The Backpacker

This is how I felt...this is how I still feel...The River, the bridge...a love that I could feel...A memory of him as I watch the dark waters flow by...

This moment will in memory live
As the moment I lived for,
For eight hundred days…
I peek into the river
Under the bridge that flows
I am aware, as I watch
The banks come close…
It was my love
That shaped earth into stones
The arch carved from faith
And columns molded of hope
On that bridge I stand
Over the river that flows…
Its beams are promises
Made and promises kept,
Styled after my dreams
After night long gone…
When heavy in heart I feel,
I will run down my memory
To return to the moment
To peek into the river
Under my bridge that flows…

BangLumphu:

We returned to Bangkok when the evening had set in. I had saved myself the trouble of findind transport to Ayuthaya and back, made a friend in the process. Now Pari was worried about my hotel accomodation, but I wasnt. I mean, I was willing to spend the night at the railway station if required, it didnt really matter to me. However she dropped me off at some point, i dont remember which, but from where I paid 8baht for a bus ride to Bang Lumphu. Ah, it was heaven! This is what is also known in the backpackers circles as the "mecca" of backpackers.
After seeking out a backpacking couple who pointed out the right way to the Mecca, I found the Star Dome, with free internet facility...for 350 THB. Fair deal, I thought and by then I was sort of tired...I would be, hadnt slept a wink for two nights straight!

A quick shower (works miracles for a tired body) and was soon out to explore the night in the streets of Bang Lumphu, look for something not found else where.

It is true what is said of the BP community. They are like the 'fly-by-night' shops, come up for a short time, make friends with their immideate environs and move on...exchange few words with other BPs, share a drink in of the many roadside bars, share the stories fo the trails and move on. They dont make friends, they dont attach emotions...they come and they go...some come back again.

I did the same. Walked the streets that come alive in the nights...No. Its not the same as Silom and its famous or rather infamous Patpong. This place is a world in itself. It caters solely to the BP's. There are money exchanges, hotels, internet cafes, massage parlous and food joints in a straight row...all for the visitors. You will hardly find "family" types here. Perhaps they stick to the better places and thus miss the pulse that essentially makes Bangkok a place BP's love to come back to. I loved the anonymity...and to my surprise I found that I was the only single Indian woman backapcker around...people I struck conversations with readily told me it was a change to see Indian women traveling alone! Either I didnt see any of my kind or they didnt, but whatever it was, I enjoyed the freedom adn the security in the unfamiliar streets....

Thai food is appealing, no doubt, when treated as a luxury. Perhaps a more affluent visitor opting for the stay-breakfast option at regular hotels would be happy to eat three common Thai meals during their stay in Thailand. But when you have decided, like I did, to eat only Thai food during my entire stay, (and i had only had three such meals), the smell of fried food coming from the stalls and hittign your nose quite strongly, can shaken the strongest resolve. However, not the one to give up easily, I sat down to a meal by the roadside...well, can harldy find a regular hotel where you order meals, for one, the night shops flood the streets and its hard to look behind the rows of clothes and the thick fumes of frying meat!

A Thai meal that cost me 20THB was one of the spiciest I had eaten. By comparison, the break fast at airport and lunch with Pari was mere nothing...

Served with rice was a curry of fish...no, I have no idea what the fish was, a as extra helping, another kind of fish was added and something else. Everything was spicy...but there is something that serves as a balm. The water. I dont know why, Thai's drink water through a narrow straw...I gulped of course, I couldnt sip milli liters of ice cold water when my tongue and throat was on fire, could i? There was a peculair taste to the fish...later I learnt it was courtesy the Holy Basil..Tulasi!

The night at Star Dome was more or less like a stop...sleep hardly came...bands kept playing through the night...it was a cheerful place, savouring every minute of their short life, making merry...I cursed, however...I needed rest.

I think I managed four hours before I woke up and realised I needed to hurry to the train station on the other side of the river.

I managed. When I left the key at the counter, the sky was just getting light. The early morning streets had the same cheer in them, although a bit empty, but there was determination to return to its happy self in a few hours!

