I was back in Bangkok from Ayutthaya at about 7 p.m. When I arrived at the Mo Chit Bus Station, I took a quick cab to the Mo Chit Station of the skytrain for THB35. Then took the skytrain to the Sala Daeng Station in the Silom area to check out the night shopping areas which included Patpong, a red-light district which had a popular night market.
However, as soon as I exited the skytrain station, I could hear loud shouts from below. Just great, the whole street had teenagers with water cannons and powder paste celebrating Songkran. Hmmm, I would have joined in the fun if I didn't have my camera and celphone with me.
Songkran is the three-day celebration of the Thai New Year which coincides with the new year celebrations in Cambodia (Bonn Chaul Chnam Khmer), Laos (Pii Mai Lao), and Myanmar (Thingyan Water Fesival). The word itself translates from Sanskrit as "beginning of the solar year." During this three-day event, Thais pray at temples and bring food and other offerings to monks. There is also a bathing ceremony where monks will pour a little water on the shoulders of devotees as a symbol of cleansing and blessing to begin the year. Now this is where the water wars evolved from wherein the public "blesses" one another with water as well and thus, over time, the festival has become a lively celebration and a national water fight. Equiped with water pistols, super soakers, balloons or buckets of ice water, locals and tourists alike make sure that no one remains dry during the three-day celebration.
But I made sure I wouldn't get wet yet. Hehe! So I ate dinner instead inside the mall and bought some stuff at the supermarket. Then I took the skytrain to the National Stadium Station which is the nearest to the Khao San area. That is also the station nearest to MBK, a very popular shopping complex to Thai teenagers.
I got down and looked for a cab. First cab asked me for THB200. Asshole! Then I checked with the tuktuks who asked me for THB100. I walked around to look for more taxis and the next one asked for THB300. Crazy! No one wanted to do meter service if you said Khao San Road since they knew you were a tourist. Sick! So I asked around for buses to Khao San and I was told to wait for bus no. 15. After 30 minutes of waiting, I decided to just take the tuktuk and got it for THB80 which I guess was good enough. The taxi from the National Stadium Station of the skytrain and the Hualamphong Station of the subway (these are the nearest to the Khao San area) should be between THB55 to 65.
You could also take a skytrain to the Saphan Taksin Station where there was a Chao Phyraya River Express terminal waiting to take you to Banglamphu, the main tourist area of Bangkok (there seemed to be more foreigners than locals in the area of Khao San Road). However, ferry service ends at 3 p.m.
Anyway, it was the end of the dry road for me since I just remembered that Khao San Road was the epicenter of the new year celebrations. Argggggh! So as I manuevered my way into the sea of wet revellers, ocassionally being hit by water guns, trying to avoid getting dirtied up in the face by powder paste and keeping my camera and celphone dry, I finally got to my hotel.
I changed into my beach shorts, slippers, put my camera in a ziplock back and left my phone and other belongings in the room. I first went to an internet shop to relax a bit but on the way, a street fight was brewing and people started moving away. So I entered the internet shop first.
After an hour, I was expecting to see the party in full swing but to my surpise, there were much fewer people walking around. Broken bottles on the ground was evidence of what had just occurred. I went to the convenience store accross the street to buy some water and asked the cashier why there was no more party. And they confirmed that beer bottles were flying all over the place and the police stopped the party. Hmmmm... good I was in the internet shop while it happened.
Things like these rarely happen since during the three days of Songkran, you have to be a good sport. If your celphone, camera or anything of importance gets wet during these three days from April 13 to 15, you can only smile at the person who wet you and say to yourself how stupid of you to bring it out without protection. Anyway, this is the last night of the three day Songkran Festival so... Sawasdee Pee Mai!
I didn't try to wake up early today since I had been travelling nightly for the past few days and this was my first time in a bed since I left Bangkok Tuesday. In fact, I don't even consider Monday night as sleep since I was rushed to the hospital early in the morning. Hehe! So I was up by about 9:20 a.m. if I'm not mistaken. It was raining! Just great! So I was pondering whether to push through with Ayutthaya.
