到达曼谷 – Arriving in Bangkok

11/27/2025 星期四， Thursday, the 27th day of our Down Under to Eastern Delight trip

又是换城市的一天。虽然从清迈飞到曼谷只要一个多小时，但我们最终抵达曼谷酒店时已经是傍晚五点多了。原定 12:15 的航班延误了整整一个小时，飞机直到 1:55 才起飞。清迈机场的设计也实在让人无奈：登机和下机居然走同一条通道。正在排队登机的人，正如果遇上其他航班下飞机的乘客，只能原地卡住等那些人先过去。办理托运更是繁琐，第一步在机器上打印登机牌和行李牌；第二步走到另一个机器称重打印收据；第三步再排队把行李交给人工柜台。现场拥挤、混乱，让人哭笑不得。

Another day, another city. Although the flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok takes just over an hour, it was already past five in the evening by the time we finally reached our hotel in Bangkok.

Our originally scheduled 12:15 flight was delayed by a full hour, and the plane didn’t take off until 1:55. Chiang Mai Airport’s layout was also baffling: boarding and disembarking passengers actually use the same corridor. So if you happen to be lining up to board just as another flight is unloading, everyone gets stuck in place waiting for the arriving passengers to squeeze through. Checking in luggage was another ordeal — first you print your boarding pass and bag tags at one machine; then you go to a different machine to weigh your bags and print a receipt; then you queue again to hand your luggage to an actual staff member. The whole scene was crowded and chaotic, equal parts frustrating and absurd.

到曼谷后，打 Grab 的过程同样让人抓狂。上一次 2019 年来曼谷时，大概还没有 Grab，因此机场的设计不是很友好。我们在指定的 Grab 区等车等了二十多分钟，人流密集、车辆混乱，从机场到酒店又花了一个半小时，堵车、修地铁、道路封闭，统统赶上。折腾了看似一整天，终于在六年之后，我们又回到了曼谷。

After arriving in Bangkok, getting a Grab was just as maddening. The last time we came in 2019, Grab wasn’t really a thing yet, so the airport isn’t designed with it in mind. We waited more than twenty minutes in the designated Grab area, packed with people and swarmed by cars going every which way. Then the ride to the hotel took another hour and a half — traffic jams, subway construction, road closures, we hit everything. After what felt like an entire day of hassle, we finally made it back to Bangkok, six years later.

这次我们把酒店又选在了最爱的考山路附近。放好行李后，马上走到旁边那家熟悉的小饭店，点上第一瓶冰凉的啤酒。和 2019 年相比，这里几乎没什么变化，不过没看到Ta们的那只猫了。

This time we chose a hotel again near our favorite Khao San Road. After dropping off our bags, we immediately walked to that familiar little restaurant next door and ordered our first cold beer. Compared with 2019, almost nothing here has changed — except we didn’t see their cat this time.

晚餐我们去了 Jok Phochana，再一次重温当年的记忆。Jok 依然在那个火灶后掌勺，动作熟练，火光在他脸上映照着，味道还是记忆中的那份可口。我拿出六年前拍的视频给他看，他当时在镜头前跳舞。Jok 看了之后非常开心，还主动和我们握手，然后特地在我今天的镜头前又表演了一下。

For dinner we went to Jok Phochana, reliving the memories once again. Jok was still behind that same stove, cooking with the same practiced rhythm, the firelight flickering across his face, and the food tasting just as good as we remembered. I showed him the video I took six years ago, where he was dancing in front of the camera. Jok was delighted when he saw it, shook our hands, and even did another little jig for my camera today.

那个大蒜胡椒猪肉太好吃了，吃完了一盘，又点了一盘，Ta们的价格还是那么便宜，这6个菜，加两瓶啤酒，一共是720泰铢

The garlic-pepper pork was so good that we finished one plate and ordered another. Their prices are still unbelievably cheap — six dishes plus two beers came to only 720 baht ($22.00).

晚饭后，我们走进考山路一带，让自己重新投入那股混乱又迷人的氛围里。这里依旧人山人海，热闹得几乎让空气都在震动。本来还担心经过疫情，游客会少了、活力会减弱，但事实完全相反，考山路依然是记忆中那个永远沸腾的地方。这种嘈杂、这种混乱、这种被人潮和音乐包围的感觉，就是我们最喜欢的曼谷味道。

After dinner, we wandered into the Khao San Road area and let ourselves sink back into that chaotic, irresistible atmosphere. It was still packed shoulder to shoulder, so lively it felt like the air was vibrating. We’d wondered if the crowds might thin out after the pandemic, if the energy might fade, but it was the exact opposite — Khao San Road was every bit as lively and chaotic as before. We’re not really fans of being packed into loud places, but walking through it again still carried that familiar Bangkok atmosphere we remembered.

The bear was also excited to be in Bangkok…小熊到了曼谷也兴奋得不得了…