#southeast #asia First Stop #bangkok #thailand

BANGKOK - the beginning of an Asian triptych 

A scent that felt so familiar… flashbacks, memories from so many other travels, images, sensations that first stroke me in Seoul, when encountering a territory I had regarded as far, but actually felt so close… the colors here remind me of the evenings spent in Japan… especially the Chao Praya riverside with the vivid boats which resemble a quiet neighborhood I discovered in Tokyo…

I was first struck by the fascinating streets and the heat in Bangkok… my return to Asia suddenly seemed so imperiously necessary. Adrenaline shot through my veins, filling my eyes with expectations, hoping for wonderful surprises… the fantastic und utterly friendly unknown was right ahead of me.

White and golden pagodas, small and bright shrines on corners of such busy and chaotic avenues… the smoke literally exhaled by every vehicle around me made the scenery all the more mysterious (and polluted). Those contrasts I had come to know and love in the Far East were everywhere here as well… street food stands invading the pavement, fruit markets and loud food courts, sizzling pots promising shamelessly cheap and delicious meals, loads of 7-Eleven open 24/7. This metropole breathes life through its every pore!... the sensation is addictive. It feels incredible to be back in Asia, back to this parallel world... And all that was only the first evening after sundown...

Threads of tuk-tuks intertwined with irregular threads of taxis, buses from the last century, cars, people crossing the street defying and despising that temporary inconvenient names traffic, motorbikes turned to speedy scissors cutting through that amalgam of life flow. Restaurants and shops all shapes and sizes. Massage parlors, exotic fruit and juice on sale every 100m. And noise. A lot of it. Plus thousands of eyes following me through that sea of traffic channeled by the immense street. That is how I remember the Si Lom Avenue. A breathtaking sight.

True peace and quiet in Bangkok (desired only by the few) is a luxury good available in isolated oases: the Lumpini Park (my all time favourite), the Saranrom Royal Garden, the majestic temples and the soothing river… the opposite of the colorful Chinatown preparing for the Chinese New Year.

The world ticks differently here… times flows differently… And still, at 6pm, when the National Anthem made itself heard, everybody in the park stopped whatever they were doing and listened ceremoniously… that is the last moment of silence before the hectic and considerably cooler evening takes over the city...