Today I left my comfortable jet-lag recovery nest in Bangkok and headed off to Khao Yai National Park. I hadn’t spent too much time in Bangkok, but for me, it is a place that is best taken in small doses. I loaded everything into my huge backpack, put it on my shoulders and set off for the BTS station. I hadn’t bothered to get my pack adjusted to fit me correctly and after about a half a kilometer, I started to feel it in my shoulders. When I got to the platform for the sky train a fellow pointed at me and said something in Thai to his friends. He took two steps toward me and asked, “is it heavy?” I know that he did not mean to sound patronizing so I resisted the urge to take off the pack and smack him with it. Instead I said, “a little bit.” I went to Mochit station, which is the end of the line for the BTS and the place where you can pick up buses headed north. I thought that the bus station would be right there…..but I looked at the scale on the map and realized that I had a ways to go. Most people take a cab when they get off the train, but, hard-headed thing that I am, I chose to hike it. I took off and headed northwest through Chatuchak Park. After about 100 steps, I started to feel the familiar pull. I tried to ignore it and enjoy the walk in the park. It was so refreshing to see some green after several days in the concrete jungle. This zen trick worked for about five minutes, after ten I was in some serious pain. I couldn’t stop to adjust things because I was trying to catch the 11:30 bus and it was already ten minutes after the hour. There were no signs that read, “this way to the bus station,” at least no signs written in English. I came to a fork in the road and there were two women doing some gardening in the flower beds who understood the look of desperation on my face. One of the women smiled at me and said, “bus, that way.” I whispered the most pleasant Thai thank-you that I could manage in my breathless state, and took off in the direction that she pointed out. There was some sort of kiddy bike rally going on in the park that day and I hope I didn’t upset too many people when I walked through the course. I reached the edge of the park which had a construction sight at the exit. I was a little confused as to which way to go, but a guard said, “you!” as he pointed in the direction of the bus station. As I came through the construction, I saw the bus station…..on the other side of a major highway! Not a problem, there was a footbridge that went over the highway. It only had about 500 steps to the top, piece of cake. I was panting when I got to the top of the stairs and there was this beggar-woman who rattled her coin cup plaintively at me. I groaned something like, “you gotta be f&$^-ing kidding me.” I made it to the bus station at 11:26. I just had to find the window for the tickets to Pak Chong. I must have been beet-red when I got there, because the lady behind the glass chuckled and did a fake out-of-breath pant, so long as she could get me on the 11:30 bus, I did not care. I made it to the bus, stowed my huge pack, took my seat, and breathed a sigh of relief. I had just made it. What I didn’t know was that Thai buses usually run late so that they can get as many passengers as possible, so the f#%&-ing bus didn’t leave until 11:50!
