Before I begin, this photo was too good to pass up. I know that it may not be the most sensitive or politically correct item to post – but I’m here to share my experiences and not all of them turn out to be 100% politically sensitive.
So, Bangkok is an absolutely huge city and unlike my hometown of Boston, Massachusetts (woo!) the subway system doesn’t really extend around the city. Even the combination of the water taxis, the sky train, and the subway doesn’t quite get you to certain areas of the city. So, we were forced to take taxis around in a couple of instances…..
TAXI #1: The Floating Markets
Upon arrival in Bangkok at 4:32am… the only thing at that point to do was to go visit the floating markets – something that required that we taxi to a bus station on the southern edge of the city to take a bus a distance outside of the area. We easily flagged down a metered taxi (which is quite a feat – being a foreigner, no one wants to use their meter and instead will just try and charge exorbitant prices).
After battling with some language barriers – he finally got that we wanted to go to the markets… he kept yelling at us, “I take you! 1,000 baht! Me! Mini Baht!”
Calvin: Ahhh too much! mai chai mai chai-
Taxi Driver: I take you to market! Vroom Vroom! 1,000 baht! No bus! Me mini baht!
The conversation continued in a similar fashion for a good twenty minutes while he took us to the wrong bus terminal.
TAXI #2 and 2.5: The Search for My Free Jewel
Do you remember this photo?
We went on a mad search for my jewel in Bangkok.
After dialing and not getting through…
And walking around looking for this street that doesn’t seem to exist on a map…
We decided to try a taxi.
I showed the postcard to a taxi driver who claimed that he knew where we were going… he took us to this jewelery factory and store where we were escorted from our taxi into a welcoming room with ice cold drinks. I found that it was indeed not the store I was looking for – but we decided to hang around for some free beverages and whatnot. So, we were then very obnoxiously followed through the store and asked at frequent, short, incessant intervals if I wanted to look at something. NO. But thank you anyway.
They spoke with our taxi driver and apparently told him where he needed to go.
So we tried again – and the taxi driver took us to another jewelery store. Another, not-the-right-one jewelery store. The guy said that “We were close – the ride should only be another 60 baht.”
At this point, I gave up.
Taxi #3: Belligerence
To get to “Q Bar” we needed to hop in a taxi. Calvin tried explaining where it was and that we needed a meter (so that we aren’t charged exorbitant amounts for a taxi ride). The guy started getting angry and – not yelling quite like the first driver but still – slightly shouting. We all exited the taxi, Calvin slammed the door, the taxi driver got out, continued yelling (a little louder), Calvin made some gibberish sounds back at the guy and the guy got even angrier.
Oops.
Now that the internet is [hopefully] going at a decent speed, here are some videos that I took en route to and during our time in Bangkok.
Calvin Cocoon-ing himself:
Reclining Buddha 1, 2, and 3: In Bangkok’s oldest temple, Wat Pho, is housed a “Reclining Buddha.”
Look at the detail on the feet!
People will exchange their Thai Baht for these golden coins, enough to drop one in each little tin on their way out of the temple. Calvin saw people just putting in coins and did not see the exchange counter and so started dropping in his Thai Baht. Fail.
Bread-Eating Fish:
Being in Bangkok, Thailand, maybe the only time that I’ll be here, we had to try out some of the nightlife.
Distil, a rooftop bar in Bangkok, this was the best view of all of them:
….in Bangkok, Thailand
Haha–just heard on The Story (on NPR) of a lady who was conned into buying $3000 in sapphires that were essentially worth $15.