Today was my first day out and about in Bangkok with my mum. We had to go to the National Museum in Thailand so my mum could scan some photos from a book for a presentation she is making at the museum on Monday.

We left the Marriott on the hotel’s Tuk Tuk (pictured here), and journeyed along Sukhumvit until we came to Siam Paragon, a high-end shopping mall that links to the Sky Train.

We hopped on that, and rode all the way out to the major Chao Phraya River. Here, we got on a water taxi down to the end of the river (snaps of which I’ve posted here), until we reached the area of the National Museum, and the Grand Palace where demonstrators from the Northern Provinces are attempting to make it known their dissatisfaction with the current political leader here in Thailand. (We didn’t see any of that going on, we only heard it in a well-hidden – by tents and other temporary structures – square opposite the National Museum.)

I’ve done the ride along the river when I’ve been here in the past, but this time I actually took photos as I felt it was interesting to document the contrast between the extremele poor and the obviously more well-off, if not downright filthy rich, domiciles intermixed along the filthy waterbed. Some of these dwellings one is amazed are still standing in the face of the sometimes harsh wind and rain storms that batter Bangkok frequently during rainy season.

When we got off the ferry, we got another tuk tuk – a much older and less well-kept one – and drove around some crazy streets until we got to the museum. We did our business there, then headed back to Sukhumvit through the river ferry again. This time I got to observe the water, as I stood leaning against the side towards the rear of the packed boat, watching the putrid greenish-brown water swirling, wondering just how much e.coli must reside in there, not sure I even wanted to conceive of the sort of filth that must be hidden beneath the murky depths. The smell coming off the water wasn’t too strong, but when it hit my nose, it was like sewage. I wondered how bad it was now compared to 5 years ago when I was here, and then compared to the 20 years ago when I was here the first time. The whole thing left me somewhat sick to my stomach, though that could have been the heat getting to a very tired me as well, considering I woke up at 4:30 am this morning and only slept fitfully for about another hour before I got up at 6:30 am. It also didn’t help that the poor Thai man standing next to me had the most horrible deformities – his face was swollen to about twice the size of a normal person’s face, making him look like a cartoon character. On top of that, he had large bubbles of skin emerging all over it, and what I saw of his left hand was swollen and misshapen. I don’t know what he had, but I struggled between wanting to stare and figure it out and being so sickened I had to look away. I can’t imagine the kind of life he must have led in a country like this, where human compassion is limited and in small supply. but this kind of thing is everywhere in Thailand.

Once back at Sukhmvit, mum took me to a knitting shop she’d found here – Big Knit Cafe. It was cute – full of interesting, novelty yarns, pattern books and some of the same types of needles I buy back home. The prices, however, aren’t that great – they’re approximately the same as the exhorbitant ones I pay back home in Toronto. Maybe a few dollars cheaper here and there… I recorded some yarns I liked, and have looked them up for pattern inspiration on Ravelry. So far, I have yet to come up with much, but I’ll spend some more time on that before I go back to purchase anything. If I’ve realised one thing about knitting, it’s about as expensive as any other hobby you pretty much can’t make any money off.

Well, that’s it for today. I’m now completely wiped out and looking forward to a very good night’s sleep, before mum and I take off to the National Museum again tomorrow for a course she’s taking on how to give tours there.