Welcome friends, Ben here again. Well Debs and I arrived in Bangkok yesterday, the gateway to SE Asia and we bore in our sweaty clutches the travellers bible, a near mint, latest edition of the Lonely planet guide to SE Asia on a shoestring... yes we prided ourselves on being well prepared travellers who were forewarned and forewarned about the dangers and pitfalls endemic in any large city, well we had mostly survived London and so surely Bangkok should hold no fears for us!
Well not only were we well prepared my friends, we were also lucky! For not 5 minutes after leaving our guesthouse for the Khao San road, shiny faced and with a tourist map held proudly in front of us than we met a really friendly Thai chap who was able to warn us that our intended destination was not only 3k away (far further away than it seemed on our inadequate map) but that it was also closed until 2pm! How had the Lonely Planet omitted to mention this fact?! We were shocked to say the least, but our new best friend knew of some alternative attractions including the elusive 'Lucky Buddha" and as long as we bargained hard then a tuk tuk driver would take us to all of them for a mere 40 Baht! In fact we were not to accept anything more than this and we would only pay the driver at the end and so he would wait for us at each attraction! Well what a bargain! And clearly not a scam as the price quoted was twice that the Lonely Planet had warned us would be quoted by 'Dodgy' tuk tuk drivers! What luck!
We were intially sceptical that we would really get this price and probably wouldn't have taken the tour... but then our friend hailed a tuk tuk entirely at random and bargained on our behalf! I know! What a hero! We waved him off with sorrow and joy in our hearts, with people like this around our travels would be fab :)
Well the first stop "The standing Buddha" was pretty impressive and erased a few nagging doubts that had crept into our cynical London hearts and we both started to relax a bit, the second stop "The Black Buddha" was less impressive, indeed you could say it looked a little like a number of slightly shabby statues in a dingy room... but every trip has it's disappointments... and the Lucky Buddha was next and that would bring us good fortune!
The Lucky Buddha could apparently only be found through the entrance of a tailors, although our driver was unsure which one so we tried a few... sadly we couldn't find it so our driver took us to a tourist centre that spookily resembled a tour operator to see if they could help... alas they were also at a loss! After a fruitless 40 minute search around the less salubrious neighborhoods of Bangkok we were forced to admit defeat and our driver eventually agreed (after we had uttered the magic words "if you don't take us to the Khao San road now we will cry") to take us to our original destination for the agreed fee.
Well we never did find the lucky Buddha, despite a long and fruitless search through any number of commercial premises, but as I sit here in my remarkably shiny new suit (50:50 Nylon:Rayon mix, pricey but unique) and wait for our coach to the Mo'ron river (already 2 hours late but LP says we have to understand that the pace of life is different here) I can't help thinking that we did find our own 'Lucky Buddha' in the kindness of strangers, so if you meet a strange man on the street who goes out of his way to be helpfull and seems really nice. Kick him in the nuts. Hard.
Editors note - Yes, we really were that dim. We didn't spend any money, and actually the 40 minute hare around Bagkok was kind of fun and actually good value at 40B... We realised we had been a bit dim about 2 minutes into the journey and just had a bit of a giggle. When we finally located a real tourist office they had a big sign up basically saying that there was no such think as a 'Lucky Buddha' and would you all please stop being so stupid.
It was actually really usefull as it gave us cynical edge we needed for the rest of the day and meant we persevered in finding the ferry dock with all the Thai's passengers for 40B as opposed to paying 700B for a private boat. We live and learn I guess :)
Bangkok is noisy and polluted and just as we expected really, it has some beautiful temples and Buddha statues and we'll post some photos etc. in the next few days or whenever we get access to internet again.
Well not only were we well prepared my friends, we were also lucky! For not 5 minutes after leaving our guesthouse for the Khao San road, shiny faced and with a tourist map held proudly in front of us than we met a really friendly Thai chap who was able to warn us that our intended destination was not only 3k away (far further away than it seemed on our inadequate map) but that it was also closed until 2pm! How had the Lonely Planet omitted to mention this fact?! We were shocked to say the least, but our new best friend knew of some alternative attractions including the elusive 'Lucky Buddha" and as long as we bargained hard then a tuk tuk driver would take us to all of them for a mere 40 Baht! In fact we were not to accept anything more than this and we would only pay the driver at the end and so he would wait for us at each attraction! Well what a bargain! And clearly not a scam as the price quoted was twice that the Lonely Planet had warned us would be quoted by 'Dodgy' tuk tuk drivers! What luck!We were intially sceptical that we would really get this price and probably wouldn't have taken the tour... but then our friend hailed a tuk tuk entirely at random and bargained on our behalf! I know! What a hero! We waved him off with sorrow and joy in our hearts, with people like this around our travels would be fab :)
Well the first stop "The standing Buddha" was pretty impressive and erased a few nagging doubts that had crept into our cynical London hearts and we both started to relax a bit, the second stop "The Black Buddha" was less impressive, indeed you could say it looked a little like a number of slightly shabby statues in a dingy room... but every trip has it's disappointments... and the Lucky Buddha was next and that would bring us good fortune!
The Lucky Buddha could apparently only be found through the entrance of a tailors, although our driver was unsure which one so we tried a few... sadly we couldn't find it so our driver took us to a tourist centre that spookily resembled a tour operator to see if they could help... alas they were also at a loss! After a fruitless 40 minute search around the less salubrious neighborhoods of Bangkok we were forced to admit defeat and our driver eventually agreed (after we had uttered the magic words "if you don't take us to the Khao San road now we will cry") to take us to our original destination for the agreed fee.
Well we never did find the lucky Buddha, despite a long and fruitless search through any number of commercial premises, but as I sit here in my remarkably shiny new suit (50:50 Nylon:Rayon mix, pricey but unique) and wait for our coach to the Mo'ron river (already 2 hours late but LP says we have to understand that the pace of life is different here) I can't help thinking that we did find our own 'Lucky Buddha' in the kindness of strangers, so if you meet a strange man on the street who goes out of his way to be helpfull and seems really nice. Kick him in the nuts. Hard.
Editors note - Yes, we really were that dim. We didn't spend any money, and actually the 40 minute hare around Bagkok was kind of fun and actually good value at 40B... We realised we had been a bit dim about 2 minutes into the journey and just had a bit of a giggle. When we finally located a real tourist office they had a big sign up basically saying that there was no such think as a 'Lucky Buddha' and would you all please stop being so stupid.
It was actually really usefull as it gave us cynical edge we needed for the rest of the day and meant we persevered in finding the ferry dock with all the Thai's passengers for 40B as opposed to paying 700B for a private boat. We live and learn I guess :)
Bangkok is noisy and polluted and just as we expected really, it has some beautiful temples and Buddha statues and we'll post some photos etc. in the next few days or whenever we get access to internet again.
2 comments:
Hi guys. Glad to hear that you arrived safely. Don't forget to post pictures occassionally for us less fortunate mortals living your trip vicariously through you. Enjoy and stay safe. xxooxx
hahahhahahhahahhahah - too funny guys. Ben you write beautifully. Yep eveyone's a scammer in BK. You'll love the floating markets though - offer them a fifth of whatever they ask for. Dont' eat the roasted cat soup. xx
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