Out of the way

I have flown through Bangkok airport many many times. Several times I have spent hours there. So finally, having 12 hours to kill, I decided to go to Bangkok itself - and thus add Thailand to the list of countries I have visited.

I could have picked a better trip. I was feeling sick, and I was extremely tired. By the time I got some urgent work done at the airport and got organised to the point of waiting for a bus outside the airport half of my 12 hours had gone.

I got the next bus downtown, which went to Khaosan road - apparently the least interesting place I could land up, given that I was only going to walk down the street a bit, have a beer and something to eat, and walk back to the bus.

Bangkok is noticeably in South-East Asia. Hot, humid, the city smells of kerosene, there are good things to eat all over the place, the people are shorter and thinner than me (except some of the tourists), and there are things for sale everywhere. People were taking down their stalls, and other people were moving into the space and spreading a sheet to make a new one.

I slept on the bus, all the way in. I was tired all the time I was in the city. I went to some basic tourist bar, I bought some food at a couple of stalls by the side of the road, and that settled my stomach. I walked a little, and I caught a bus again. I slept almost all the way to the airport.

Next time I'd like to stay for longer. Half an evening is no way to get to know a place, but it can be enough to find something that I might like to know.