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Post by htmb on Aug 15, 2023 14:38:20 GMT
This thread continues to be intriguing and I will admit to dipping into google several times to research locations and landmarks. It sounds like one of those trips I’d never take, but I so enjoy hearing about your experiences, Kerouac. I imagine the weather to be hot, humid and energy sapping, but the ever-changing views and experiences must be absolutely fascinating.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 15, 2023 16:28:47 GMT
It sounds like they round up the incompetent self-important jerks for guarding the embassy duty.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 16, 2023 15:03:35 GMT
Before returning to recuperate at the hotel, I confess that I stopped for two beers in a very chic outdoor (but totally shaded) expat bar. Like the old woman who changed my chair, the bartender told me to do so and indicated a seat at the bar with maximum fan exposure. It was indeed better. That means that when these places fill up, the afficianados know exactly where to sit for maximum fan coverage and the later arrivals probably drip with sweat (people like me -- I know that some of you don't have sweat glands). In any case, some of the customers seemed unbothered by the weather in their business clothes (albeit without jackets and ties) as they typed away on their laptops. They all seemed to know each other and had the consideration to act as though I was invisible since I did not fit in.
I spent a lot of the afternoon benefitting from the air conditioning of my hotel, sometimes napping and sometimes watching too much TV5, DW, CNA, France24 and a couple of other English or French language channels. There were too many channels from the satellite in any case because of the proximity of Thailand just across the Mekong and Vietnam not very far away, adding to the Laotian channels. And they know all about shopping channels although I often could not identify the wonderful products being sold.
As the sun set, I went back to walk along the Mekong. The large night market was just setting up, and (hooray!) the expressway was closed and turned over to pedestrians. Families were out in force because frankly there was not much to do in the city besides promenading. I went to the edge of the Mekong. There were night bars and restaurants, but it was too early for them to have customers. I noted that they were not looking for tourists, because all of the signs, banners and menus were exclusively in Laotian script. I'm pretty sure they had an English menu, but they saw no reason to put it in evidence, because this is clearly not where expats and tourists go for fun.
The sparkling lights on the Thailand side of the river called out to me.
I went down to the night market when it was in full swing, and once again there was absolutely nothing for tourists. Most of the stands sold absolute Laotian necessities: decorative shells for mobile phones, plastic house slippers with brand names on them (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy -- I don't think they actually bought the licence), basketball shirts and excessively frilly dresses to torture little girls. Most of the other stuff consisted of household items, shorts for all sexes and ages and simple gadgets. The crowd seemed to love this, as long as they could buy ice cream and drinks from time to time.
I escaped and was happy that my hotel was just a few steps away and that this was a no-effort sight.
The next morning it was time to fly to Bangkok on Lao Airlines.
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Post by htmb on Aug 16, 2023 19:39:24 GMT
No trains to Bangkok?
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Post by mich64 on Aug 16, 2023 21:36:47 GMT
I have been doing the same as htmb, for the same reasons and thoughts.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 17, 2023 0:07:55 GMT
It's always good to read about travelers who have the good sense to just slow down and not push themselves all the time.
And interesting to read about the night market there by the river. You precisely described what I saw beside the lake in Chalapa, Mx, with the same kinds of stuff to eat and to buy and the same kinds of happy townfolk out taking the evening breeze.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 17, 2023 4:03:25 GMT
Some snail's pace trains exist. I considered the idea for about 5 minutes.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 17, 2023 14:04:21 GMT
Chapter 4 - Bangkok
I paid the $7 flat rate for a taxi to the airport in Vientiane. That's less than half the rate for a taxi to the train station, and we were there so quickly that the distance is probably even less than half as far. The last time I used Vientiane airport it looked like an old bus station. Now it is gleaming and ultra modern (built by the Chinese or the Japanese?). It is also not very busy, so formalities were accomplished in just a few moments. Bangkok is probably the busiest route. Wikipedia tells me that Lao Airlines is still the same airline as the very scary Lao Aviation that I used last time. Back then I had bought a ticket from Luang Prabang to Bangkok, and there was a change of plane in Vientiane for the simple reason that Lao Aviation was not allowed to fly to Thailand and we changed to something called PB Air, a Thai company, for the continuation. Now Lao Airlines has four beautiful new A320s and knows how to use them. Service was also good and the snack box for the short flight was fine.
Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok was another proposition. I used the old Don Mueang airport quite a few times and liked it, but it closed in 2006 (then it reopened for domestic low coast flights in 2012 because there was such high demand). Suvarnabhumi is a complete monstrosity, and this was perhaps my 3rd time there. Nothing has improved, but they have certainly invested in new technology for immigration. On arrival, they take the electronic print of the four fingers of your right hand, then they take the electronic print of the four fingers of your left hand, then they take the print of your two thumbs, and then you look in the camera for a photo. Nice.
Since I considered this to be just a technical stop before flying home, I made a reservation at the very basic Khaosan Palace Hotel on Khaosan Road, where I've stayed more than half a dozen times in the past. Khaosan Road has the reputation as a wild backpacker zone although it has become more and more gentrified over the years. My hotel used to have about half air conditioned rooms and half fan rooms. I really liked the fan rooms which were super basic and cost only 300 baht (7.77 euros). Those are long gone and now there are only dark icy rooms with heavy drapes with fancy bathrooms and big flat screen televisions. The rates are around 1250 baht (32.50 euros). There is even a small swimming pool on the roof. One disappearance that I particularly regret is that they used to have a coin-op laundry room which was particularly popular. I was down to one last set of clean clothes to wear on the flight home.
One advantage of having Khaosan Road as a destination is that there has always been a direct shuttle bus from the airport. Of course now there is also the metro and the train to the luxury hotels. Maybe next time. Anyway, I found the bus which runs every 15 minutes for 70 baht. The ride has not changed. It goes through such a nightmarish network of expressways surrounded by hellish high rises interspersed with slummy neighbourhoods that you never want to see Bangkok again. The trip takes about an hour.
Finally I arrived.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 17, 2023 15:54:45 GMT
I arrived at Khaosan in intense heat, but I was happy to know exactly where to go. The street had changed enormously, as it does every time, except for a few rare landmarks, and the Khaosan Palace is one of them. Since my last time, the street has now been repaved to make it all look like a pedestrian area although it isn't during the day. The new white pavement made the heat even more intense.
It was eerily calm, but that was perhaps because of the heat. In the old days, the various shops and merchants were there to wait for customers even when there were no customers. This time a lot of the places were closed in the middle of the afternoon. At the hotel, I announced that I had a reservation. I had just made one on hotels.com and then modified it when I saw it was only for one day when I needed two days. Paid in advance since it was a last minute booking. All confirmed. "Sorry, your reservation was cancelled." I just stared at them blankly. "But we have a room available." I was quickly in the room and in the shower as fast as possible, relief at last. There have been many times and many trips where the refuge of my room has salvaged the day.
I don't know when I next emerged (nap on the bed, TV5 droning the latest news in French, lack of desire to put on clothes again), but I finally made it across the street to the Khao Sarn Center, one of the remaining icons. Beer thank you. Chang is my choice in spite of its legendary reputation in backpacker circles ("it's made with formaldehyde!") due to getting headaches after drinking it. It just has a slightly higher alcoholic content than the other brands, and all of the bars push you to drink more and more. This is apparently difficult for young people to resist, particularly in view of the price compared to their home countries, and they pay the price but don't want to admit the reason. Chang is owned by Carlsberg of Denmark and is sold in Europe, so formaldehyde, really?
I may have drunk two 50cl bottles (another change from the past -- it used to come in 66cl bottles), and that was plenty, especially in view of all of the perspiration depletion. I made a brief walk up and down the street and recognised almost nothing from the past. The vendors and ubiquitous travel agencies that added to the charm are all gone. I remember a used paperback store that used to be there where I had bought some tattered Raymond Chandler books which I never forgot since I had never read any of his stuff in the past. Those were the good memories of Khaosan, but nothing is left. Just about everything has been replaced by cannabis stores (now legal in Thailand, formerly one of the most anti-drug countries in Asia). I'm sure that this creates an amazing new magnet for the gen-z crowd. There used to be a very convenient 7-Eleven store in front of the Khaosan Palace. It has been replaced by a cannabis store, so I couldn't even buy a snack to replace dinner.
I didn't want a real meal, so I just returned to the hotel and went to bed.
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Post by htmb on Aug 17, 2023 16:17:08 GMT
I’m sure you know the "your reservation has been cancelled, but we have a room" trick is something some hotels do to avoid having to pay the third party vendor they’re cut. It happened to me at the hotel I used a couple times in Turin. The first time I was a bit concerned, but after the second time I realized their attitude was just "it’s how we do business," along with a shrug.
