Feeding the Spirits

I added Chatuchak Market fruit plates to my little spirit house in my Jersey City kitchen.

Burbank Zebra Shrine

My ugly zebra from Chatuchak Market made it to California in one piece!

It's ugly because the details are shoddily made. You can't tell from the photo. I hope to get a proper Thai zebra one of these days.

Also, I added the zebra shrine to Google Maps, so if any of you want to do a zebra pilgrimage, it's now easy to find.

From Bangkok to Taipei

The airport lines were nuts at Bangkok's big airport today. I didn't remember that being the case from my past trips. Maybe it was a freak thing? Or maybe I'd left so many times from the old airport, I just hadn't been in a position to notice.

After passport control, I had just enough time to grab a dollop of Duty Free Shop sampler moisturizer (I'd run out yesterday), buy a soy milk latte and croissant (I'm in the middle of not eating wheat, corn, or dairy for reasons to complicated to explain, but basically I'm fighting off gut bacteria with a month of antimicrobials and orders to not eat what I was about to eat and this was my first bread in four weeks), and only just got on the plane before the doors shut. I quickly purchased the Lonely Planet digital guide to Taipei and downloaded it before takeoff. This was my reading material for the flight.

Travel=glamour, I thought with a touch of irony. Next stop: Taipei. All-out tourism stop for three days. "Why would you want to do that to yourself," Mr. Fixit had asked when I said I planned to get out of bed at four in the morning. I stared at him blankly. Obviously, I wanted to get as much time in Taipei as I could in the next few days.

Leaving Bangkok

Last night, after dinner with Mr. Fixit, I'd caught a taxi back to Banglamphu. I'd had a Thai massage earlier in the day, walked around the Khao San area one last time, and then gone for dinner.

I'd awoken at 11 pm with food poisoning. That was no fun, but by morning, I was ready to go.

At 4:30 a.m., I dragged my bag down to the reception area, where the clerk was waiting for me in her pajamas and flip-flops. She walked me down the alley to meet the taxi she'd booked, and I was off to the airport.

Here is my photo album of this trip to Bangkok.

Next stop: Taipei.

Pilgrimage

I jumped up and pulled the call cord on the ratty old bus from Chatuchak to Banglamphu. I'd just spotted my stop.

The driver looked quizzically at me, probably wondering if I'd made a mistake.

I hadn't. I was here to see the zebra shrine.

I went over in my zebra t-shirt to pay my respects. An old woman was at the shrine—I couldn't tell if she was homeless and slept nearby or if she was the caretaker. Maybe both. She looked at me in my zebra shirt taking photos of the zebra shrine and she howled with laughter. She called two men over, men who wear lazily sitting by a canal.

She pointed at my shirt and laughed and pointed at the zebras. I laughed too. Then she kissed my hand and kissed it again.

I thought this was all quite hilariou, but nevertheless, I was glad when she stopped.

The Hunt for Zebras Continues

I'd been near the Giant Swing yesterday, asking around for places that might sell ceramic zebras. As you may recall, I've been on a hunt for ceramic Thai zebras since 2011, since I first noticed them at spirit houses.

The receptionist at my guesthouse had sent me to the stores by the Giant Swing. All I found there were huge golden Buddhas, but a guy told me I could find my zebras at Bang Bua Thong. I looked this up and found I could get there by a combination of metro and bus or taxi, and I'd do even better if I left from Chatuchak Market after my regular pilgrimage.

I didn't make it. I made it to JJ Market on Saturday morning, sure. I managed to buy an ugly ceramic zebra, but didn't find the source of all things zebra, and I didn't have the energy to go to Bang Bua Thong and start asking random strangers "Have you seen these?" Plus I had to meet Mr. Fixit later in the early evening. Remember my colleague from Kuwait? We used to communicate daily for 7-8 years. It's weird when circumstances change and you suddenly have less interaction with someone. It trickles and then nearly dries up completely.

At Chatuchak, I bought a few tiny pieces to put in my spirit house back in Jersey City, browsed the market, then headed to the bus. I may not be buying the right zebras, but I knew where to find all the other zebras. I'd even added it to Google Maps. 

Canalside

Villa Mungkala is near a canal in residential old Bangkok, a few blocks south of Banglamphu and close to Democracy Monument.

I'm interested in staying in this area again, to see more of it, though I might try different lodging to get an idea of what's out there. I loved being able to easily walk over to all the services of Khao San--Boots, the supermarket, street food, coffee shops, laundry, and best of all, endless inexpensive Thai massages--but being out of the loud fray was fantastic. When I first went to Bangkok in 2000 and stayed at the Viengtai, Rambuttri was so much more off the beaten path. Now it's pretty chaotic, nearly as much so as its neighbor, Khao San, and my 2011 home-away-from-home, Sakul House, is no more. Still, it's hard for me to leave the area for the glossier downtown, since I like the old character of the neighborhood as well as the conveniences.

