From Grand to Grime

Thursday night last week, Eric and I flew to Bangkok, Thailand, for a weekend getaway. As my first real travel within Asia since we’ve been here full-time, I was excited for a change of scenery, especially to a place that Eric had given rave reviews from previous visits. Thailand is relatively close by Asia standards for a weekend trip (only a 2 hour flight) and is known as a place of escape in HK, offering cheap, luxurious beach packages, even in the months following the horrible tsunami. We steered towards Bangkok instead, choosing to see the city but stay in a nice five-star hotel, the Sukhothai, in the heart of the city’s new business district.




The Sukhothai

As we departed the plane, the subtle and stark differences between locales were apparent. Bangkok’s airport holds none of the striking views and vaulted ceilings of HK’s, resembling instead a plastic, molded box, with low-ceilings, Logitech digital cameras on the passport control counters, and few of the amenities that a world city offers in an airport today. I should note that from my experience, Los Angeles is the major exception to this rule as its airport is much neglected by international standards. But I digress…

Leaving the passport control, we were quickly transported to an odd world of prestige and beauty within a society and a country straddling the lines of modernity and poverty. A hotel representative met us on exit, led us to a waiting luxury sedan and driver, and before I quite realized what was happening, we were sitting, drinking cold waters, wiping our faces with the cold towels provided for cleansing, and watching the intermittent bright lights of Bangkok stream past from the above ground freeway. It was a quiet moment of contemplation and absorption for us, with the driver speeding forward as if propelled by the weight of his captain-style hat and the luxury of a Mercedes.

I have never traveled in what would be considered a developing country before. I actually suppose that I still haven’t by some definitions, but suffice it to say, Thailand was the closest that I have gotten to date. I also have never stayed at a five-star hotel before; the odd combination of both firsts on one trip is something that I am still trying to frame in my mind. Reality by day; luxury by night – that became our routine for a couple of days. I must admit, while I struggled deeply with this in the beginning, I greatly appreciated it by the end of the weekend as the exploring simply wore me out. Coming back to a safe place really helped to get through and rejuvenate for the next day’s explorations. So, our Thailand trip had us with our left feet in reality and our right in paradise.


The view from our seat in the tuk tuk - a motorcycle tax - that is popular in Bangkok. We took several the first full day we were exploring.