“The trip for me, it does not happen, it's from. This is unexpected for the next call.” Roland Dorgelès

Sunday 8 November, it is three in the morning, we leave the remains of our last host on tiptoe and let the engine roar of the Jaguar - not just kidding, il est plutôt silencieux 😀 – pour parcourir les quarante cinq kilomètres entre les quartiers de Gwelup et Champion Lakes d’où l’ami qui nous a prêté la voiture nous emmène au Terminal 1 de l’aéroport international de Perth. C’est reparti pour la ritournelle pré-aérienne : alors qu’aux enregistrements à l’aller sur la même compagnie Jetstar Asia la guitare n’a jamais posé souci en cabine, cette fois-ci ils insistent pour qu’elle aille en soute et font signer une décharge 🙁 , aux douanes c’est plus relax : sur la carte de sortie de territoire Monsieur inscrit « touriste » en tant qu’occupation, ça a fait rire la douanière, control by cons they empty my camera equipment and computer bag : I think they think I plan to strangle the crew members with power cords or better in the lock computer braided steel, but not I completely forgot to remove a small knife key chain, when I say it is a small two or three centimeters blade - cf.. “It has a nail file and a grape juice cans ! It is prohibited by the regulations.” – I abandon them without regret.

Singapore Central Business District

Terminal 1, Changi Airport

Here we finally stuck in the seats of the low-cost airline for five hours over the Indian Ocean with landing in Singapore scheduled at 11:40 local time. We have a stopover of more than 7:30 and take advantage of their Free City Tour * by bus which takes us to discover the city-state of Singapore for two and a half hours. The friendly guide Andrew makes it all interesting and we taste again the tropical humidity during a stop near the Merlion statue, then in the district of Kampong Glam.
Back at Changi Airport, we visit the Terminal 3 and its little butterfly garden then after having eaten a bite we take up residence at the Cactus Garden pub in the Terminal 1 - ask for house beer, 6$ instead of 17$ pour les autres bières 😉 – en attendant l’embarquement à 18h40 pour deux heures et demi de vol en direction de… Bangkok !

Masjid Sultan Mosque, Singapore

Notre avion ?

Nous voilà au pays du sourire pour deux semaines, après l’expérience de quelques jours en Malaisie nous nous sommes dit que quitte à faire des escales à l’autre bout du monde, autant en profiter. Nous changeons quelques devises avant de passer la douane sans souci, nous récupérons nos sacs et la guitare, soulagés de la voir arriver entière. It soon 21h and we do not have the strength to take public transportation to get our hotel at night in a city that we do not know. Management public taxi service organized by the airport : a ticket, a line and we are number in a pretty pink taxi with three words of English speaking driver, we balance our three words of Thai. Fifty baht fee taken by the airport, seventy-five percent highway and three race later - about € 11 in all - with a few detours and a phone call to find the hotel, we deposited after almost an hour away Au Bon Hostel we booked for two nights in the district of Phra Nakhon. If he was all smiles, the receptionist discovers his home once we settled two nights - 1600 THB, ~ € 40 - but we do not pay attention to little dreaming eyes open shower and a bed in an air conditioned room. Our wishes are fulfilled quickly and we sink without asking our rest.

First look out the window Bangkok

Derm Khlong Khu Mueang District

We sleep like logs until eight in the morning, delighted to have finally settled on this area rather than Khao San Road, reputed to be the place for backpackers but also for its nightlife and noisy activity. The woman of the home that replaced his night colleague is charming, showing us how to get to the station and the sights close to the hotel. We take first tea and coffee as chatting with two Canadian arrived there a few days and leaving for Phuket. They tell us they come to lunch next door at Kaffee Haus, and we follow their example, for breakfast not really Thai - ham, sausage, egg, salade – à 65 bahts l’un (~1,67€).

Urban rot ?

Sparkling temple

We opt for a walk along the Khlong Khu Mueang Derm canal and then Charoen Krung Road, despite the ambient heat, history of discovering part of the city center. The station is about three quarters of an hour away. Three quarters of an hour of pollution, traffic, of decaying buildings, of electric cables and brand new temples. On the other hand, we are not harassed by the salesmen or taxi drivers as was the case in Kuala-Lumpur.
We cross the Khlong Ong Ang to reach the station building where the people from the information kiosk inform us efficiently with a smile. The exchange office is closed until fourteen hours but the train counter the young woman we exchange without problems and at the same rate our Australian dollars for baht - 1$ for 24,50THB - which we give him a part to book two berths in second class on the train to Chiang Mai – 800THB about the ticket (~20€). Staying in Bangkok do not really care, nor the southern tourist beaches and we opted for the north, its natural scenery, historic remains and a few degrees Celsius below. Nous aurions pu prendre l’avion pour parcourir les six cent kilomètres à vol d’oiseau entre Bangkok et Chiang Mai mais l’expérience du train semble attrayante pour sa plongée avec les locaux et la promesse des paysages du nord au réveil – ah et l’économie d’une nuit d’hôtel 🙂 puis les avions nous avons donné et donnerons encore.

