Public Transportation

I am covered in grime and probably have black lung, but I have mastered Bangkok transportation. Today is a Thai Holiday, Chakri Day (the anniversary of the founding of the Chakri Dynasty, of which the present ruling monarch King Bhumipol is the ninth king)so we had the day off from work. Since I (will) have been here for a month (on Fridy) and the next group of volunteers is due in a week or so, I decided that it was time I figured out my way around without taking a taxi everywhere and use public transporation like the rest of the locals.

We took the local bus to Khao San Road to get tickets for our trip to Ko Phangan (http://www.thailand.com/travel/beach/beach_surat_phangan.htm). Halfway through the ride, as my face was accosted by layers of thick, smelly air, the phrase "there are some advantages to travelling by taxi" began circling through my head. But it was only 5 bhat, whereas a taxi would have been 53 bhat. Quite a bargain.

Next it was off to the River Taxi. I had planned to take the taxi to Ta Satorn, where you would catch the sky train, but since there isn't anything to see at that stop - and I figured that once I had figured out how the system worked, I could get to Ta Satorn when I needed to go there - I decided to head to Chinatown.

The Chao Praya River Taxi's run three different boats, local, express and something else (long express?). Express flies a blue flag and only stops at certain piers; local flies a Thai flag and stops at all of the local route piers. The system seems to work something like this: because it is scorching under the sun on the river, everyone waits under the awnings at the pier until a local boat is spotted and then everyone herds down to the floating portion of the pier until the boat docks. Then, the mass of people who migrated to the back of the boat to disembark crowd off and you follow the crowd on to the boat and are corralled up to the front. Then when your stop is next, you squeeze your way back to the back and repeat the steps in the opposite direction. It is actually a lot of fun and much cooler than on the streets. If you are lucky enough to get a seat, you can relax and take in the houses and shops along the river.

In Chinatown, I wandered around the shopping area, through alleys about six feet across, filled with bodies packed together trying to move in both directions, but not getting very far. Along with the people trying to get through the alleys there were motorcycles, people with huge carts of wares and as the alley got a little wider, tuk-tuks and cars! The one car I saw trying to get through was literally knocking things off shelves with its side view mirrors.

I made my way to the Golden Buddha, the world's largest solid gold Buddha (the one that had been covered in cement to protect it from invaders, but broke when they were moving it and revealed that it was made of solid gold). It was interesting to see, since I'd heard the story so many times, but I was actually disappointed not to see the solid gold fat smiling "Buddha" I had pictured for so long (I have yet to get used to this thin, feminine looking Buddha image, even though you'd think I would with Buddha shops every other block!) I got a very touristy picture of myself and the Buddha image and decided to head home.

After getting the river taxi back, I hoped on a local sangtheaw and headed home very pleased at having figured out Bangkok's public transportation and releasing myself from the mercy of the taxi drivers.