I love hearing all the little details of your trip like the costs and conditions of airports, roads, lodgings. Very interesting.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 18, 2023 5:35:34 GMT
I don't know what has happened to Khaosan. The open fronted restaurants used to be open 24/7. One of my major pleasures used to be to wake up at dawn and settle into one of them for breakfast. Often a row of Buddhist monks with their begging bowls would come walking down the street to a nearby temple. I don't know if covid caused this, but everything was still shut tight at 07:00 and even at 08:00. I went to the next street over and found a place open exactly as they should be. I had a bowl of rice soup with chicken and a lime juice and noticed that the only "nice" hotel from the past where I had sometimes considered staying before thinking "why would I want to pay that much when the Khaosan Palace is there?" now bears the name Ibis Styles.
I had nothing on my agenda and could tell it was going to be another scorching day. If it had been cooler and cloudier, I would have made the trek to my favourite temple Wat Pho only about a kilometre away. But I felt that I had sweltered sufficiently on this trip, and it was my very last day, so I had the right to do absolutely nothing. So I just switched to another café and had another lime juice. People watching is as fascinating as ever. All of the little hawkers were not out yet, so that left the exclusivity to the pink tourists wandering around aimlessly. There were lots of families with children, mostly Australian. Oh and then there were the absolutely horrible Israeli tourists sitting at the next table. I had forgotten how absolutely repulsive Israeli tourists could be until I started listening to these two women harrassing the waitress. They have a total Jekyll and Hyde quality. In Europe or America, they are generally totally sweet because they consider us their equals. But in developing countries, they treat everybody like a Palestinian with the added advantage that they don't run the risk of getting shot in retribution. They told the waitress that the ingredients of the salads they were ordering were questionable and they wanted to be sure that they were really vegetarian and that the kitchen would not sneak some animal matter into the mix. They finally released the waitress and went back to redesigning the world in Hebrew. A few minutes later when the waitress passed by, they said "We ordered food. Where is our food?" I wanted to tell them to STFU but they might used some of their torture moves on me from their military training, so I remained silent. Their salads arrived a few minutes later and war was averted although they sighed very audibly about the unacceptable delay.
I went back to my room and decided that it was as good a time as ever to get my baggage in order. If you saw my baggage, you would laugh, but I stuffed the dirtiest elements into a plastic bag and knotted it tightly shut. I kept a few semi-dirty items available in case I didn't get on my flight for some reason and carefully set aside my clean underwear, clean trousers and clean polo shirt for the flight. I tossed numerous receipts into the bin as well as a mini banana from the breakfast buffet in Laos which no longer held any appeal to me. Time for another nap.
Frankly, I didn't leave my room again until later in the day. Time for another tour of the street which had finally come anemically to life. Was it all of the cannabis stores that had sucked the vitality out of the neighbourhood? I don't know, but the ambience pretty much ensured that I will not return to Khaosan Road if I return to Bangkok. To the shock of the waiter, I ordered a Schweppes tonic instead of a beer and hovered over it for about an hour. Back to the hotel.
I was determined to go out one last time after dark. On trips where I had being doing stuff all day, I rarely went out after dark. I would just have dinner and retire for the night. Khaosan would turn into its evil twin with ladyboys strutting in tight dresses, cocktail vans proposing questionable colourful drinks (with formaldehyde?) at unbeatable prices, street wagons for pad thai, grilled insects, skewers for grilled meats... There were hawkers selling rubber masks (Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, George Bush); remember, this was years ago, and the usual sunglasses, lighters, cigarettes, earrings... I didn't need any of that stuff. But tonight I wanted to see it for one final time.
It was a lot calmer than in previous years, but the crowds were out anyway, including a lot to Thais clearly coming to see the Occidental human zoo. Cocktail vans, check. Suspected ladyboys, check. Grilled scorpions on a stick, check. Massage tables out in the street, check. One new piece of merchandise were the knitted wristbands. There were some innocent ones but there were far too many "I Love Ladyboy Cock," "I Love Black Jizz," or maybe "My Cunt Needs Cock." Hey kids, don't leave those lying on your dresser for Mom to see.
I went to bed because I was leaving for the airport at 07:00 and my eyes had been injured by some of the things they witnessed.
Check-out was without any problem. They had determined that my two nights were already fully paid. I jumped in a taxi and paid too much to go to the airport, but I didn't care and I reveled in the comfort. It still took close to an hour, but traffic coming into the city was stalled or at a snail's pace. Since flights from Europe generally come in at around 06:30, they were going to be in these jams, assuming they had successfully provided prints of four fingers plus four fingers plus two thumbs. I went to the automatic check-in machine for Air France and was rejected as I knew I would be but I had the satisfaction of seeing that my booking was on file. The flight was scheduled for 10:40, already delayed to 11:30, typical. An agent entered my details into the system and said with a smile "The flight is full. It is overbooked." I was told to return when check-in closed (I am used to this.). Okay, I returned after a couple of hours, and things were really tense. The guy in charge of the load was having a bad day, talking on his phone, suddenly vaulting over the baggage belts to the other end for mysterious emergencies. Check-in was supposed to be closed but people kept showing up, not many, but still just sauntering up as though they don't have a care in the world. Oh god I hate those people!
