The City: The city seemed to be quite developed. Roads and
public toilets were relatively clean and maintained. A few beggars could
be seen near the MRT stations. 7-11 seemed to be the national shop of Thailand
as you can find one or two after every kilometer. The general architectural
style of the city seemed to be that of the temple one – most of the buildings, houses and even bridges have roofs with
ornamented gabled-ends. The entangled mess of overhead electric lines would have baffled Mr. Kirchhoff himself :P
Traffic: One word for it –Horrible! The worst experience was that
of the 1-hour bus journey for a 2 km distance. So taking MRT wouldn't
be a bad idea, for traveling to MRT accessible places during peak hours.
Public transport: MRT and sky train systems are so poorly
integrated, and have poor connectivity to places. They are not cheap
either. Sharing a cab by 3 or 4 would be cheaper and advisable for traveling
during off peak hours. Patience bears a metered taxi. Wait for it. We
never tried the public bus.
Food: Again, one word for it –Awesome! I guess Thai is one of
the few cuisines that suites Western, Indian and South-East-Asian taste buds
alike. Also it has a lot of options for vegetarians as well.
Weather: it's better to always carry a rain guard with you. Weather
is similar to Singapore and Kerala.
Safety: If you take care of yourself and travel in groups and go
around at the right places, it's decently safe.
Thai vocab: Sawadika - hello (for females); Kab koon -
thank you (for females)
My takeaway: The trip was quite nice and educative. It made me realize
that I really really need to travel more. Travelling can really modify your
perspective and make you grow. Being in a group, the members of which I wasn't
really close with, I learnt that different people have different preferences,
concerns and skills. There are foodies, shoppers, explorers, photographers and aimless people.
Timely and good food is important to some. Enough rest for others. Leisurely
pace for the others. I can't chop chop everyone every time. Planning beforehand
saves a lot of time, effort and money. Raincoat makes walking around in rain
more comfortable. Shelling out a few bucks for a local sim-card with data is
not a bad idea. Travel adaptors are a must. Don't
hesitate to speak up your ideas and wants and needs. And don't get disappointed
if they are not heeded to. Helping others always helps you.
Kab Koon! :)