I ate breakfast at the same place Ton and I ate dinner Monday night. This time, I had green papaya salad (the less spicy version) and phad thai. Hehe! The rain stopped so I decided to go even if it continued raining. Going tomorrow was out of the question since I did not want to be caught in the Sunday madrush back to Bangkok.
So I got dressed and took a cab to the Hualamphong Train Station which was the grand old station of Bangkok. Our main train station in the Philippines was the Tutuban Train Station. But since Filipinos think of building nothing except malls and shopping centers, that grand old station of ours is a shopping mall today. Sigh! Although I'm happy they did adaptive reuse since the old structure is still standing. I hope when the Northrail is completed, they reinclude this old building as the main entrance to the new terminal.
Ayutthaya is about an hour and a half from Bangkok. I arrived at the station in the nick of time since the next train left in ten minutes. I was charged only THB15 for the trip! It was a non-aircon train but it was quite ok since it was a short ride and there were not much people in it. On the way, it started raining again. Sigh! I arrived in Ayutthaya at about 1:30 p.m.
The train station at Ayutthaya reminded me of our own old train stations along the Manila-Dagupan route. I hope the policy makers of the Northrail project realize that these old stations are a better attraction than any new ones they will build. They could easily equip these old structures with modern amenities inside if they wanted to. Check out the ICOMOS Philippines blog for photos of these old train stations today.
In the station, there was a sign board which detailed the tuktuk and taxi fares from the station to any particular site in the city. That is a must in every tourist city so that cheating drivers could easily be detected. At the bottom, there was also an option for a tour at THB200 an hour. Hmmmm... since it was raining, I decided to rent out a taxi for an hour and hope the rains stop a bit.
The Historic City of Ayutthaya and Associated Historic Towns was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991. I was founded in the year 1350, and became the second Siamese capital after Sukhothai, another UNESCO site. The city was destroyed by the Burmese in the 18th century and the structures that remain are characterized by the prang (reliquary towers) and gigantic monasteries, a somber reminder of its past glory.
The nearest important site to the station was the Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol. Entrance fee was THB20. I took quite a while inside since it was difficult to move around due to the rain. So I told the driver to bring we to the Wat Mahathat where I would take a walk to other nearby sites.
It was heavy traffic into town due to the water wars along the street. From the bridge, you could see pick-up trucks seemingly parked along the street as its passengers at the back ensued in water fights with each other. So the driver made a turn to avoid the area. We got to Wat Mahathat a few minutes later where I got off and paid him THB200 for the 1 hour. By this time, the rain stopped a bit. Good! Entrance fee to the site was THB30.
Next to the Wat Mahathat was the Wat Ratcha Burana. Entrance fee was another THB30. Hmmmm, every site had its own ticket. And that helps raise funds to maintain the sites. I wonder why the Philippines does not charge for visiting its UNESCO sites. Hehe! It reminded me of Hue since each royal tomb had a US$3 ticket. Once declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it increases market value as well. Hehe!
As soon as I had exited, the rain started to get stronger again. So I ran to the nearby restaurant to have a late lunch. It was a traditional setting since you sat on a suchion on the floor. And the view of Wat Ratcha Burana was great and relaxing. After the meal, I waited outside for a tuktuk but none passed by.
Walking to the next site was out of the question since it was raining and there were so many pick-ups just going around with new year revellers at the back with drums and pails of water looking for hapless victims to drench even further. As if the rains were not enough! Hehe! It was a very lively atmosphere with passengers at the back banging on drums and pans, shouting, chanting and singing, or dancing to the beat of the loud music being played up front the vehicle. Well, I had a camera and celphone to protect so I really avoided getting wet. Hehe!
By this time, for some reason, my camera lens fogged. And it seemed like it wasn't going to dry up within the next few minutes. Sigh! So I guess that was my signal to go home. I checked mail a bit to kill time and then took a walk to the ferry station that would bring me to the train station. On the way, I happened to pass by the bus station. Just great! Hehe! Since it was raining, I decided to take an aircon bus. It was THB50 back to Bangkok. On the train, that would have been THB40. So that was not bad at all.
