What’s in name? Well, as I learned, the real name of Bangkok is a bigger, hotter mouthful than a cup of harissa sauce.
Meaning?? Try this (from Wikipedia) . . .
Krung-d?vamah?nagara amararatanakosindra mahindrayudhy? mah?tilakabhava navaratanar?jadh?n? pur?ramya utamar?janiv?sana mah?sth?na amaravim?na avat?rasthitya shakrasdattiya vishnukarmaprasiddhi. It translates to “The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarm.”
And, all that is absolutely, indispitable, totally true.
My flight from Kualah Lumpur landed at Bangkok’s throughly modern airport at 6am. Shortly before landing, Thai Airlines served an excellent westrn style breakfast. I had only my carry-on bag, so after swift and trouble-free movement through customs and immigration, by 6:30 I was ready for a day of touring. I needed to be back at the airport by 6pm to catch my flight out.
Now I’m one of those people who think that spending less than one week in any new city is a waste of effort. Here I am, ready to “do” Bangkok in les than a day.
To complicate matters, I was unable to sleep on the plane during the 10 flight. I’ve arrived exhausted. At 73 years old I do not lack energy, but it just doesn’t last as long as it used to without sleep.
Before I can take any tour, I’ll need at least an hour of sleep and the only way I’ll get it is in a real bed. First order of business, is find a hotel that I can crash in for that long. That’s how I wound up in a whore house. Where else can you rent a bed by the hour?