The agent did his best to ignore me or at least not make eye contact. He already knew that I didn't have any baggage, so that was one tiny step in the right direction. At one point I was asked the name of my airline and my position. I did not dare say I was retired. I know that this question comes when it is up to the captain to make a decision about accepting a passenger. I've been through it before. The agent finally told me to go to the counters at the far end, where he had been running from time to time. Hope? I don't know how those keyboards survive with such frantic typing. And finally he looked up and asked "Will you take a jump seat?" "Yes!" And I had my temporary boarding pass and about 25 minutes to get to the gate. There were just enough people at immigration to make me not dare to ask to go ahead of everybody. Lost about 10 minutes there, only had to produce four fingers for the machine and one new photo.
Then I was through into the Largest Shopping Mall in the World and no idea how to get to gate D3. Take a deep breath, look at all the signs, go! ABCD this way, FGH that way... The gates were set up like the alphabet. D would be the farthest out. I kept going, going, going, refusing to break into a run. There was a big sign for D with ABC going elsewhere. But where was D? The sign mentioned "10 minutes" to get there, and I had 12 minutes left. After a moment of panic, I understood that you had to make a U-turn and go down a level. Finally I could see the gates, D1, D2 and D3 in the distance. Since there were 8 gates, this implied that I was saving a tiny bit of time by only having to go to D3. There was a woman at the entrance waving a sign that said "Paris." I waved back at her so that she could see me coming. I had to change my boarding pass, but it didn't work on the machine. They issued another pass also refused by the machine (probably because boarding was closed), and then a new man opened the gate and said "come with me!" I ran behind him in the jetway and he took me right to the door of the plane. "I have a jumpseat," I told the flight attendant so that he would know that I was not just some dumb passenger who had been shopping (so many of those, you wouldn't believe!). He glanced at it and said "all the way in the back." There was an announcement "All passengers on board" and I finally made it to the back of the plane. There were still a number of people just putting their stuff in the overhead bins. What's wrong with these people?
I told the FA in the back "I have a jumpseat," and he said "This will be your seat," which was facing backwards across from his own jumpseat. I got rid of my own bag in one of the back bins and finally sat down. Ouf! We introduced each other. He was Patrick. And he immediately started giving me a tour of the equipment. "This is the flashlight. It's taped so you have to rip it loose. These are the smoke masks. Our oxygen masks are up there at the top." There was a big vacuum package. "This is the fire suit. It is super difficult to put on because it is so compacted." I wanted to reassure him that I knew all about the fire suits, we put them on all the time when we feel like running into burning buildings to save a basket of kittens. But I kept my mouth shut. Finally he said, "You'll have to help me if we need to use the emergency slides. They take a few moments to inflate and be ready for use, but the passengers won't want to wait. You have to stand in the doorway and hold them back." Best job ever! There was a whole galley wall of ovens, and he was in charge of them for meal preparation. I was looking forward to watching that, and the thought of smoke masks made sense because they're actually doing something at the back of the plane that could potentially start a fire.
Then a colleague found the very last real seat, a horrible centre one of course, and I was moved there for the flight. End of adventure.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 18, 2023 6:01:26 GMT
I've encountered many Israeli tourists. I agree.
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Post by bjd on Aug 18, 2023 6:29:37 GMT
Kerouac, you don't even need to post photos -- this is a great report as it is.
re Israeli tourists. We shared some very weird accommodation one night in Argentina with 3 Israelis and they were really nice, interesting and friendly. However in general, they have a rather horrible reputation everywhere so ours were certainly an exception.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 19, 2023 5:05:49 GMT
Those were the good memories of Khaosan, but nothing is left. That is such a particular feeling when one returns to a happily remembered place that has changed. It's not the end of the world, but it's not nice. I can remember feeling that in Key West and in Mérida when returning to those places decades later. Your account of the trek to gate D3 gave me high anxiety. Even people who don't pray find themselves gabbling prayers in that situation, because obviously praying to the skyway or the control tower or whatever has to work. I wanted to reassure him that I knew all about the fire suits, we put them on all the time when we feel like running into burning buildings to save a basket of kittens. Made me laugh!
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