I followed my Bangkok routine this morning, dropping off laundry, mailing a box from the post office, then heading downtown by canal boat to hunt for the Naturalizer platform sandals I like (they're not available in the US, and I'm pretty hard on shoes so I've been through a lot of them), and then end my day at MBK, the big Thai mall with local character, as opposed to all the high-end malls that could be anywhere in the world.

Exhausting day, but you know I love Bangkok...

Old Bangkok

Morning in a Bangkok neighborhood.

Break in Bangkok

Since I was on a business trip to Tokyo, I burned some frequent flyer miles and added two more stops to my journey.

First stop was Bangkok for a few days. I hadn't been in six years, plus I wanted to catch up with my old pal Mr. Fixit from my Kuwait days. He'd just moved to Bangkok last time I was there, but these days he's back and forth to Jakarta, so I wasn't even sure up until the last minute if he would even been in town for my stopover.

On arrival in Bangkok, I headed to the S1 bus. Many years ago, there used to be an airport bus, but it stopped when the airport train opened. This "new" airport bus started a few years ago. There was nothing particularly new about the bus, and it took forever in comparison to the airport train to a taxi, but it was cheap. I took it to Democracy Monument.

I walked down the road to a path along a small canal, eventually arriving at Villa Mungkala, a colonial villa turned bed-and-breakfast. I'd spent so much time in Bangkok over the years, but I'd only ever stayed at the Viengtai, Sakul House, and for a few nights in 2011, at Feung Nakorn Balcony. I'd probably spent a grand total of three months in Bangkok over my various trips, and only stayed off Rambuttri for a grand total of four nights.

So I was really branching out this time, but I still like old Bangkok and the easy access to tourist infrastructure, so I didn't want to go too far away from the tourist mecca of Khao San Road. I'd found a nice compromise in this little canal district a mere ten minutes walk from KSR. I checked in and dropped off my bag, then followed a winding path up to the main road, and headed over to Tang Hua Seng department store.

No, I wasn't trying to buy stuff, aside from a tiny container of coconut milk to use in my morning coffee at the guest house. I was hunting the AEON ATM. It's got the lowest fee of any ATMs in Bangkok, and the department store one has been there since at least 2011, though back then, it had no fee at all.

Next up was dinner at the little sidewalk cafe owned by Max, the guy who does magic tricks for his customers. The food isn't any better or worse than any other sidewalk cafe, but everyone who works there is nice, the food is cheap, and Max has a good sense of humor. He'd gotten the cafe from his aunty in 2008, long before I ate there nightly in summer of 2011.

KSR just keeps growing and developing, but it's still got the same chaotic but charming flavor. I noted a self-serve laundromat. That's new. Usually, you drop your laundry off.



I was tired from my day of travel, but I was also delighted to be in one of my many "homes." This is the place I know best of anywhere I've stayed outside the US and Barcelona. I'd done all I needed to do tonight...check-in, ATM, dinner. Now it was time for my favorite Bangkok pastime.

An hour-long foot massage for just a few bucks. Excellent.

The World on Paper

I just bought my last-ever copy of the final paper edition of the classic Nancy Chandler map of Bangkok, first published in 1974.

I bought my first one in the year 2000, and wore it out over several years, scouring its tiny details with my much-younger eyes, planning my destinations and routes along canals and alleys. The Skytrain was a mere infant the first time I stumbled over it, a few stops not even on the map when I looked up in central Bangkok and said OH WHAT'S THAT, followed by "If I took the river taxi to Saphin Taksin, I could pick up the Skytrain there," which forever changed how I got around Bangkok.

I had a few more versions, my last one in early 2013 I think, when I stopped by BKK in search of ceramic zebras on my way back from Burma. I also bought a PDF of this map, so in truth, I'll probably never use this paper version as intended.

I think I'll frame it and put it on my wall. I love a good map, and this one makes me nostalgic for a way of traveling almost no one does anymore. Indulge me for just a moment...there was a time when I stopped halfway though MariesWorldTour 2001, set up shop in Berlin for a month, spread out two maps of Africa on the rental apartment's floor, and that's how I planned alongside some Bradt and Lonely Planet guidebooks.

That world is gone now, and I'd never purposefully choose it over having a world of information in my pocket. In this case, tech makes my journeys so much easier. But no tech can increase the level of comfort on a pocked dirt road in a truck filled with chickens and goats. Don't worry, still plenty of adventure to go around.

This Too Shall Pass

The postal zebracide turned out to be a good thing when I built my windowsill shrine. It is now a reminder of impermanence.

Postal Zebracide

Oh no. This is what came in the mail yesterday.

Flying for Free

When you fly for free on a frequent flyer ticket, you pay in non-monetary ways.

You have to take what's available, and that might not necessarily be the least painful route, or even the route that makes any sense at all.

