PATravel: Last catch up blog... Goodbye Bangkok!

At last! We are here!! Settled and unpacked for the 1st time since we left England. Arrived in Chaiyaphum yesterday after an easy 5 hour bus ride from BKK (made even easier by a movie watched on my new computer! :) Was sad to say goodbye to the majority of our TEFL Heaven crowd, but no-one is sad to be leaving Bangkok. Dengue fever, a drugged and robbed friend found in an alleyway and stolen purses are stories that plagued this 4 day stop over. BKK was literally picking us off one by one. A city characterised by noise, sweat and rotting garbage. A crossroads, not a destination.

However, even with all its negative connotations, Bangkok continues to hold some kind of enigmatic appeal. Like a shy courtesan, she only reveals her true colours in seductive tidbits that leave you breathless and wanting for more. The tall skyscrapers exude strength and power, competing for the skyline like squabbling heirs to an architectural throne. But these buildings are the distracting trinkets on the courtesan’s costume. The real Bangkok, the living, breathing, writhing Bangkok happens far below these monuments, at street level. Here, the noise and concrete mingle with the sickly sweet smell of street vendor’s food and rotting garbage. Here is where you are just as likely to be offered raw gems as you are to get bitten by a rabid dog. Bright lights draw you in. Chaos, traffic and dirt fend you away. Drink from the overflowing cup that is Bangkok and you will spend many heady days trying to recover from this opiate-like experience.

Thank goodness it was only 4 days and now we can recover and prepare for our first day at school. Eeek!!