Paint the Town Red

All good things must come to an end. And so I am enjoying my last night in Bangkok, before boarding a flight to climates less pleasant tomorrow. The trip to Bangkok from Four Thousand Islands in Laos was long, uneventful and hard on the back side, but I got here.

And so now it’s time to wrap up this trip. It’s been a while since I last travelled in South-East Asia. Things haven’t really changed that much now that the effects of Covid aren’t visible any more.

What I’ve posted gives a  mere glimpse of all that I have seen and done. Things go off on interesting tangents all the time. For example, this morning I went into a cafe that turned out to be a fan space for K-pop and other Asian teenage stars. There was a private space upstairs, where fan clubs could hold birthday parties for their idol. And if that idol was Thai, then they would more than likely drop by to say hello to their fans. Apparently these two very K-poppy young gentlemen are among the hugest idols in Thailand at the moment. 

Once they were pointed out to me, I started seeing their faces everywhere - even on the Bangkok Sky Train - a wonderful way of getting round town without being stuck in traffic.

Bangkok is a huge hub for business in Asia. Countless companies have offices here - and anything you might want to buy you are sure to find. Today I took a walk around two of the local shopping malls - one upmarket with its Armanis and Guccis, and another more down to earth with knock-off designer wear and room to bargain. These malls are monstrously huge - and have just started bringing out the Chinese New Year’s decorations - year of the dragon.

I grew weary or walking and trying to avoid enthusiastic sales personnel and slightly claustrophobic just trying to walk through these monster malls - and these were just two of the dozens around town. The second mall had 8 floor full of ... stuff. I gave up after two and escaped to pack my meagre belongings in preparation for my departure tomorrow.

The things I will leave behind and miss are, apart from a decent climate, smiling people and beautiful nature: Sounds, Tastes and Colours.

Sounds, since nature is predominently quiet in the heart of winter. There are no leaves to rustle in the wind, and the few hardy birds that decide to spend winter in Finland, are not exactly very vocal during the coldest months. 

I wish I could add the sound file with the evening song of frogs recorded from the outdoor restaurant of my guesthouse in Don Khone, Laos! Instead you’ll have to make do with a picture of the full moon reflected on the still waters of the Mekong, which is what I was looking at as I listened to the frogs.

Tastes, since fruit, fruit, glorious tropical fruit just doesn’t tastes as sweet back home. Imported too raw, tropical fruit will do its best to mature, but a mango bought back home is likely to rot before it ripens. A special shout out to all those glorious fruit smoothies - I’m particularly partial to watermelon, passion fruit and mango smoothies. Be still my beating heart!

Colours, since Finland in winter is, alas, monochrome. Even people’s winter coats tend to be black - safest not to brighten things up too much after all. Here not only nature but buildings, decorations and everyday objects are proudly and loudly saturated in colour.

They certainly know how to paint the town red! One more thing to miss.