Bangkok (part two)

When we arrived in Bangkok we discovered that our hotel was fancier than we budget travelers are used to. After a rushed visit to Chiang Mai to visit the elephants (following a long sleepless flight from Switzerland) the girls and I were initially content to catch up on sleep and spend the hottest part of the day swimming in the pool, ordering pool-side Thai food and eating 1 scoop (free daily) of ice cream.

Even the fanciest of places can get dull after a couple of days so on our third morning in Bangkok, the girls and I decided to check out a fair trade gift shop in what seemed to be an interesting part of town. We hailed a taxi but the driver looked at the address and said, “No way! Too many one way streets!” And sped off. The second taxi driver didn’t recognize the address, so I pulled out my trusty google map app and showed him the best route. He didn’t speak a lick of English, but acted like he understood where we wanted to go and motioned for us to hop in.Traffic in Bangkok is insane. When the traffic signals turn red, all the motorbikes and tuk tuks weave their way to the front of bigger vehicles. When the light turns green, the bikes all take off at top speed and it’s incredible to watch, that is when I didn’t have my eyes fixed on my google map, making sure we were heading in the right direction. I was watching as our blue dot got closer to our destination, but then, just as the first driver had predicted, the one-way streets made it impossible for our driver to get where we wanted to go. As the distance from the fair trade shop grew longer I said, “We can just walk from here.” But he didn’t understand. I signaled with my hand to stop in his rear view mirror and then walked my fingers across my palm indicating that we’d just walk the (now 5) blocks to the shop. He shook his head no and kept going, but the only option was to continue driving further away as other roads were closed. He finally stopped and motioned for us to get out. Now 7 blocks away, we were tossed out in a neighborhood that doesn’t see a lot of tourists, especially not blonde, curly haired, blue-eyed, seven year old tourists. People began swarming Georgia on our walk. They touched her hair, they kissed her head, they held her hand, they gave her hugs. And all the while she just smiled and smiled.This has probably been the most shocking aspect of our international travel. I thought Georgia would despise all the overbearing attention. Brent and I joked for months that she’d be scowling her way across Asia since we’d heard from friends that she’d be a rare sight and likely get a lot of attention. After Georgia got a kiss on the head from an old man, Eliza asked, “How come people are so obsessed with Georgia?” Before I could answer Georgia jokingly said, “Because! I’m the cutest!” Eliza groaned and laughed, she is such a good sport. She adores her sister as much as anyone and is glad she makes people so happy just to see her.Eliza’s so compassionate and understanding, its hard to believe she’s only 10!

After our slow 7 block walk with “the golden girl,” we made it to the shop. It was full of incredible Thai crafts that we all enjoyed seeing. We bought a few things and went outside to explore the surrounding area. The Grand Palace and other notable monuments were close by, so we thought we might as well go check them out. We stepped into the street to cross it and a man in a tuk tuk came to a screetching halt and asked if we needed a ride. I told him that we were just going to walk to the palace. “You have passport? You have long sleeves? You can’t go in dressed like that.” In Thailand, women have to have their arms and legs covered in government buildings and temples. I didn’t intend to go in, so I thought I’d be ok, but the guy informed me that there’s a wall around the palace and you can’t see anything from the street. “You want to see nice things, you take boat ride.” He pulled out a laminated sheet of paper full of images of beautiful sites along the Bangkok river channels. “Get in I’ll take you to boat.” The girls followed his command and before I knew it, we were whizzing through the streets in pursuit of a boat ride.

The guy took us through back alleys eventually stopping at the river where a longboat was waiting for us. Boarding the boat was precarious so I helped the girls and was the last to get on which meant I was sitting on the far right side. We took off and began to cross the choppy bustling river. Halfway across, the boat driver started yelling at me and waving his hand to the left. I had no idea what he was saying but finally figured out he needed me to switch seats with Georgia for a better weight distribution since the boat was nearly capsizing. At this point, I began to feel intense fear. We were heading out, just the three of us with some back alley longboat guide. My fear swelled with the white capped waves. Where was he taking us? What would my plan be if he stopped the boat somewhere? I felt panic for the first time on our trip. We left the river and entered a channel which calmed my fear of drowning in the river, but amplified my fear that we’d never been seen again. I texted Brent, but he was teaching and didn’t reply. The houses along the channel were quite destitute. There were entire slopes along the river bank filled with trash bags rotting in the sun. Eliza leaned over and said, “It’s really good we’re doing this Mama. It’s important to see how people really live here.”

A few minutes into our channel voyage, the driver pulled over. He rang a bell and a man came right out. My heart was pounding through my chest. The guy tossed something in our direction. It landed at our feet. “For fish!” I heard a sound next to the boat and looked in the water. There were hundreds of giant fish clamoring for a morsel of bread that had just been tossed in our direction. A huge wave of relief passed over me and we spent the next 10 minutes feeding the giant fish. He surely wasn’t going to give us bread to feed fish before doing us harm! We continued along the canal and the scenery changed dramatically. It gave us a unique look at the waterfront community as we passed schools, temples, homes, palaces, and businesses.

The channel was full of giant water monitors…yeesh Everything turned out just fine. It was harrowing at first, but once I let go of my irrational fear, it was the most relaxing, wonderful trip with my kids.
Until we had to cross that damn river again. See it to believe it. Click here