It is New Year in this part of the world. That means Laos (Pii Mai Lao), Thailand (Songkran), Cambodia (Bonn Chaul Chhnam Khmer) and Myanmar (Thingyan Water Festival). While in the Philippines, everyone is silently commemorating Good Friday (except in Boracay and Puerto Galera maybe). Oh well! Hehe! I was able to call Loulou at 7 a.m. and she picked me up at the bus station a little later. Since she had to take care of her son today, Kao and Tuy took care of me today.
We (myself, Kao and her husband) joined Tuy's family for lunch at a really nice restaurant outside Vientiane. It was beside a lake with several huts built over the water. More Lao food today! Hehe! While waiting for lunch, we munched on some dry rambutan and camote chips, while I drank some Beer Lao. Lunch was plentiful. The first to arrive were green papaya salad and bamboo soup which was soooooo spicy it took quite a while for the effect to wear out.
Then came in noodles, some fried insects (they seemed to be bigger than the camaru we have in Pampanga), roasted chicken and fish roasted in salt, and of course, the ground lamb meat for good luck. I liked the taste of the roasted chicken. I'll try to find out the herbs they put in it. After lunch, it was a short nap in one of the huts. Hehe!
I think it was about 2:30 p.m.when we made our way back to town. We stopped by a market where I bought a bottle of Beer Lao for my collection and some Bastos cigarettes for pasalubong. Hehe! Then we made our way to the place where my bus to Bangkok would pick me up. This time, I learned my lesson. It may have been more expensive at THB690, but it was a no-worries ride. No need to worry for the next bus since it took you straight to Bangkok, there was dinner included (although it was only fried rice), and the seats were very comfortable and no one sat in the middle.
In fact, we left at 5:45 p.m. and got to the border by about 7:15 p.m. By 7:30 p.m., we were on our way to Bangkok stopping briefly at a riverside restaurant for dinner. In fact, the bus ride was so comfortable, the bus driver had to wake me up when it arrived at Khao San Road in Bangkok. Hehe!
Tired and sleepy, I looked for a nearby hotel. I wanted to sleep comfortably the last few days of my trip since I would be in the hotel more often and I had a lot of stuff to mind. I was able to find a room for THB550 a night. I guess that was ok but there were cheaper options but they were full or I was just too tired to walk around further. Sigh! I was off to bed as soon as I got to the room since I was going to visit another UNESCO World Heritage city, Thailand's former capital Ayutthaya, later in the morning.
Songkran is the three-day celebration of the Thai New Year which coincides with the new year celebrations in Cambodia (Bonn Chaul Chnam Khmer), Laos (Pii Mai Lao), and Myanmar (Thingyan Water Fesival). The word itself translates from Sanskrit as "beginning of the solar year." During this three-day event, Thais pray at temples and bring food and other offerings to monks. There is also a bathing ceremony where monks will pour a little water on the shoulders of devotees as a symbol of cleansing and blessing to begin the year. Now this is where the water wars evolved from wherein the public "blesses" one another with water as well and thus, over time, the festival has become a lively celebration and a national water fight. Equiped with water pistols, super soakers, balloons or buckets of ice water, locals and tourists alike make sure that no one remains dry during the three-day celebration.
Anyway, it was the end of the dry road for me since I just remembered that Khao San Road was the epicenter of the new year celebrations. Argggggh! So as I manuevered my way into the sea of wet revellers, ocassionally being hit by water guns, trying to avoid getting dirtied up in the face by powder paste and keeping my camera and celphone dry, I finally got to my hotel.
After an hour, I was expecting to see the party in full swing but to my surpise, there were much fewer people walking around. Broken bottles on the ground was evidence of what had just occurred. I went to the convenience store accross the street to buy some water and asked the cashier why there was no more party. And they confirmed that beer bottles were flying all over the place and the police stopped the party. Hmmmm... good I was in the internet shop while it happened.
Things like these rarely happen since during the three days of Songkran, you have to be a good sport. If your celphone, camera or anything of importance gets wet during these three days from April 13 to 15, you can only smile at the person who wet you and say to yourself how stupid of you to bring it out without protection. Anyway, this is the last night of the three day Songkran Festival so... Sawasdee Pee Mai!
