The Shock of Bangkok

All the comforts of
3rd class fan

The guesthouse booked transport to the station for us. The driver of the tuk-tuk-songthaew had his small daughter with him and she was keen to try and lift our bags for us — even the heavy rucksacks. 80 baht seemed a good rate and as the driver helped us out with our luggage when we got to the station, we gave him a 100 note. We pointed to his daughter and explained that she was a good 'helper', and he seemed pleased. There was a little crowd of drivers at the entrance to the station, waiting to catch customers leaving the trains, and they all nodded approvingly because we tipped, then helped us up the steps with the bags.

Trackside houses

We bought tickets for the next train bound for Bangkok, 3rd class fan, 40baht (£1) each. We'd read that it's best to get off at Bang Sue station rather than going right into the main railway station at Hua Lamphong, as the last part of the train journey gets very delayed by heavy traffic at the rail crossings. It was less uncomfortable than we expected, padded seats, and the usual round of people selling drinks and snacks. An hour passed quite quickly, looking out at the local countryside and the hamlets alongside the tracks. An elderly man could see we were trying to judge where to get off. He didn't speak any English, but by sign language he asked which stop we wanted, prevented us getting off at the wrong one, then told us when it was time. At one point a colleague of his went to the carriage door and waited until the train slowed on its way into a station, then opened the door, hopped off, and scuttled across the railway tracks, waving to his friend as he passed the carriage window. Presumably his quickest way home …

View from the back of a tuk-tuk

Christian, our Venetian friend, had booked a room in a guesthouse for us, named Bella Bella Riverview. Before we left England I printed out all our venues in English and Thai, in readiness for showing drivers our destinations. At Bang Sue we walked to the nearest taxi and showed him a printout of where we wanted to go, including a map. He shook his head and directed us to another taxi, who also shook his head then asked another chap where it was. He quoted us 300 baht, took us to his tuk-tuk and loaded us and the luggage. It was a tight squeeze, and at one point John had to juggle one of the small bags so that the wheels didn't project across into the traffic.

We weaved in and out of multiple lanes of traffic at high speed — second hair-raising journey of our trip! As we got nearer to the Banglamphu area I found Bella Bella Riverview in googlemaps and kept an eye on where we were, as there is another 'Bella Bella' in Kao San Road area. We passed a road where we should have turned right. I tried to get the attention of the tuk-tuk driver, but we'd crossed a busy junction before I managed to show him the map on my phone. He insisted we were still headed in the right direction, so as this was our first time in Bangkok, we bowed to his greater knowledge. Big mistake! He headed down a busy street thronged with pedestrians and stalls, while I kept insisting we should go back. Eventually he asked a stall holder, who pointed at a guesthouse along the road. 'Bella Bella' — but not our Bella Bella! I showed the stall holder the map, he directed the driver in Thai, we turned round, and retraced our steps to where we should have turned off the main road.

Our Bella Bella took a bit of finding but I knew what it looked like from putting the little googleman on the map when we were at home. The driver was a little disgruntled because we only added 20 baht onto his 300, perhaps a bit mean, but maybe next time he'll listen to a stupid woman tourist.
The guesthouse was basic but clean, in a quiet area but still within easy walking distance of main roads. We had a balcony with a tantalising glimpse of the Chao Phraya river between buildings opposite. We checked in, contacted Christian to say we had arrived, arranged to meet a little later in the afternoon, and retired for an afternoon nap. When we went back down to the foyer, Christian was just arriving at Bella Bella.

Christian is our landlord when we visit Venice, and he was the reason we decided to visit Thailand. He has a house on the island of Koh Phayam, spending a few months there during the Venetian winter, and he has been nagging us for several years to visit him. Unfortunately, not long before we were due to fly out, he contacted us to say that he needed to return to Venice early. He delayed his return as long as possible so that we were able to meet in Bangkok for a few hours.

It was lovely to see Christian, and he gave us a whistle-stop tour of the area nearby, which is known as Bangkok's backpacker paradise. We had a brief look at the Buddhist Wat Chanasongkhram, drank a few beers, and ate at a street-side restaurant.

We were struggling to cope with the noise and frenzy of Bangkok, which came as a bit of a shock after the quieter Ayutthaya and our stay with Peter in the countryside. I am sure it helped that Christian showed us around a little and we were sad when we had to say our goodbyes.

A few more photos here