Thursday April 22nd…Day 9.
Woke up this morning, showered and headed over to the Bus Stop for breakfast. It was so nice not to have to dodge the Songkran crew, that I strolled along at a slower pace that usual, just to savor the freedom!
Had a mediocre breakfast. It was okay, and cheap, but nothing to write home about. About 8:30 a.m. I decided to head out on my day of sight seeing. I hailed a passing taxi and headed of to Jim Thompson’s house, about 2 miles down the road. As we arrived, an employee waved the cab into a very nice circular drive, opened my door and Wei’d me. The cab pulls away. I greet the gentleman who provided the service with a smile….We’re closed! he said. I think to myself, why did this idiot wave us in here, open the cab door, wait while I paid for and dismissed the cab, and exchanged greeting before telling me this? I look around. There are no other cabs, Tuks, Motorbike taxi’s nothing. It is a quarter of a mile just to get back to a main street. Sheesh!
I pull out my guide book. Shit! It clearly states there that it does not open till 9 a.m. I walk back up the street to the Blvd, and head down towards Soi 4. I come across a McDonald’s. Not my favorite place to eat even back home, but not much is open, I am starting to sweat in the rising heat and it is air conditioned inside, so I decide to have coffee and an apple turnover.
Again, I was met and Wei’d at the door by some clown:
I waited out the time. About 9 a.m. I headed back toward the Museum. An interesting thing happened along the way. There was a beggar boy on the sidewalk. He asked for nothing only held up his hand. He was filthy, skinny, and had a badly mangled leg. He was perhaps 10 or 12 years old. I though about my children at home, and felt a little lurch in my heart for this poor kid. I don’ generally give money to beggars as there are so many pros about there, but I decided to give this kid a treat. I gave him a purple, and reached out and ruffled his hair.
His eyes lit up like a kid in a candy shop. He half crawled, half limped to his feet, and standing on one leg, he Wei’d me. I Wei’d back, and turned to go on my way. As I turned, about a dozen Thai people down the sidewalk, all bowed and Wei’d me. They were shopkeepers, street cleaners, even a couple of guys doing sidewalk construction. It was strange, but made me feel good. I we’d them back as I passed them on my way. On gentleman stepped up to me and told me that I had a good heart…in English! He walked along with me. Do you know the boy? I asked. No, he replied. But most Falong just ignore the needy with contempt here. It is unusual to see a Falong treat a needy child with such generosity. He Wei’d me again and we parted ways as I turned down the road to the Museum. A most interesting experience.
After a time, I arrived at Jim Thompson’s House. A museum dedicated to the American who came to Thailand near the end of WWII and almost single handedly revitalized the Thai Silk industry. As Thailand had sided with Japan in WWII, the country was suffering greatly during it’s recovery period, and Mr. Thompson was elevated to a position of great social standing here as a result of his efforts. He became a saint like legend in Thailand after his sudden and mysterious disappearance some years later. He left his estate and grounds to the Government to be used as a museum, and they honor that agreement even to this day.
Pics:
There was a nice gift shop there on the grounds. It would of course be high priced, but it had an excellent selection of books not only on Jim Thompson, Thailand and Bangkok in general. It also had a great selection of material on Angkor Wat, which is something I had been searching for and so I bought a stack of books and headed out to see a few Wats. Here are my Book selections, ranging unfortunately from 500 - 2300 bt.
I grabbed a passing metered taxi and instructed him to take me to the Royal Palace. He said there was a UN meeting going on and that he could not get to the Palace today, because of all the barricades. Looking as we went along, I did in fact see a lot of barricades, and police checkpoints, but we were a long ways from the Palace. All this should have raised a red flag at this point, but for some reason, I played the 4th Stooge role and took his advice that I catch a water taxi up the river.
I had read about them in my guide book. It said that they are readily available and that a small private water taxi is pleasant and inexpensive. Also, I had been told by many people that seeing Bangkok from the River was a “must do” experience. Lulled into foolish complacency by these comments and recommendations, we headed off to the pier. Of course, it turned out not to be a water taxi, but a tour boat. 1500 baht. I told the boat operator, that I did not want a tour, just a taxi to the palace. Same price he says. I wave a gesture if dismissal and head back to the taxi area. As I turn to leave, he says, “I like you Falong, so I give you good deal, 1200 bt!“ I laugh, yeh, right! My driver is still there. Hmmm…….oh duh Val, he gets a commission You fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book. It tell the cabby, to take me to the Hard Rock Café’ instead, that I don’t want a tour, just a taxi. He frantically tries to get a “special” price. 800 bt? No, No, No! Take me to the HRC, please. Obviously annoyed at not getting a commission he takes me to the Hard Rock.
Interesting thing to note here though. Apparently some of the tourist services here may be negotiable. I had not though about that before. Hmmm, 800 bt. That’s almost half price. Maybe I will come back and take that tour later, as so many have recommended the river tour. I am an avid collector of HRC shirts and coffee mugs. Almost always get a shot glass for my best friend, and occasionally a ball cap. I am a Millennium VIP which gets me some special discounts and free stuff, and even though they are stupid outrageous prices, it is one of the few foolish hobbies I grant myself. I have been to HRC’s in about 15 countries and have been to a dozen in the US, so I have a pretty nice collection. Here, of course is a pic of the buy:
Headed back to the Hotel for a clean up. Made my daily trip to see Jum at Lólita's. Did FS upstairs again as she was just so tasty I could not help myself.
Back at the crib I showered and took a little nap. Later, met Dave and he took me to a restraunt called Via Vai . It was an Italian place on Soi 6 right across from the entryway to the street Lólita's is on, and just past Corleone’s., another Italian place that is not as good. The food here was excellent as was the service. I highly recommend this place to my fellow mongers. The owner is Milanese, and the manager is from Rome. The options were wide ranging. The Minestrone’ was authentic and excellent as was the pasts. I selected Penne (my favorite) with the house sauce (Via Vai). Dave enjoyed his meal as well. Here are pics of Via Vai and surrounds.
I headed out to Hollywood again. Mano and Bahtman were there. Bahtman had somehow managed to get Dave and some of the girls to grant permission for him to shoot photos of the girls. Bahtman is one smooth character, I tell ya.
Mano and I went down and met Ironmanx02, who managed on of the clubs downstairs. He is a Very big Gentleman having obviously spent many years in the gym. Dave refers to he and IronManx as “Twins” referring to the Schwarzeneger/Devito film. It kinda fits actually
Mano and I then went down to Soi 33. Here we visited Napoleon’s and the Office. Both were very nice, had a decidedly refined air and were a bit more expensive. However, the girls spoke considerable more English and the atmosphere was very nice and relaxing. We ended up hanging and flirting till closing. We grabbed a cab back to our respective cribs. I went out to the Nana Hotel parking lot and grabbed a little gal named Wan (Not the Wan mentioned before and after this post). We went only short time as I planned on starting early the next day and did not want the morning hassle, so we did the deed and I sent her home. Cute, but not a great experience. Just a hot little fuck really. BBBJ, hard ride then BBBJCIM. 800 bt, and I tipped her 100bt more.
Crashed and burned for the night!
so that is a relative perspective I guess!