Bangkok pt. 1 - Day 9

Today I finally got my Italian BMT for breakfast. It wasn't bad, but I don't think I'm getting another one. Not because of the sandwich, but because of it reminded me of all the other great food I can get here for even half the price. Still, it served its purpose and appeased my hunger for bread. For coffee I went somewhere else, because the Subway sandwich atmosphere wasn't too inspiring for me. Especially with all the groups of foreigners who were being loud. 

In the afternoon I spent almost a whole hour on the back of a tuktuk. I had no idea, but apparently traffic in Bangkok City is crazy between 3 and 5 pm. But let me tell you, there's not too many things you can compare to a ride on a three-wheeled motorcycle. Someone on the internet called it a death ride with no seat belt, but I think that's a bit too drastic. I think it's more like a personal high-speed tour bus. Except that it's really a motorcycle.

Out of all the different means of public transportation I think that tuktuks are the most fun. Maybe not the most convenient, because the skytrain is cooler, the metro is cheaper, the cabs are more comfortable, and the taxiscooters are faster, but tuktuks are definitely the next best thing, way better than buses. Although I'd have to say that it's not an easy task to get a reasonably priced fare, especially if you don't know for sure how far your destination is, or how much it would cost in a regular cab by meter.

What I love about it though, is that it's very real. I mean, in a taxi you don't feel too much like it's Bangkok, because it's air-conditioned and the radio is playing regular pop songs. Except for the steering wheel being on the right, everything's pretty much the same as home, maybe England. But with a tuktuk, you feel like you're a bit more part of the street, part of traffic and part of the city. The noise, the heat, the fumes, everything's pretty much live and direct.

I love it, because it gives you another glimpse of the city, but from a different perspective and in super fast forward. You don't have to, but if you choose to, you can catch a million little images on the run. Images you can think about when the traffic jams up and you're sitting next to a huge bus, face to face with the rear tire. I saw a father carrying his daughter on his shoulders. A cat stretching its back on the tire of a parked motorcycle. Two elderly men sitting on a store porch playing a board game. A young couple sharing food from out of a hand-held paper cone while waiting for a bus.