I made it on time. I was back at Tha Phra Chand...and going someplace at last :-)

Ayuthaya

Thailand's ancient capital city, now more or less like a remnant of its glorious past. When I drove into the city with Pari, it felt like I was going back in time...ignoring the modern building, the fast developments. A look at the countryside was a better way to see into its past...that and the temples rising out of cane fields and distant cluster of trees. Anyone having visited Ayuthaya may have felt this sense of glory. There were temples everywhere (Temples or Wats), each more grand and more beautiful than the other and taking pictures did not seem like a good idea. For one, it was distracting, second, I wanted to drink in all the beauty with naked eyes. Pari had a lot of information to offer.

We went around the crumbling city to the site of the Sleeping Budha, The Budha head in the tree and few other wats around...I think I have them all on video...so much easier than writing down the confusing names...come to think of it, I photographed most of the names too....and have postcards to look up names...just in case.

Elephants are fairly common here...probably comes from the jungles further north. Elephant rides are hot favourite among the tourists especially from the Eurpoean countries but for someone such as I coming from the Southern part of India bordering the Bandipur National Forest, elephants are but a common sight...and any such idea of riding one is ridiculed by everyone around....Actully when I saw people jump in glee to ride the beast, I felt that way too...however it did not stop me from riding one in Kanchanaburi two days later...but I will get to that.

I dont suppose I would have taken in Ayuthaya as a part of my travel plan had it not been for her. And thank God for the 7/11 convenience stores, I had my supply of coffee which, but which, I must add, was nearly 80% less than my usual consumption. I cant say I didnt like the ruins of the ancient temples, its was sort of different and Pari was a well informed guide too...I particularly liked the Budha head in a tree and the hundreds of headless statues seated around the execution table! Otherwise, the countryside is in itself a treat. Then there are the souvenier stores. Well, Thailand is a fairly artistic sort of country, and you can find some finely crafted peices to buy...some are of course a little hard to stomach, like the huge black penis, but otherwise you can find some decent stuff (The Budha, of course) to take home to your folks!

Day 1: A simple matter of getting on to the flight, sitting still waiting for the smiling Thai air hostess to serve food and drinks, nap a bit, and finally hours after the flight has taken off from Dubai, land in another part of the world, some three hours ahead of my normal time. A place totally alien to me. Thailand, the Land of Smiles.

It was all simple, really. I mean, goin away is really simple. I went away to Thailand without a clue. I mean, I knew things about Thailand, as would every reader of google. But actually being there, alone, is another thing altogether.

I wasnt prepared for anything,. at the same time, prepared for everything. I cant explain that. When I got off the plane at Bangkok,(Suwarnabhumi pronounced Su-wana-poon) a singularly inspiring piece of engineering, I was faced with many different feelings. Euphoria, above everything. But all that had to wait till I actually got out of the airport. I needed my visa, needed a shower and change...rememebr I was going to backpack, had no time to waste, had to pack in as much as I could in five days and I wasnt going to check into a hotel to relax and change in leisure. A backpacker does not fancy hotels anyway, for them hotels are merely places to sleep the night if a railway station or a bus station is not in vicinity!! Oh alright, let me not get away from tracks.

A quick change at the airport, quicker steps to the visa counter, a thousand smiles, a thousand baht, one pic, and lo, my visa was stamped. I was officially in Thailand now. The airport itself is a mini-Budhist town and even before tourists in large groups exited the gates, their camera clicked and clicked, not missing anything. I had no time to lose.

First I need to eat. Well, I didnt know when my next meal would come from and what would be in store for me, so I decided to have breakfast at the airport. Google had suggested Magic Food Court as the cheapest option at the airport but a walk around the food courts threw up many surprises. There were far cheaper options, but I wasnt to know the comparison till I had eaten at the Magic Food Court. By the time I did, I was so full. The first ever meal in Thailand consited of rice noodles (the flat broad ones), with sweet and spicy sauce, tofu, pork, csprouts, herbs i had never seen or heard of (or tasted before). I never got the name of the dish but I cant say I particularly loved it...despite having made up my mind to enjoy the last grin of Thai rice in every meal.