Plus, YOU are far more interested in getting the free ticket than anyone is in figuring out how to facilitate your itinerary. Only a few seats are available per flight to free flyers. Some guy in the call center doesn't want to hang out all day looking at weird options you cooked up before you fell asleep last night after learning the normal routes were all unavailable.

My Burma trip was almost impossible to book. I was traveling too close to the holidays, when everything is full. But because of my teaching schedule at SVA, I had to go at the same time as everyone else. This meant all flights were full and nothing was open to me as a free flyer. I worked out a nutty solution where there were still seats, but when I called the call center, I had to try a few times before I finally found someone with the patience and willingness to understand the route I'd pieced together.

My outbound flight was a little weird, but not too painful. I flew the slightly longer way around the world, via Paris to Bangkok to Burma. That was fine, or at least, no worse than anyone else's full transatlantic flight followed by more flying. I had a nice coffee in Paris while waiting. I dumped my winter sweater, had a great muffin and coffee in Bangkok, and headed on to Burma.

Boarding

New shoes!

I headed out of Bangkok on the afternoon of January 6. I had some spare time in the morning, so I bought some new shoes to replace the ones I'd left in the taxi, and I got another foot massage.

I was determined to get to the airport train by bus, just to see what the minimum cost would be. I did it, but on a Sunday, the buses just didn't run often enough. The wait was long. I wouldn't suggest this as an option unless you were really broke. The better choices are the tourist shuttle or a metered taxi to Phayathai with a switch there to the airport train.

Bus #59 runs from Ratchadamnoen Klang to Phayathai (13 baht). I was standing in the aisle, and my height was oddly a problem. I'm not all that tall, but I'm not all that short either, so I couldn't see out of the window to know where the bus was. I had to keep ducking down so as to not miss my stop.

(You can also take bus #556 to Makkasan, but I'm not sure where you'd catch it, so you'd have to ask at Tourist Information. The other option is to take the canal boat to Pratunam and catch the airport train there, but you'll want to be not carrying a lot of luggage for any of these options as you have lug you bag onto the bus or boat. The canal is the best option when coming from the airport during rush hour. A metered taxi is the best option from the airport on a Sunday or at night.) 

I switched to the airport train at Phayathai, and paid 45 baht for the local train to the airport. The express is 90 baht.

Zebra Quest 2013

I'd really overdone it my few days in Bangkok, so all I wanted to do was sit in the coffee shop all day, but I still had a few missions to accomplish.

So on Saturday morning, after my customary fruit and muesli slathered in yogurt, I headed up to cross the canal and wait at a bus stop. I wanted to go to Chatuchak Market to get some zebra T-shirts. 

I'd tried to do this on my last trip to Bangkok, but that had been during the floods, so the T-shirt stall had been shut. 

Plus, I wanted a ceramic zebra. I got smart this time though. I downloaded a photo of one so I could ask for help even without being able to speak Thai. 

The bus took me and about 20 other tourists to the market, but I jumped off early so that I didn't have to walk all the way back to the T-shirt stall, which is right above the Kamphaengphet metro. 

The T-shirt stall was open! I bought three zebra T-shirts, and then stumbled over a nice skirt place and a handbag place. 

I stopped for an iced coffee and then headed over to the part of the market where you can buy little ceramic animals. I mean really little, the size of your thumb, not the knee-high size I was looking for.

Reflexology and Dumplings

"What do you mean I can't post home my wooden monks from Burma?"

"No Buddha images," said the man at the post office.

"They're monks, not Buddha," I explained.

He shook his head and packed up all my other souvenirs. Fine, I thought, I'll just take them out in my luggage. I paid for my shipping and dropped my little monks off at my hotel. I'd known that could be a problem, but I'd been hoping to get away with it. The good news is that he'd been distracted by my monks and missed my Buddha paintings. So they were safely packed up and sent.

I headed downtown by canal boat and went up to Tan Telecom on the 4th floor of MBK. I had an old iPhone that didn't work, and Tan had fixed me up before for 1,000 baht.

Unfortunately, my iPhone chose that moment to work perfectly.

"What? It can't be working!" The guy stared at me a little mystified.

"But it does."

Hmmph.

Home to Bangkok

AirAsia left me at Bangkok's old airport. I hadn't been here in years, and was a little startled.

"How do we get to the train station?" A British couple asked me.

"Easy, there's a train stop, and the train goes directly to Hualamphong."

"Say that again so we can ask for the right destination?"

They were sorted. But me? I took a look at the long taxi line and went to the information desk.

"Is there a bus to Khao San Road?" In the old days, there'd been a direct airport bus. There'd been one from the new airport originally too, but when the commuter rail to downtown had been launched, that had been canceled. Which helped a bit, but it was actually tough to hail a taxi at the end of the line at Phaya Thai. I'd sorted out various approaches over the years but the best way to get from the new Bangkok airport to your destination if it's not on the rail line is to fly in on a Sunday morning when there's no traffic, and just get a taxi.