More Reasons to Like Bangkok

As with every large city I've visited around the world, Bangkok has some drawbacks.  Traffic and the challenge of getting around is usually my main c!omplaint, along with pollution.  Bangkok is no exception.

There are some good things about Bangkok, though.  Here are some:

Massages - you can get a massage for less than $6 an hour at a clean, quiet locals place or you can pay $60 at an upscale place in a high end mall.  The facilities may look a bit different but the experience is about the same.  I've been enjoying almost daily massages on this trip.  For about $8 I get a one hour foot/leg massage and 30 minutes of head/neck/shoulder massage. 

Health care - This is my third visit to Bangkok that focused on time at a hospital.  The first was when I got sick in Myanmar and ended up in Intensive Care at Camillian Hospital in Bangkok.  I got excellent treatment for a very low price.  The second time, I hung out at Bumrungrad Hospital with a friend who was hit by a truck in Myanmar.  He needed surgery so we came to Bangkok.  He received excellent care with the most modern treatment available in the world. 

This trip, I'm hanging out again at Bumrungrad but for a very positive reason.  Friends from Myanmar have opted to have their first baby in Bangkok because of the superior medical care.  The hospital has all the amenities you could want or need, at a reasonable price.  There's a reason Bangkok has become a medical tourist destination.

A private room at Bumrungrad is $90 a night.

People - I've found people to be overall very friendly and helpful.  The service from the receptionists at Pannapat Residence is more like what you'd get at a 5 Star Resort rather than a $17 a night room.  When you are away from the main tourist areas most people don't speak English but they generally make an effort to communicate.

Parks - Bangkok is a large, crowded city. To break that up, there are numerous parks with small lakes and walking paths.  This week I visited Chatuchak park.  The highlight, for me, was the butterfly garden.  My expectations were low but it was large, very well maintained and free.  I even got to see a small Komodo dragon wandering around.

The Butterfly Garden in Chatuchak Park.

A shady place to relax in Chatuchak Park, which happens to be next to one of the largest open air weekend markets in Asia.

Observations

There's a long weekend coming up to celebrate Chinese New Year.  Hopefully then I'll have time to update the blog but for now, here are some random observations:

Cashiers in America have a cash drawer that is neatly divided into 1's, 5's, 10's, 20's and change.  Plus usually a place for the big bills.  Not in Mandalay.  They have a drawer where they just toss money and dig around for change as needed.  Reminds me a lot of my wallet.

Witnessed a traffic accident last week.  We were on our way home from grocery shopping, driving down 35, one of the main streets.  It's four lanes, 2 each way.  We were in the left lane, heading east.  A motorbike with a man driving and a woman riding sidesaddle wanted to turn left so they did a typical maneuver.  Since there was oncoming traffic, they just headed up the lane going the wrong way, waiting for the next lane to clear.  If I were on Judge Judy I'd move little cars and motorbikes around to demonstrate.  Bottom line, somebody going the correct direction was in their way, they tried to veer left but it was too late.  All three from both bikes went flying.  Far too typical.  We didn't even slow down.

It hasn't rained in a couple of months.  Everything is covered in dust.   I have bronchitis and my asthma is acting up.  I spent 30 minutes at the hospital seeing an internist.  Paid $14.50 for the doctor visit and three prescriptions.  While I was paying my bill, a doctor came over to offer his help, since most staff don't speak English.  He snatched up my records, which showed my age.  "You don't look nearly that old.  And you're lovely."  He told me he used to live in Boston.  I told him I have friends there.  Then I coughed up a lung and went to get my prescriptions.

On the way to the hospital to see the doctor yesterday we were stopped at a traffic light (one of the few).  My window was down and a motorbike pulled up next to me.  A young man was driving, with two young women passengers.  We were about 12 inches apart.  I smiled.  They smiled (through their cloth masks).  I said "Hi!".  The girl in the back pulled down her mask and said "Hi!".  Then the girl in the middle followed suit.  Then the driver pulled off his mask and said "Hello!  How are you?"  "Well, thank you, and you?"  The light changed, they all nodded enthusiastically, put their masks back in place and turned left, away from me.  I love those moments.  They happen every single time I drive anywhere in Mandalay.  I'm so, so lucky to be here when locals are still pleased to see foreigners and aren't sick of rude tourists.

I still smile when I turn my lamp on in the morning instead of a fluorescent light.  And tonight, getting home after a very long day, I realized I could turn on my tv to listen to it while I put away groceries.  I took way too much for granted when I lived in the US.

Tomorrow after school is cooking club for 11 of my first graders and 1 3rd grade brother. We're making deviled eggs and ham sandwiches.  I'm bringing my mustard and sweet relish, both purchased in Bangkok.  I hate to share but can't wait to see the look on their faces when they taste mustard for the first time.  I'll have my camera.

