Stopover....Bangkok

………We leave Australia; after a month of emotions and adventures we arrive in Bangkok, departing from Brisbane. it could have been a simple stopover but, when months earlier I booked the intercontinental flight, nothing could get out of my head the thought that I'd manage to get through the outbound transfer (22 hours) without particular problems thanks to the euphoria of the journey about to begin but…..on the way back……the thought of having to leave such a wonderful place wasn't enough…..I would have had to sit on those uncomfortable seats for a whole day…!!! So I was really determined to make the most of the chance of a stopover to break up the journey and have the possibility of visiting something new.

Having chosen Thai as the airline, it was obvious that I'd stop in Thailand…..nothing better for me given my incredible passion for South-East Asia in general and that Thailand has always been a destination I've wanted to visit. The time was obviously short, just three days, but they were enough to get a fairly general impression of this city…at a time of year that is certainly not very welcoming…..with that humidity!!!! In fact I remain of the opinion that it was an excellent choice to break up the long return journey but…..arriving from Australia, from that cool, dry climate, that always blue sky kept clean by a constant breeze, the impact with that blanket of humidity and that suffocating heat was certainly not exhilarating. I felt truly wonderful on my arrival in Thai territory….I got home a few days later reduced to a rag, struck down by a cold and a terrible sore throat.

Yes….the throat…..the most dramatic thing about Bangkok and much of Asian cities, is certainly the smog. Walking along the street is certainly not very easy and in the long run breathing becomes a bit laboured; if we add all this to the usual humidity and the infernal heat, the only remedy was to take refuge in some Shopping Centre and there…..air conditioning galore!!!! Necessarily, some flu-like symptom was inevitable. Back to the city, I found it very chaotic yes but really interesting; architectural and historical beauties are certainly not lacking and the mysticism and sacredness of the temples make the appearance of this metropolis unmistakable.

With very little time available, all I could do was walk and walk, managing to visit thus: the Grand Palace, the Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Arun, the Golden Mount, the amulet market, Patong market, Khao San market and a mini river excursion on the Chao Phraya river. The thing that always leaves you open-mouthed when visiting South-East Asia is the extreme cheapness of life; here everything is really very inexpensive. Accommodation, meals, transport and of course traditional Thai massages (I had myself cradled/tortured for several hours….) are within everyone's reach; the most negative note concerns the relationship with ordinary people.

If we exclude the myriad of students who roam the city, who greet you or remain indifferent, for all the others….taxi drivers, tuk tuk drivers and purveyors of business of various kinds, they always try to strike up an initial dialogue with you and then offer you any kind of deal/opportunity/chance or transport; you're taken for walking banknotes and there's no interest in the person. Of course, this could be a reality limited only to Bangkok, maybe in the rest of Thailand things change….I hope to find out very soon! Exactly a month after my departure from Bologna airport it was time to return definitively home, for the first time so long away…….it was a positive, unique, unforgettable experience……in short, to be repeated at the earliest opportunity!!