The month of November marks the end of the monsoon season in Thailand and the beginning of the annual droves of farangs (“foreigners” in the Thai language). Even though the fall and winter months promised drier and cooler temperatures (similar to other countries in the Northern hemisphere), the heat and humidity of our first day (and every day after for the duration of the trip) in the Land of Smiles was oppressive. The only relatable experience was our first and last trip to Las Vegas in July two decades earlier; it took us literally the three days of our vacation to walk the entire strip. Never had $5 dollar bottles of water tasted so good or street misters so welcome.
I thought I had an advantage having lived in the constant 80 – 90 degree weather of Hawaii for more than half my life but Bangkok was a completely different animal. The moment we stepped out of the cool of our air-conditioned hotel we started perspiring, even in the shade. The Thai capital city was a concrete jungle in the tropics where the tall buildings reflected the already merciless sun back on to its pedestrians; a double blast of heat. What was their secret? The locals looked so cool and dry and unfrazzled.
Even despite this looming threat of heat stroke, we dropped off our luggage in the hotel room and immediately headed to the nearest metro station to the Amari Watergate Hotel. Jet lag be damned. The tour officially started the following day and we wanted to squeeze in some sights not already on the itinerary. But first it was time to feast! We had learned from the previous trip to China that the next week and a half would probably be filled with toned-down westernized Thai dishes.
Two things struck us as we boarded the BTS metro at Chit Lom station; the first was seeing beautiful golden shrines tucked in between the office buildings and the second was the sense that Bob and I could have done the Bangkok portion of the tour ourselves. We did not feel threatened or fearful; it was probably the confidence we had gained from having gone to Europe a year earlier on our own.
