Until I moved to Bangkok I’d never lived in a city. I had lived for a year in London, but at only an hour from my parents’ house in the Weald of Kent, I punctuated my London life with regular(ish) weekends home.
Since husband and I got together (was there a time when we weren’t together?) we always lived close to the countryside – small towns or big villages. We’ve lived close by the sea twice. Before we moved to Thailand we lived in a valley with lovely hills in the background. I think this might be why I sometimes need to get away from the concrete here in Bangkok and find some wilderness.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m loving life in the city. I love the variety of places to eat, things to do, bars to go to and the immediateness of everything in Bangkok. I’m not conscious of needing to get out, but getting away or down to the river improves my mental wellbeing. Sometimes I just need to feed myself views that aren’t concrete or brick.
This is why I have to go to the Chao Phraya River. I can get a river taxi for a few pence and ride up and down the river, pulling over at designated ‘stops’. It’s clear to me that we’re still in a city, but it’s a wide open expanse of water and unpredictable. I love the movement of the river taxis: they whiz along a bit too fast, and you’re not quite sure if you’re going to be sprayed with water… And there’s air rushing past you which is all too uncommon in this tropical heat.
And, I think it may be why I’ve taken to gazing at the sky. Starting with Teddy and Dog, here, I think I’m hunting for landscape in the sky. I’ve had a worrying desire to post pictures of clouds, but stopped myself for fear of … well, appearing barking bonkers
But bonkers or not, these are some of my recent mornings. I get the kids up for school at 5.45am, yes, that’s right: 5.45am.
I see dawn in Bangkok every morning as they get ready for the school bus; I wonder and marvel at the shapes of its beautiful landscape, the hues, and then I go back to bed to sleep until it’s really morning.
