Scavenger Hunt in Bangkok

I've wanted to travel to Thailand ever since my grandma showed me her gold nail extensions that are worn by Thai dancers. My travel plans took me elsewhere until this year, when I decided to travel to Australia for four months. I thought since I would be in the neighborhood, I would swing by Thailand. I was apprehensive about travelling there as a single woman, so I booked a tour. While on the tour, I realized just how exotic the country seemed and decided to extend my stay. I had already booked a short group trip to Cambodia, which served as my "visa run". The group was scheduled to leave our hotel for our flight to Cambodia at 10:30 A.M. After enough procrastination, I called the local Qantas office at about 8:30 A.M. The rep said the flight I wanted was available, but she needed to run my credit card in the office. Conveniently, the office was just down the street from the hotel. I told her I'd be right there. I was scheduled to fly back to Sydney the day after we returned from Cambodia, so I had no choice. I finished packing quickly and ran down to breakfast, where my travel mates were leisurely enjoying their coffee and tea. They were confident I would make it back in time. I wasn't so sure. I told the bell boy where I needed to go, and asked whether I should walk or take a taxi. "Oh, walking," he said. "Five minutes." There is no problem with walking in Thailand until the sidewalk mysteriously ends or you need to cross the street. I knew I needed to cross the street to get to this location. I summoned the fearlessness that is required when crossing a Bangkok street, and was on my way. 

I was walking down Surawong Road toward Rama IV, and thought it would be a good idea to use the crosswalk at the intersection. First rule of Bangkok street crossing: Cross when you can. Never wait for the crosswalk, because the cars might stop for you but the motorbikes certainly won't stop. They'll just honk until YOU move out of the way. Once you learn this system, all is well. Miraculously, when I got to the crosswalk, all cars were stopped in all directions. Though there are no crossing signals for pedestrians, the traffic lights are accompanied by this ingenious little countdown clock. It lets you know how many seconds you have left to wait (red) and how many seconds you have to proceed through the intersection (green), though some drivers still don't abide by the clock. A few seconds remained on the countdown clock, so I ran like a maniac across the intersection. Sure enough, here came a herd of motorbikes, just as I reached the sidewalk. Where do they come from?!? Now that my first mission was accomplished, I focused on finding the "Charn Issara Tower" building. The rep said the office was located on the 22nd floor, so I examined the front of every tall building I saw. That might sound easy enough, but in Bangkok, you really must watch your step as well. I always try to scan about three feet in front of me for uneven pavement, urine puddles (human or canine), stray animals, or street vendors. When I got closer to Silom Road, which I knew already because of the mall, I started asking people for directions. Since address numbers are nonexistent on the buildings, it's better to ask. At Silom and Rama IV there are skyways to ferry pedestrians across that major intersection. Back and forth I went, enquiring along the way. Everyone was pointing in the general direction I needed to go, but I still couldn't find the tower. I found a tower that looked like it had 22 floors and said something about travel on the plaque. I rode the glass elevator up to the 22nd floor and exited. It was completely deserted and the elevator had already departed. Whenever I get in a precarious situation such as this, I launch into my determined mode. The elevator returned, I made it down to the ground floor, and I looked at my watch. 9:40!!! We were supposed to have our luggage out at 10:00 and I still needed to settle a bill with the hotel before departure. 

I thought, "Maybe this is a sign I should return to Sydney." Then I persisted, "NO! That defeats the whole purpose of vagabonding/adventure travel!" The purpose is to plan on a whim and avoid as much scheduling and convention as possible. I walked very slowly down Rama IV, back toward Surawong, and sure enough, there it was, set back from the street, exactly in the direction those helpful Thais had pointed. I entered the lobby and was examining the plaque to ensure I was correct when a security guard approached and said, "British Airways?" I responded, "No, Qantas." "22nd floor," he said. After a "khob khun ka" (thank you), I was at the elevator. I swung open the door to Qantas, absolutely saturated in sweat, and was greeted by the woman I spoke to on the phone. She took care of everything in about five minutes, and I was on my way back to the hotel, where I arrived just after 10:00.

Bangkok gives you a jolt of culture shock, but once you learn the customs and open up to the adventure, you realize its splendor. In retrospect, if the Qantas rep had been able to process my credit card over the phone or if I had found my destination as quickly as I should have, I would have missed out on some incredible cultural interaction.