Outside of the Magic Court is the exit. This is where you can get a bus to the City. Airport Express operates from ehre at regular intervals. The buses are named..AE 1, AE 2, AE3. My mind was fixed on getting out of the city as fast as I could and I knew (google) that a train left Thonburi station at 1.50 pm for Kanchanaburi, which is where I had wanted to go. However it was early. It was just about 8 am and I had plenty of time. I bought a ticket: 150 baht. Standar fare. There were options, of course, but taxis are very expensive and i saw no point in spending extra to go the same place I could go to in less.

The bus saw me off at Sanam Luang, its last stop, in close proximity to the TAT office, to the ferry that would take me across to Thonburi.

The ride from the airport was smooth, my first connection with the land. So totally different from my own familiar territory. The bus appeared to have been commisoned soley for the purpose of shuttling backpacker such as I. There wasnt any group of people, no tourists, no family-style visitors...just few backpackers, scattered over the bus, each with a map or a Lonely Planet guide book, looking as content as possible for the 75 minutes ride into the city. I enjoyed the feeling of not knowing where i was going, more than the Thai songs that played loudly, more than the Thainglish the driver spoke, eager to convey to me the suprises of his country. One curious backpacker with several tatoos (hence backpackers will be referred as BP. Baht as THB), asualted me with a barrage of questions, wanting to know why as a single Indian woman, I was on my own. Indians were many, holidaying of making money, but he had, he told me honestly, not come across a single Indian woman BP in Thailand....and he had been two months on the trails already. He came once in two years.

Well, hurrah to the new breed of Indian BP's. Keep pattaya off your itenarary, he told me with a serious face. If you like the treks, you are in the 'league of BPs that would not like the seedy beach." I took his word for it.

He left before I could say goodbye at Sanam Luang.

Sanam Luang is a quiet, cool and shady area and shows the city in good light. An eager tuk-tuk wallah fell on me with much force.

I smiled. He smiled even wider. Thonburi, I told him, gesturing at the tuk-tuk and asking him how much it would cost.

He had ideas...and he spoke a bit of English. He suggested going to the TAT office nearby, get myself an itenarary or probably even a ticket, and the correct information. He kindly hailed another tuk-tuk and spoke rapidly in Thai. In the end, it was agreed that I would pay the tuk-tuk wallah 10THB for a ride to the TAT office and if I didnt like their plans, I would be shown three sights nearby (all Budha of course) for an additional 10THB.

I suppose it was a good deal and tuk-tuks were the best way to see the city. They make a noise that can beat their Indian counterparts hands down, but it was more exciting to ride on a open tuk-tuk. The young driver put in all his energy, drove rapidly through the clean roads to the office, stopping enroute at 7/11 (the convenience stores all over Thailand) for coffee (bought him one too. The cost of coffee at 7/11 is 10 THB), and shot off to the office.

I drew a blank there. I didnt want their itenarary, didnt want to be stuck with their brood of boring family tourists. Refusing to visit the Sleeping Budha, i asked him to drive me to Tha Phra Chand where I could catch a ferry to Thonburi on the other side of the river. It was the most sensible thing to do anyway.

Tha Phra Chand is in close proximity to the Grand Palace, the university, the Supreme Court and the office of the attorney general, but has its own presence as the point of ferry-boarding. It is busy.

While looking for a washroom, I met Mrs Supawadee Maspong. I sought her out of the hundred of other people milling about, because she looked like she knew English. I had to make myself understood that I needed a loo.

Yes, She knew English. She was nice and friendly, in a deep maroon skirt and blouse, Thai style with a single strand of pearl necklace. She knew where to find a loo. We walked backwards, towards the pier and we got talking.

She was heading to Ayuthya, the former capital of Thailand, a temple town, and asked if i would like to come along. I hated to miss the train to kanchanaburi and ayuthya did not feature on my plans but heck, why not? I didnt have a destination, and here was a free ride (and back too maybe). I could always take the early morning train.

So to Ayutya I went with her. Mrs Supawadee Maspong (I called her Pari) happened to be the Chief Provincial Public Prosecutor of Ayuthya Province!

Meandering through the heavy traffic, we reached Ayuthya through the expressway after paying tolls at four different booths (total about 90THB). Thats how I reached Ayuthya.