Transportation

Is it sad that the proudest accomplishment of my day was getting to work all by myself? Yes, when you live in the United States, drive a GPS-enabled car, and work 10 minutes away from your house. But, for me, it's quite an accomplishment. My office is in Nonthaburi, north of Bangkok, and is a little difficult to get to when you do not own a car. Luckily for me, there have been TDYers staying and the embassy provides a vehicle from downtown Bangkok to Nonthaburi. So, I've been hitching a ride with them. However, this week, there are no TDYers and I was left to navigate my way to work.

Today, excited by the possibility of getting to work all by myself and apprehensive of getting lost in the mess that are Bangkok roads, I began my journey. First mode of transportation: motorbike. This part was easy - I take a motorbike to the BTS Skytrain almost everyday. (I am NOT a morning person and the idea of walking to the BTS, regardless of the weather, at 7 in the morning is enough to make me roll over every morning and sleep the extra 15 minutes.) The motorbikers even know me now and rather than walking down the street to the corner, they come pick me up as soon as I poke my head into the sub-soi. The ride is about 5 minutes long and costs 15 baht.

Next step is the Skytrain, again, easy-smeazy. In the morning, the train comes every 5 minutes or so. There's hardly a wait and the train is air-conditioned (sometimes a little too much!). I take it two stops, from Asoke to Ploen Chit. Takes about 10 minutes total (including walking time from the bike to the train) and costs 20 baht.

Now, here comes the challenging part: getting a public van to take me to Ngam Wong Wan. Try saying that three times fast... or just once. No matter how hard I've tried and practiced, I can NOT pronounce those words correctly. I've had complete strangers and friends alike laugh at me (once they understand what I'm trying to say, of course). The "ng" sound is baffling and "wong" and "wan" sound exactly the same to me. Nevertheless, as I waited at the Caltex station for the no. 89 van, a driver, who had stopped to get coffee, caught my attention, called "Ngam Wong Wan," and we headed off. Easy-peazy! The trip took about 25 minutes and cost 35 baht.

High off the adrenaline from finding my van (note: I'm excited from catching a van - this fellow is excited from escaping from a herd of wild elephants), I enjoyed the trip for the first half. Then I began thinking of my next step - while the MOPH is off of Ngam Wong Wan, the van drops you off on the other side of the expressway, and I would need to take a taxi from where the van dropped me off to work. I had a pretty good idea of where I would be dropped off and a tentative idea of where my office was in relation to that, but catching a taxi can be a bit tricky. Often, drivers will say they know where they're going, but then you circle around Bangkok for an hour. But, I was also equipped with the address of my office, written in English and Thai, and the assurances of my co-workers that I could call them and they would give directions to my driver.

I got off the van and headed to the pedestrian overpass to try to catch a taxi heading in the correct direction. (On the way I passed a McDonalds, so guess what, Dad? I finally got that picture of the bowing Ronald!) After hailing a taxi and being rejected twice, I finally got a driver who knew where the MOPH was. Three minutes later, I was at work. Taxi cost 50 baht.

To recap: 4 types of transportation (bike, Skytrain, van, and taxi); 45 minutes; 120 baht ($3.61). And, I got to work before 8am!

World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day was on December 1, and several news organizations highlighted it. Here are some interesting articles:

How Obama is Changing Bush's World AIDS Plan

South Africa vows to treat all babies with HIV

U.N. report: New HIV infections decreasing