Back in Bangkok. While I was away, it seems that someone turned up the heat, bigtime. The sun drenched days of Pai are but a luxurious memory in comparison. The sun is the least of the problems. When the sun isn't shining, the air is still heavy with heat, humidity and pollution. It's more like wading than walking in Bangkok.
Still, it feels great to be back in Bangkok. I got off the night train at 6am, jumped in a cab back to my old hotel (reluctantly, but the $40 place with a pool seemed to exorbitant in the light of day) and couldn't help but smile at how familiar everything seemed. I'd forgotten how much I had enjoyed being here, how much I had loved figuring out the streets, the bus system and placing the major Wats, shopping centers and subway stations on a map in my head. I had learned more about the city in my short stay than I
thought, had gotten comfortable with the air stuffed with diesel fumes, street cooking and the sweet, sappy fragrance of the lotus flowers strung into necklaces and sold on street corners. Come to expect the growl and throb of street traffic, the hot blasts of exhaust from passing buses.
Once I got settled into my room, I went in search of a map, having long ago mailed my Bangkok guidebook home. The best maps, of course, are free and I remembered where I could get one. All I had to do was feel my way to the Tourist Bureau and the key to cheap transportation around the city would be mine.
I remembered something about theTourist Bureau being located on the river so I took a short walk to the water taxi station and waited for the ferry. The river was the same milky gray as I remembered it with the dingy shanty towns hunkered on its banks and the golden suspension wires of the Rama IV bridge strung up to a point like the strings of a harp up above. The sharp whistle announced the boat's approach and I hopped on, hoping that something would jar my memory of the right stop once on the
river.
I went a few stops too far, but managed to feel my way to the Tourist Office after all. With bus map in hand, the city was mine. First stop, airline offices. It took a few hours of hunting down the right offices, but I did straighten out my tickets and sweated more than I knew I was capable of while doing so.
With errands out of the way and the heat at its peak, there was nothing left to do but shop. Bangkok shopping centers are superb not only because of their selection and price, but mostly because of their unparalleled air-conditioning. Had to shop to stay cool, so shop I did. Not too much damage today. Just a pair of sneakers to replace the moldy ones in my hotel room. But there's always tomorrow.
