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12:00 midnight. Off the airplane, safely through the baggage claim, customs and immigration, we had but an Internet map to show us where to go next. On the map "Koh Sahn Road" was littered with hotels. We decided to trust the Internet and made it our destination. One step into the airport lobby and we were aprung upon by at least 15 taxi drivers and bombarded with broken English, "Where you going?" I was glad that we knew. So we choose one and took the 30 minute taxi ride to the Old Town of Bangkok, Koh Sahn Road. The Internet map had shown hotels which were unmistakably there, but it failed to show. . . . .
let's just say that stepping out of the taxi was an offense to all of my senses. The level of noise, I think was the most impressionable. Immediately both Dan and I turned to each other and said, "We can't stay here." Music from the bars which lined the street blared obnoxiously. People, all with tanned white faces (white as in Westerners), dreds in bleached dirty blonde hair, and tye-dyed grunge, shouted from bar to bar, drinking and dancing. Some looked at us when we stepped out of the cab. Their eyes were strange-glazed and unknowing. It was then too that I noticed the sweet smell stuck in my nose. You could almost taste it in the humidity - everything was sticky and sweet.
We didn't spend long on Koh Sahn Road. We found some decent looking foreigners, who were decent and led us to a decent hotel about 5 minutes away. Our room was cramped and dirty and the bed had no sheets, but we had air conditioning and exhaustion so we slept well the first night.
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Day 1: We woke up to a beautiful day - no clouds - just sun. We started early - 7:30 and already it was 85 degrees and humid. April we found out on Day 1 is the hottest month in Thailand. A partad of Thais from various hil tribes of northern Thailand were marching into a large park which was set-up for a large festival. Each group wore its unique traditional tribal costumes and carried symbols. Some had flags, some carried their tribal chiefs, some carried instruments and played traditional Thai music. Some brought flower petals to throw into the air. One tribe carried silver pots of water. One woman from this tribe approached me , pointed to her pot of water, said in perfect English, "Lucky water," and dumped it over me. The day was hot so it felt good. |
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