Parade militaire

Sanam Chai Road

Dégustant des brochettes de crabe et de porc légèrement épicées, nous évitons taxis et tuk-tuk attrape touristes pour découvrir les bus déglingués au plancher en bois et sans fenêtre pour avoir la clim manuelle 😀 . Not a Westerner in sight yet it is a transport that seems free since we see everyone getting in and seated without disturbing the driver who is focused on the mad traffic. Management MBK, one of the capital's gigantic shopping centers in the Siam district. We play observer tourists rather than compulsive shoppers and walk through its seven floors filled with clothes., souvenirs and mainly electronics which we compare prices with those in France - not sure it's really worth it.

Bus bangkokien

Scorpion on a skewer !

Return to the hotel at the end of the afternoon, after letting a military parade pass, pour une douche et un peu de repos allongés sous la clim – oui il fait vraiment très moite 😕 – avant de ressortir à la nuit tombée où il semble faire un peu plus frais. Nous marchons un petit quart d’heure pour rejoindre la fameuse Khao San Road : une enfilade de boutiques de souvenirs, vêtements, youth hostel, restaurants and bars, where tourists from all over the world come and go under the ancient lights. Salespeople are a little more enterprising but don't insist if you refuse. Yet one of them catches our attention with its platter of skewers ... of scorpion. Après avoir posé les questions bêtes de vacanciers du genre : « Nous pouvons vraiment tout manger, même les pinces ? » ou « Et ce n’est pas venimeux ? », nous relevons le défi ! Ça croustille avec un petit goût fumé sauf le corps dont la viande est assez forte, mais ça passe avec quelques gorgées de Chang ou de Leo – bières locales. 😉

Au bout de la rue une scène est installée pour présenter la culture artistique thaï : sept musiciens et neuf danseuses s’accompagnent et se relaient pour nous faire entendre leur musique et nous faire voir les danses traditionnelles. Here is our evening all found and we sit on the floor to enjoy the show until the end - I give the floor to Monsieur for the interlude, while I enjoy a Pad Thai, plat typique : rice noodles, egg, seeds, tofu, yellow beans and grilled shrimps.

Land at Bangkok Airport and survive the expressway in a taeksee worn to the core, check ! Put my gaze on a stray dog ​​pissing in the middle of the street, in traffic interspersed with taxis, tuk-tuk, cars and pedestrians from the hotel terrace, check.
For sure, when you just came from Singapore, city ​​where the leaves are continuously cleaned under the trees (they could do better, catch them on the fly for example !), the Thai capital is in a state of disrepair, even urban rot, if we omit the magnificent palaces and temples.
That said, it has a certain charm and its inhabitants are very friendly. We say hello to you and I even had an interesting discussion about religious beliefs with a tailor-made costume seller in the middle of the fiesta area last night..

Again the call from the opera stage last night, not that it was planned but I was chosen by the leader of the group of artists for a small performance of khaen - flute-harmonica - in front of an audience of Thai people and tourists and, guess what ? More hugs between musicians, excellent.

« One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain’t free
You’ll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you’re lucky then the god’s a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me”
One night in Bangkok, Murray Head

Tuk-tuk in front of the grand palace

Buddha face

On Tuesday 10 November, after breakfast with our neighbors at Kaffee Haus, we cross the canal that we walked along yesterday to reach Sanam Chai Road which runs under the wall of the royal palace whose price is 500THB (~13€) and the prospect of a two and a half hour visit in shoes, pants and long sleeves put us off and we prefer to join Wat Pho at the rate of 100 bahts (~2,5€) plus raisonnable et où les sandales sont acceptées – sauf dans les temples où il faut carrément les enlever 😉 . Dans cet ancien ensemble de temples bouddhistes sur huit hectares, the main attraction is its reclining Buddha, forty three meters long by fifteen meters high. We weren't able to tickle her mother-of-pearl-encrusted soles representing the 108 states of Buddha which were unfortunately in renovation. Between the golden Buddhas and the stone sculptures that dot the place, my preference goes to the latter as the photos. 😉

Reclining buddha

In the courtyards of the temples

Stone sculptures

Prayers in progress

It's not ten o'clock that we are already sweating, it must be said that the sun is out this morning - the clouds only arrive in the late morning and then the rain in the late afternoon, this is recurring priori. Return to the hotel for a shower and the noon check-out before sinking in an alley with fewer white faces can to find a local canteen where we are greeted and served with smiles and even laughter when we exchange our four Thai words - yes, yes one more than yesterday - against their English words.

The hotel's street

Au Bon Hostel

Not finding the motivation to visit another part of the city knowing that we no longer have access to showers post-march, nous voilà dans le hall climatisé de l’hôtel en attendant d’aller prendre notre train et en profiter pour rédiger ce long article et le poster avec des photos de qualité diverses – lentille du téléphone en fin de vie. 🙁

Deux nouveaux albums photos dans les Snapshots : quelques clichés rapides à Singapore puis l’album Thailand à compléter !

*Edition 2021 : le Free city tour depuis l’aéroport de Singapour ne semble plus être proposé, visitez le site de l’aéroport pour fouiller dans leur menu “Airport guide” and “Discover” pour trouver d’autres choses à faire et demandez sur place, sait-on jamais !