The Ritz to the bronx:
Our stay in Silom has come to an end and we are sad to leave. The taxi driver and concierge bid us farewell. Our Next stop is near Khao San Road, a less than desirable area rife with poverty. ‘Experience old Bangkok’ as the hotel brochure says.
After a skytrain ride, a cruise up the river, a taxi ride and a 15 minute walk we are finally at our
destination - Boonsiri Place. The surroundings give us insight into real thai life. We are pleased we are able to see this as we may have had a charmed view of Bangkok just staying in Silom, the business district.
Walking to the famous khao San road (backpacker central) the streets are lined with stalls selling secondhand shoes, cell phone chargers, fake driver licenses and diplomas, books, clothes, deep fried beetles and cockroaches and many food stalls selling exotic food. Raw meat sits in baskets curing in the tropical heat.
There is an abundant number of cats and dogs with fly blown tails and girls sitting for hours on blue chairs. We realize we are in the heart of the red light district.
It is the hottest day by far and after travelling 2 hours to our hotel and walking through markets we suddenly feel like we have been slipped a roofie (drug). We make it to the dairy and buy lots of fluid and seek out some shade. We are dehydrated and have lost several hours. We stumble back to the hotel, crank the aircon and fall into a deep sleep.
Chinatown
This morning we are headed for Chinatown. We walk to the main road and hail a cab. The journey is another pulse quickening ride, weaving through narrow streets and soi’s (lanes), very cheap thrill at 50 bhat ($2NZ). Even as scooters cut each other off no-one flips the bird. We disembark on Yaowa Rat Road and are greeted by four lanes of rush hour traffic, and cough our way up the narrow street.
China town is an interesting little hub, great for browsing and people watching. Stalls aplenty and many jewelers, cobblers and chemist shops line the street. We wander along the lanes looking in nooks and crannies while skulling bottles of water. It is only 9am and we are soaking wet…
We walk to a few Wats (temples) and local landmarks. Friendly folk are constantly asking where we are going and if we would like to buy a suit. As a note on our hotel bed says; do not trust friendly strangers who are dishonest and mean to cheat you. This little piece of advice came in handy. We were approached by a gang of Thais who only backed off as a police truck flashed its lights and stopped on the foot path to check what was going on, hooray!
Walking back to the hotel & the 8 lane road is empty & full of police “you stop here, don’t move!” commands an officer. A convoy of state vehicles zooms past. Everyone stood to attention, this was amazing to see as the city is usually humming and going a hundred miles an hour, very eerie!
That is one chilled-out bunny.
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