Posted
4:33 AM
by MelanieandSteve
"Not a Problem" (Mai mee punhah), ... we're back in the creature comforts of Bangkok Thailand.
HOMEBASE ASIA, NOT THE SAME PLACE: Here we are in the same hotel and city where we began our S.E. Asia travels six weeks ago. . . . but somehow, it doesn't feel the same. We've had a total change of perspective: On 7 Feb, flying in from Australia, Bangkok was just another busy, grimey city - only a starting point to get through quickly. But something happened on that Loop to turn our perspective of Bangkok 180 degrees. After travelling through lands of no conveniences, no ATMs, no buildings or skyscrapers, lands of pocked dirt roads, dirt yards, and dried up rice fields, Bangkok looked a whole lot different. On 16 March, the night we came in on our 15 hour bus ride from Phnom Penh, our eyes bugged out at the shiny brass railings leading up to the first glossy glass sky scraper we saw. Bangkok is WEALTHY. It's Huge. There is infrastructure: elevated train systems, bridges, freeways, . . . pavement! This tribute to Bangkok's modernity is not to express an opinion on what is better, it's just a tribute to a total change of perspective and how we look at the place. Anything we want ... Mai mee punhah (Not a problem.)
DAILY LIFE: We've been in Bangkok since 16 Mar - for the most part taking care of business and not being so much tourists - we're taking advantage of the conveniences and business while we can.
NEW TOYS: Steve picked up a porto-DVD player. Mel got an MP3 player. Before our trip, a friend who had travelled the world for over a year said he had only one piece of advice for us: "Get a mini-disc player" for music listening. It's taken a year of travel for us to realize, he was right. We needed some music, and we'll be glad to have it on our 25 day trek in the middle of Himalayan nowhere (our next stop).
DAY TRIP INTO HISTORY, WWII ICON: Saw "The Bridge Over the River Kwai" - not the movie, the Bridge. We took a day trip 130 KM west of Bangkok to the city and province of Kanchanaburi where, during WWII, Japan forced thousands of Prisoners of War and local laborors into slave labor to build this "Death Railway" (so named because it is said that a person died for every railroad tie - though statistically speaking, it doesn't add up.). The Bridge was a small part of this 400 KM project, but is now a symbol for the whole gruesome episode in history. We walked the length of the bridge and perused the war museum.
HOLLYWOOD CAN WAIT: We thought it would be educational in conjunction with our Bridge Visit to put Steve's new DVD player to use, and watch the movie "Bridge Over the River Kwai." But surprisingly, most people we've spoken to here haven't even heard of it. We've checked every video store and even tried to rent it at Blockbuster Video (yes, we said Bangkok was modern), and the movie was nowhere to be found.
PHOENETIC DIFFICULTIES: We've learned that the word "Bridge" is a very difficult word for Thai to pronounce. During our Taxi ride to the Bridge, Melanie pronounced the word for our eager-to-learn-English taxi driver over and over again deliberately and slowly. Then the Taxi Driver MIS-pronounced it over and over again equally slowly. When Steve tried to find the movie at the video stores, he had to write the word bridge because the sales reps couldn't even make the word out.
FIRST NATIONAL PARK: Melanie has spent many a morning at "Thailand's First National Park". When she read that that it was a national park, she expected something like Yellowstone or Yosemite. What she found instead was a regular, groomed, city park. But it's a nice enough place, and people do their Thai Chi, Yoga, and other creative forms of exercize here in the early mornings much like we found at the parks in Vietnam.
WHAT LIES IN OUR NEAR FUTURE: We expect to leave town on or before the 26th. Looking forward to seeing the tallest mountains in the world.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: to Jean and Clay and Cheryl-Anne and Julie J.