The school is having a 4 week eating competition.  When it was announced, I was so excited.  I told everyone I could take the "how many cheese enchiladas can you eat in 5 minutes" competition.  Then they told me it was for healthy eating.  What kind of fun is that?  I've been encouraging my kids to eat carrot sticks and fruit during our afternoon snack time instead of chips and cake.  Today, one girl came in and announced she ate a carrot.  "A whole carrot?"  "No, a little piece of carrot."  "Good for you!"  "Yuk.  I didn't like it."  "Will you try it again tomorrow?"  "Ok."  Love these kids.

Impressions and Memories of the Last Couple of Months

I'm not sure if it's my age or what, but time seems to be flying faster than ever.  It seems as if it's Monday morning and when I turn around it is Sunday.  Since I opted for a staycation over the holidays in Mandalay, I'm enjoying the time to just catch my breath, relax and get caught up on stuff I've been putting off for months.

Before I forget them, I want to jot down some experiences and impressions from recent months.

• Myanmar has struggled over the last decades, politically and economically.  Things are improving but the country's infrastructure needs so much work.  Health care, for example.  As a result of Mark Owen's recent traffic accident (he was hit by a truck while riding his motorbike) I've been asked to put together a policy for the school on getting emergency treatment for injured teachers.  The health care in Mandalay is not the best and getting out of the country is not easy.  

  

  A dog napping on the dirty floor in the hallway of the largest government hospital in Mandalay.

  
  

  

  Getting Mark from the ER and Radiology to get an ultrasound required a trip outside.  Notice the gurney is bare metal. We made this trip more than once, by the way, since they determined he also needed a CAT scan.  That was a brand new piece of equipment.

  
  

  

  The Mandalay airport has jetways but I've never seen them used.  Instead, Mark had to endure being carried up by baggage handlers.  The jerking was not good for his broken ribs and punctured lung.  While Air Asia has jetways it uses in Bangkok and knew that they had someone on board who needed to get off in a wheelchair there was neither a jetway or wheelchair when we arrived.  It took over an hour to get off the plane after everyone else had disembarked and was the worst example of customer service I have ever seen.  Ever.
  

• Sounds always remind me of where I've been.  Most of the time they're in the background and I'm not even conscious of them.  Other times, like the early morning church "bells" and roosters in my village in Samoa, they can't be missed. A sound I'll always associate with Myanmar is that of horns honking.  Because driving rules here are loosely applied, cars, trucks, motorcycles all honk to let you know they're coming up on you from behind.  Or if they see that you might be trying to cross the road they honk to warn you not to.  Or to let you know that they are in the lane next to you.  While I wish AIS was closer to the center of town to make dining and shopping easier, I appreciate the relative quiet of being on the outskirts of the city.
  
  I was surprised and laughed out loud at a sound I heard repeatedly at the Chatachuk market in Bangkok.  Prior to making an announcement on the loudspeaker they would play the exact same bell tones used on cruise ships.  
  
  I still think I'm hearing helicopters when Chinese made trucks go by.  They sound exactly the same.  And at the same volume.
  
  I generally prefer silence to noise.  I've never understood why people walk on the beach listening to Ipods instead of waves.  After a day in a room with 29 first graders, I do not want to go to a noisy restaurant or bar.  I'm looking forward to my fellow teachers returning from the holiday travels but while they're gone I'm enjoying how quiet the apartment building is.
  
• Transportation is my greatest challenge (other than language) in Mandalay.  In Bangkok, you can usually grab an inexpensive taxi anywhere.  Friday and Saturday nights, especially when it's raining are exceptions.  In Mandalay, taxis are expensive and can be hard to get.  Getting a taxi to pick me up at school requires a phone call.  Because simcards are so expensive here (about $250 USD) I don't have one.  I ask a school guard to call for me.  But the guards generally don't speak English.  Usually that's no problem.  They know "taxi".  But if I want to be sure a taxi picks me up an hour from now?  Not possible to communicate.  Usually it takes 15 - 30 minutes to get a cab.  But it's not unusual to take a couple of hours and a few times I just gave up.
  
  If I'm cooking and forgot to get X ingredient it involves a taxi ($10 fare) to drive the 15-20 minutes to the store, then back.  I usually just ditch my plan for dinner.  Or beg another teacher to make a shopping run on their motorbike.  I don't have a motorbike because of the traffic and healthcare situation.
  
  Dinner out generally means hiring a taxi to take me to the restaurant, wait for me, then take me home.  That means the taxi is generally at least twice what I pay for a nice dinner.  I tried having the driver not wait around and had the restaurant call a taxi for me when I was ready to leave.  The driver didn't speak English, there was miscommunication and the normal 15 minute ride turned into an 1 1/2 hour adventure.
  
  I thought I'd reached a solution to my dilemma.  I found a nice taxi driver, who speaks English and was willing to give me a bit of a discount for using him regularly.  Then I had a wallet dropping incident during the recent emergency trip to Bangkok and lost his phone number.  Damn.  U Soe Min, where are you???

  

  I still have not gotten over my fear of crossing four lane roads with no traffic signals and pedestrians don't have right of way.  But I do it.  Because even a chicken has to cross the road.

  
  

  

  Trucks, motorbikes, cars, buses, bicycles, pedestrians, horse-drawn carriages all share the roads.  To get a driver's license you just have to pay a fee.