Driven crazy by Bangkok

Arriving at Suvarbharmi airport this evening, I cruised through passport control and got outside, where a man offered to drive me to my hotel. I asked him how much and when he said a thousand baht, carried on walking to the taxi stand. If it cost 300 to get to the Lebua last time we visited, I didn’t think prices could have gone up that much in a month and a half.

Thais, frightening

I think Thais like frightening people. We saw this in many ways today. First, when we woke up, the headline of the newspaper was about an enormous sinkhole appearing in a road in Bangkok, capable of swallowing cars whole.

Second, when I got to the office (after a taxi driver drove me in a very mellow, yet utterly terrifying manner) everyone delighted in telling me that I should have left for the airport half an hour ago, because of the terrible traffic and the four hour lines to get through passport control.

Third, the hotel spent ten minutes looking for our luggage, or (probably) nine minutes looking like they were looking for our luggage, then one minute to trundle it over.

Fourth - ah, lucky fourth - was our taxi driver to the airport. He almost ran over a motorcycle as we pulled out from the hotel, and the drive to the airport, although uneventful, always seemed to be creeping towards disaster.

Siam Ocean World

Siam Ocean World, in the basement of the Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok, isn't the greatest aquarium I've been to. It's not the worst, or the one with the least fish, but it feels like one of the most expensive, at 900 baht.

Fighting in the pancake trenches

It's strange that it's taken me so long to get back to Bangkok: something like two and a half years to drag myself onto a plane and fly to the City of Angels (and stuff).

Living for the present

After a while in Chiang Mai, you begin to wonder if the people living there have a concept of the future, or are permanently located in the present. If you look at something in a shop and don't buy it immediately, the staff will instantly offer a discount. If you're ambling past a bar, drinking a beer, you'll be ushered in, before you've even finished your drink, because if you walk off, you might never be seen again. And the most persuasive evidence for this psychology is riding in a tuk-tuk, because nobody with any awareness of the remainder of their life would get into one. Less so one driven by anyone in Chiang Mai.

Crashing in Chiang Mai

There's certain things that stick with me from today's riding. The quiet ting-ting of brake discs cooling as we stopped between runs. The skittering boulders bouncing past you as you skidded down a gulley. Warm wind blowing in my face rolling down the road between runs. And the ground shooting up towards me half way through the last run today down the Bamboo Trail.

Riding in Chiang Mai

Today started very hard for me. We probably shouldn't have been up until two in the morning drinking and looking for a massage, and when the cockerel crowed at five it was earlier than I really needed. I dragged myself to breakfast, and then faffed about trying to get my bike ready for today.

Bangkok Airport

Like most of South East Asia, Bangkok's airport is over-air-conditioned, which makes it just like Hong Kong, except it has a Dunkin' Donuts. As you can tell, I'm taking every opportunity to sample the culture of Thailand.