Planes, Trains & Tuk-Tuks (#8 in series)

Slumber on the Orient Express.

(The above caption is with apologies to Agatha Christie, author of the classic Murder On The Orient Express.  Sometimes I can't help myself when it comes to echoing famous titles.)

The picture itself was taken on the train to Bangkok and it certainly wasn't an express, stopping eight or nine times in four hours.  Nevertheless it was as pleasant a trip as I've ever had and got me to thinking about the different modes of transportation, how they can make for interesting travel experiences unto themselves.

For example, on this particular day, after that train ride came a hike through the Pin Klao district of Bangkok, abustle with people and vehicles, to a passenger pier on the Chao Phraya river.  There I hopped one of the nautical "buses" knifing up- and downstream.

A river bus coming in.  Note debris in foreground.

These're are among my all-time favorites -- they're practical in that they take you north-south in Bangkok and miss the awful traffic and smog; they're scenic in that they take you past various wats or temples and other sights; and they're a good old-fashioned boat ride to boot.  You can sit back and relax as you cruise the river.

As an old Coastie (Coast Guardsman) I am in admiration of the coxswains or drivers; the way that they ease these craft up to the piers, engines revving, crewman signaling with shrill whistles, despite strong currents and debris.

All this for 15 Baht or about 40 cents U.S.  What a deal.

Inside a tuk-tuk.

Next came a ride on one of the three-wheeled taxis or tuk-tuks, as they're called.  These are not as economical as the river buses, and you have to watch the drivers as they're apt to overcharge (as I know first-hand).

However, they are convenient.  Spur-of-the-moment specials, I call them.  Just hop in and VROOOOOM! off you go, your head jerking back from the acceleration.  They don't just take you places; they're a tradition, a fun ride, for a lot of us.

At any rate, those were my connections on that day, a typical travel day in that part of the world.  In a sense, it was a tour or adventure even through one of the center-piece cities of the New Asia.

A boat roaring a canal downtown.

 

Doorman at the Oriental Hotel.

  

One of the red light districts.

This was followed by a few days of seeing the sights; both reacquainting myself with some old favorites and seeking out some new ones.  

In general, Bangkok these days is a city on the move, bursting out with energy and excitement.  It has some squalor, to be sure, but young people and vitality are everywhere.  It's become one of the crossroads of the world.  Sometimes I enjoy just walking about, taking it in.

Finally I bought a few boxes of Thai tea, got one last haircut, took in one last foot massage and pedicure (yes, I said pedicure) before -- dare I say it? -- the express van to Suvarnabhimi International Airport and the inevitable. 

My barber...who gave me a nice cut for $2 U.S.

I almost choke up as I write this, but all things must come to an end.  My grand journey this time finished up with Air China flight #980.  (Again, an interesting transport unto itself, with the stewardesses in red berets and scarfs, and roast duck served at 35,000 feet.) 

Thus my fourth trip to S.E. Asia concluded.  This was perhaps the most rigorous and taxing, but one of the most interesting as well.  It's taken me weeks and weeks to process it all, if I even have yet, a month-plus after returning.  This is one reason that I do this blog afterward, rather than while I'm traveling, as it allows me some perspective.

Suffice to say for now, it's been one helluva ride.   

[END OF SERIES]

Veteran's Day In Thailand (#7 in series)

The Bridge on the River Kwai.

This past 11th of November, Veteran's Day, found me in the town of Kanchanaburi in western Thailand.  It's the site of one of the most famous railway crossings in the world -- the Bridge on the River Kwai, of historic and cinematic renown.  (The movie of the same name won a slew of Oscars in 1957.)

I was in the rest-up-before-I-go-back-home stage of the trip.  After banging through Lao, Cambodia and a good part of Thailand for six weeks, I was pretty well burned-out.  Thus my sojourn there for a week, in one of the most tranquil and restful spots I've ever been.

And economical...unbelievably so by U.S. standards.  I was paying 70 Baht or $2.25 U.S. for a room (of so-so quality, I admit) at the Jolly Frog Guesthouse along the river...

Your correspondent...giving the seal of approval.

My digs...Note the all important fan at left.

A great cast of characters was staying there as well.  Most of them taking a break from traveling like I was.  Camaraderie and good spirit prevailed.  When such people get talking, from all over the world. there's nothing quite like it.

And the eats weren't bad either.  A typical noodle soup or pork rice dish cost 30 Baht (95 cents U.S.).  Cashew chicken or mango with sticky rice go for a little more, but so worth it.  Massages are $5 or $6 U.S. and last for an hour-plus, and so on.

It gets hot at mid-day and the mosquitoes will eat you alive at dusk, but in general it's a great place to lay over.

The mango lady.

Her specialty -- mango with sticky rice (in warm coconut milk).

Regarding Veteran's Day, I happened upon a ceremony in the war cemetery here, containing the remains of about 7,500 veterans of World War II.  Three such cemeteries are scattered about the area -- British, Australian, and Dutch graves mainly, with a few hundred Americans thrown in.

It was all very stiff-upper-lip:  The Union Jack and other banners were unfurled and paraded about; white tropical uniforms sporting rows of medals; a bugler playing taps so hauntingly that it made my eyes water.

Veteran's Day in Thailand...it caught me unawares as I thought that it was only observed in the United States.  But here it's marked by the various nations that fought the Japanese in S.E. Asia -- The Allies, they called them.

A Thai teacher explaining how all these men died.

A veteran pays his respects.

Much moved, afterward I plucked up a flower and proceeded over to the famous bridge itself.

Used as slave laborers by the Japanese in WW II, about 16,000 Allied POWs perished making the Thai-Burma Railway, the "Death Railway" as it was called, of which this span was a part.  An estimated 80,000 Asian laborers died on the same project.  The cruelty and suffering were unbelievable, not to mention the cost in human life. 

On behalf of them and those honored dead everywhere, I loosed the flower down from the railing and paused in remembrance.  Whether back in the U.S.A. or here in S.E. Asia, may we never forget.

Sunset on the Kwai.

It was my second visit to this area.  (My first was five years ago.)   I've come to enjoy staying along the river -- so still and placid that it seems like a lake, but in reality is slowly moving.  After a while my mind almost comes to mirror it.  Soon enough, however, it was time to move on. 

I had about five days left and decided to head to Bangkok -- a big bustling city, dirty and tinged with decadence, but interesting in its own way.  In honor of the POWs who built the rail line, still in use today, this time I would go by train.

All things considered, it just seemed fitting.

[PART EIGHT TO FOLLOW NEXT WEEKEND]