Neon lights of Bangkok

- What a Beauty? One of the boys from Argentina was telling us.

Boys have the same mentality world wide. A cute girl was walking past us and the guy sitting next to me was gazing her intently. He was from Argentina and he was a jolly good guy to make friends with.

I was sitting in front of the visa on arrival counter at DMK airport. There was a long queue in front of the counter.

- He does not play for his country. He only plays for his club. Maradona was our real God. The Argentine guy was telling me.

- Yes. Maradona is my favourite too. I told him.

Finally Vivek and I had our passport stamped with the Thailand visa. We paid 1000 Baht for the visa. We came out of the airport and now we have to search for the hotel we have booked.

- Let’s hire a taxi and go to our hotel. I told Vivek.

- No need of that. As our hotel is close by we can go there ourselves. Here by the help of my mobile and Google map I will find my hotel.

I was just following Vivek’s direction. At every street turn he was looking intently at his mobile. Lo and below! We finally reched our hotel and it was all because of Vivek’s smart technology usage.

After checking in at our hotel we unpacked our luggage. Today our destination would be the famous Grand Palace. After resting a bit we came out of the hotel.

We boarded a taxi to drop us at the Grand Palace. Hereby it is pertinent to mention that the driver would ask you an option: Highway or the ordinary road. Traveling through the highway would mean one can reach one’s destination quickly, but you have to pay toll tax. Traveling on the ordinary road means that you have to encounter road jams.

On reaching Grand Palace we were dismayed by the sight on the road. We saw that there was a royal procession going on and the Grand Palace was closed for today. We had to change our tour plan. We decided to go on a river cruise.

The river cruise charged us 1000 Bahts per person. The boat started on its way. Our first stop was on the floating market. Next we saw the houseboats of Thailand. After a couple of hours of boat ride the boat stopped at Wat Arun., the magnificent temple on the shores of the river.

We went to see the inside of the temple. The carvings of the temple was exquisite. We were there for around half an hour. After that the boat left us on the opposite shore. That was the end of our river cruise.

On the other shore we asked for our directions to go to the temple of the Reclining Buddha. It was a five minute walk from the river shore. We purchased our ticket at the ticket counter and we got a complimentary bottle of water.

We were stupefied to see the long sleeping statue of the Buddha. It seemed to us that the Buddha statue was occupying the whole room. After this we went to visit the temple courtyard. The temples were intricately carved outside. It was already dark and the temples seemed heavenly with the reflection of the evening city lights.

Outside we saw that a festival was going on. Here some dancers were performing the Apsara dance. The festival we saw was called the Riverdance festival. Next we were really unsure about where to go, though we had ample amount of time.

- Lets go and see the famous red light areas of Bangkok. I gave a suggestion.

- Oh no. It won’t be that safe. Vivek replied.

- Search the net if there are any safe red light areas just like they have in Amsterdam.

- Ok.

Vivek’s mobile immediately showed us a number of go-go bars where it was safe to go. Especially for people like us who were first timers. It also showed the dos and don’ts in a go-go bar. Cameras are definitely not allowed. There were a number of places like Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza and Patpong. We decided to go to Nana Plaza as this was nearest to our present location. Next we searched for safe go-go bars in Nana Plaza. Angelwitch and Billboard were the options that showed up.

We took a taxi to go to Nana Plaza. The moment we told the taxi that we would like to go to Nana Plaza he started laughing.

- O. You want women? The driver was laughing loudly.

- O no.

- Then only seeing and coming back.

- Yes only seeing and coming back.

- Are you interested in ping-pong show?

- No we are not.

We alighted at Nana Plaza. The ambience was really something. Scantily clad girls were lined up on the street. There were disco bars on either side of the road. We asked a person where Angelwitch was. He was not sure of that. Then we asked him where Billboard was. He pointed me to a particular direction.

Billboard was on the second floor of the building. We went inside, but we were too early for the show. We asked a lady that when the show will start.

- It will start after 20 minutes; meanwhile you can have a drink here. The lady answered.

- No. We will come back after 20 minutes.

We went outside for a walk. We were really enjoying the scenery when an old man of around seventy came up and tapped me on my shoulders.

- Do you want a real lovely woman? The old man asked.

- O old man! At this age of yours it is time for you to meditate and repent. It is time for you to read the Holy Scriptures, and here you are trying to be a pimp. I thought.

I didn’t answer him. It was time for us to return to the go-go bar called Billboard.

When we reached inside we saw the show had already started. At one side there was a bath tub where two young women were bathing naked. On the opposite side scantily clad women were performing pole dancing on a revolving stage. A few of them It was a real eye candy. One of the women approached me.

- Would you buy me a drink? The woman asked.

- No.

The women then went on and asked the same question to Vivek. Then the women I saw went on to the other customers with the same question. We finished our drink and we ordered for our bill. I had ordered for a Pepsi and Vivek had ordered a beer. The bill we got was nothing astronomical .It was quite reasonable.

The go-go bar was really safe and honest. We had had heard some of the horror stories associated with these go-go bars. We hired a taxi to go back to our hotel. We reached our hotel at 10 PM. We had our dinner at a street joint.

Next morning we had planned to go to Bangkok Palace. This is the most iconic place in Bangkok. We hired a taxi to go to Bangkok Palace. It cost us around 350 Baht to reach the Palace. Here men and women should be attired respectfully. The entry ticket cost us around 1000 Baht. The queue was not that long.

On entering the premises we were stupefied with the dazzling of colours. The monuments and statues were glittering with the rays of the sun. We wandered around the place. The whole compound was a photographer’s delight.

 Finally we entered the temple of Emerald Buddha.

- Photographer is strictly prohibited over here. Don’t try your games over here. Vivek was telling me.

- I have not read that notice, or my English is too poor to decipher what is written over there.

- Do what you wish to. I am not going to be with you. Hope your days in jail in Thailand will be good.

When I entered I was amazed to find some westerners were boldly taking photos of the Emerald Buddha. Still whatever I did and howsoever I tried I could not get a proper picture of the Buddha. Maybe there could be some mysticism linked with that. Who knows?

Bangkok is also a shopper’s paradise. To say the least some of the city malls are even heaven to a miser like me. I had planned to stay here for a couple of hours at the most, but the more I saw the more it became tempting. Finally I ended up buying t-shirts and some electronic items.

Thailand, we had never imagined, would be so posh and yet so friendly. It was with a heavy heart that we boarded our plane to return back to India.

TRAVEL TIP:

There are regular flights which fly from Kolkata to Bangkok and they cost around Rs. 11000 for a round trip. These can be booked in websites like www.yatra.com or www.makemytrip.com. Hotels can be booked from websites like www.hotels.com which displays a wide array of hotels. These hotels range from the most extravagant to even the meager types. An on-arrival visa is the most preferable option for procuring visa in Thailand. A Thailand tourist visa would cost around 1000 Baht and passport photos with photo copies of the return airfare and hotel booking is to be given at the counter. The photo must match with the specifications as required. We found that taxi rides were the most viable option to travel in Bangkok.