmas, then Western commercialism in East Asia [blasphemous rant snipped here].
I stayed mainly in the Siam Square area before escaping to Lumphini park. There is probably a lot of great social commentary hiding in today’s experiences, but it’s too painful to bring back up. The park is nice. Got some mosquito repellent, didn’t get any visa photos. Too bad.
Time’s up, more later (within the next week or so).
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