Steven Raucher's World Tour
2001-05-23 in Bangkok, Thailand
Welcome to Siam
We arrived in Bangkok on time and without hiccups � have we really seen the last of Indian/Nepali efficiency?
The first night was spent in a guesthouse close to the airport that was incredibly boring, except for the sign that read �Nun�s College�, this also turned out to be an anticlimax (if you know what I mean). Bright and early the following day Richard, Paul, Tony and I went off to Thai cargo to retrieve our bikes from the shippers. All went smoothly, if one considers seeing five different offices in as many hours before we could begin to uncrate our bikes.
Ariella and I arrived in Bangkok the next day and found ourselves wondering up and down the Khao San Road looking for accommodation. Common sense prevailed and I ran into the nearest bookshop and bought a Lonely Planet Guide/Bible. Nicely sorted in a comfy AC room with a bar downstairs with pool table to boot, we had arrived.
Bangkok was an important stop for me as I had loads of errands to run, first world errands, that is. Fix the digital camera, buy speakers for the minidisc player, you know, the real showstoppers. Richard, Rachel, Paul, Jill, Tony and Andrea arrived the next day and with military precision were already booked in for a service for their beemers. I, however, had drinking to do. Finally I met Yut Pol-Isariyakul of Dynamic Motors of booked my bike in for a service. Right, back to drinking then. As Bangkok is the next stop for people in Kathmandu traveling east we kept meeting loads of people we met in Nepal, always having a drink to celebrate our re-unions. Ariella discovered the �Bucket�. This is both the way the drink is served and what one needs shortly after finishing their second one. A �Bucket� is a Bangkok specialty, it is simply 1 bottle of Mekong whisky and 2 bottles of coke served in, and you guessed it, a bucket with 4 straws. Dangerous stuff indeed.
During all this time we had forgotten to hand in our passports to get our Laos and Vietnam visas and by the time we had realized this everyone on bikes had left Bangkok. So there we were with another week to kill in Bangkok waiting for visas.
Our major site seeing was done in 1 day. Shocking, I know. But still we will be back for a few days when we re-enter Thailand from the East on the way in from Cambodia. The Royal Palace in Bangkok is quite something, the ornate buildings and temples (aka wats) are really spectacular, the feel of the complex is more like lego-land than a King�s Palace, loads of tourist climbing on strange looking buildings that seem to be made out of mosaic � see what I mean?
For your entertainment I have included pictures of my latest hairdo, which has caused quite a stir here in Thailand, as apparently it resembles a famous footballer. I can�t see it.
 getting a good servicing - Dynamic Motors |
 getting in-spired haircuts |
 soup anyone, a floating market soup salesman |
 the Royal Palace, golden |
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