Bangkok is like most other Asian cities, in that it possesses an immense population with accompanying people and traffic congestion, pollution and that sad dichotomy between rich and poor, that is always overemphasized to the extreme: the rich are wealthy beyond dreams and the poorest are desperately so. We’ve just returned from 4 days in Bangkok, where we attended the massive regional conference for East Asian international schools, held in an Asian city once every year at spring break time and got just a taste of what this gargantuan, throbbing heart of Thailand had to offer.When we complain about the wall of heat that heats us when we get back from Australia to Taipei, it is a physical assault till we get used to it again. In Bangkok, it’s more like assault and battery, the intensity and weight of it almost takes your breath away. The heat is magnified of course by the press of humanity and the cloying, heavy pall that sits over the city day and night from vehicle engines running hard to battle the heat, air conditioners running flat out and non-stop in cars, buses and hotels and houses.
We employed a driver to take us to the north west of the city for a full day trip that we had planned and that day, even away from the city, Cassy said was the hottest outdoor temperature she had ever experienced. The official temperature was over 40, but in the dusty canyon in which we found ourselves, with no cover from the sun, it must have been 45+. But, more about this canyon later. We visited the famous Bridge over the River Kwai, obviously not the same one that was famously blown up by Allied troops and immortalized on film, but one built to replace it. We were fascinated to see that trains still go over this bridge and we had to utilize one of the platforms built jutting from the bridge to avoid one as we walked across: we thought they just viewing platforms! The nearby cemetery was a shocking and sobering reminder of the toll taken on the prisoners-of-war by the Japanese in building this supply link railway. Tens of thousands of dead are here, all nationalities, citizens outnumbering the soldiers. We spent some moments in silent acknowledgement of these amazing men: we could barely stand in the sun for 10 minutes, let alone work for months in this heat with little food, water etc.
Our next stop was an elephant park, which we were a little reticent about, seeing it as exploitative of these fine animals. To our delight, the elephants appear to be thriving and have a trusting relationship with their handlers, so we agreed to ride on one through the jungle: Cassy was unaware that part of this trip saw the elephant wade through a surging river and then go up (then later, back down!) a near vertical embankment with us and it’s handler on board…it was pretty special! After 40 minutes, our trek complete, we had a tiny insight into conditions for villagers near the river. They still live in traditional housing, raised up from the ground with thatched roofs and no running water, but everyone seemed happy, healthy and very much at peace with the world…we hope that really is the case.
Our final destination was the main purpose of the day out and one that I had planned to keep secret from Cassy, but couldn’t find a way to do it. Some years ago, on a trip back home I had seen a snippet on a travel show about the “Tiger Temple” at Kanchanaburi. I told myself to memorize the name and when I got a chance to take Cassy to Thailand, to dredge up the name and try to organize a trip there. The huge attraction is a tiger population that has been hand reared by the monks here. 8 years ago, they were given a tiger cub, whose mother had been killed by poachers. Not knowing anything about tigers, but determined to save the tiny cub, they found out as much information as they could. The cub flourished for a while, but then died from an infection. Undeterred, they perfected their techniques on a succession of similarly orphaned tiger cubs that were given to them. They now have 18, and are raising money to build a sanctuary on an island in the nearby river to better replicate natural conditions. For this they need money, so tourists are invited in. We paid an entry fee and were allowed to join the tigers in their “exercise canyon”. We were led, one by one, by the hand, to have our photo taken with various tigers sunning themselves in the blazing heat. The helpers at the temple took the photos with our camera. For a special fee, you could have a special photo: the tiger was arranged so that you could cuddle its head for a few minutes. I encouraged Cassy to do this and you can see a couple of the photos above. We were encouraged to pat the tigers and you could feel the raw power of their muscles and the sheer size and power of the animal up close is mind blowing. Their fur is surprisingly fine and soft and obviously, so beautiful in their markings. Cassy had to buy and wear some “over-pants” to go over her red pants: apparently one of the tigers goes a little mental at the sight of red, pink or orange, but I thought to myself later, aren’t tigers orange? Must be just on humans! This was a very special day, and I think particularly so for Cassy: everyone knows her love for cats, so this was just the ultimate: we’re still incredulous now….we patted real wild full grown tigers?!
Chattachuk weekend markets are at the end of the BTS train line in one direction out of the city and are megalithic. Everyone who spoke to us about them used near reverential speech in describing the size: “bigger than anything you’ve seen, or could imagine”, “you could shop for a week and not see the end of it”, “don’t get frustrated…its very busy and huge”. They were all right, and we had also been warned to avoid afternoons and evenings as they were even worse. The morning was bad enough! We walked so far I got sore legs and I estimate that we saw only about 5% of the whole place. It was one of the most incredible retail experiences I have ever had and Cassy was totally overwhelmed by it too. This place is made for some hard core shopping bargain hunters: it had just about any product you could name, at crazy low prices and still with bargaining to get a little more out of the stallholder. If any of my sisters are reading this, take note and book your tickets!
The market streets in and around the Nana area were accessed via Bangkok’s new artery, the Sky Train. Much like the MRT in Taipei or the metros in other huge cities we’ve visited like Tokyo and Paris, the train has enabled people to escape the gridlock at street level. Restaurants were thick on the ground and by the last night we had eaten so many green curries trying to savour our Thai experience, that we had to have something different, which we did in fine dining Italian style. Afterwards, we wandered the street markets and bought a few little trinkets, items of clothing etc and even briefly checked out the electric atmosphere at the Nana bar and nightclub area. This spot seems to have taken over a little from Pat Phong Rd as the number one destination for the night traveler and it certainly was cooking on a Saturday night.
A quick trip, but it felt much longer, and I haven’t said a word about the conference! We’re both very tired today and Cass is a little sick, so we’re hoping she feels better soon, partly because her parents are due in tomorrow night. Photos: Cass and Dave with tigers, on an elephant, the River Kwai bridge.