Finally in Bangkok!!!
Yes,am finally in Bangkok and I must say I am really impressed.It's my first time here and I am beyond excited.It is a big city and coming from Cambodia(tiny little hole),it looks amazing.Atleast some tall buildings..phew..the tallest building in Cambodia is..what 10 floors???lol am kidding but seriously Cambodia doesnt have tall buildings period.So yeah happy to see that here.It is really weird how Bangkok reminds me so much of Nairobi in Kenya!!ooh i miss home.Anyway I want to tell you how i got here...
This is how things work in Cambodia,people are treated according to their skin colour.It's not a good thing to say or admit..but its the truth.I did not realise I was black until I came to Cambodia!I know how weird that sounds but it is the truth.In Kenya everybody is black(well almost)so my whole life there was never a situation where anybody's skin colour was an issue,so I never realised I was black...until I came to Cambodia.So I had to get a Thai visa right?and I was busy with work and I thought ill just get an agent to get the visa for me.I call him and I go like 'Id like a Thai tourist visa..he says yeah ok..i say how long can i pick it up he says.depends how fast do i want it..i say i want it in two days..he says well that will be 3dollars(Thai tourist visas are free here)so i go like ok fine..he says ok please bring your passport to my office..i say ok what time to do you close your office coz i get off work at 5pm..he says that's ok we are still open then...i say ok...then he says which country are you from madam..and i say Kenya..then he says..so you are black??then i say uuh yes..then he says am sorry madam you have to go to the embassy yourself because they don't allow agents to get visas for black people!!..and i say .uuuh ok!(what else can i say??rili,it's not his fault)So I had to go the embassy myself.
The Thai embassy in Cambodia is by far the weirdest embassy I have encountered(well i haven't encountered many embassies anyway but still...)Normally a Thai tourist visa is free and it takes 4 days to process..i did not have 4 days.It was Monday and i was travelling on Friday.So i had heard that if you wanted a quick Thai visa all you needed to do is pay the guard some cash and give him your passport andyou can have your Thai visa even the same day.I always thought that was weird and a little risky,what if the guy dissappeared with your passport?i mean?So i went to the Thai embassy early the next morning and the guard was standing there and I just had to do it..gave him my passport,talked to him in Khmer..explained how i needed a visa soon..we haggled over te prce..i convinced him am like a sister to him..what with all the khmer i speak..that should count for something right?lol,so we finnally agreed on the price shook his hand with a 5dollar bill and the next day came picked up my passport it had a 2 months tourist visa,shook his hand with another 5dollar bill and our deal was done.Getting a visa from the guard in an Embassy..It was awesome!!mmh i wish the American embassy was like that too :)
So I took the bus and it was a long trip..i wont talk about that,but there was this white girl who kept staring at me and eventually she came up to me and asked " are you from East Africa by any chance?" and i said yeah i was Kenyan and she goes like " Kwa hivyo waeza ongea Kiswahili?".That means..so you can speak Swahili?I was really surprised!!she could speak perfect Swahili and she knew Gidigidi majimaji(some kenyan musicians)that was really something,I was excited.
Then we get to Bangkok and the place is massive..really nice country.And nobody is staring at me!!that is really weird..am so used to being stared at in cambodia..but here..everyone is minding their own business!!I feel kinda deaf and dumb and mute..i do not know thai language,,it's depressing..well they speak good english but am so used to talking my way out of things in Cambodia coz i know their language fluently..and i hate that i can't hear what they are saying here lol!!Am glad I have a friend here.On my first night out he took me somewhere where i saw things that are....well they were erm..disturbing..wow,am in Bangkok for sure.Well i was warned,but you know me,that got me even more interested!!Ill probably need therapy in future..but for now i wanna know what Bangkok is really about.
This is how things work in Cambodia,people are treated according to their skin colour.It's not a good thing to say or admit..but its the truth.I did not realise I was black until I came to Cambodia!I know how weird that sounds but it is the truth.In Kenya everybody is black(well almost)so my whole life there was never a situation where anybody's skin colour was an issue,so I never realised I was black...until I came to Cambodia.So I had to get a Thai visa right?and I was busy with work and I thought ill just get an agent to get the visa for me.I call him and I go like 'Id like a Thai tourist visa..he says yeah ok..i say how long can i pick it up he says.depends how fast do i want it..i say i want it in two days..he says well that will be 3dollars(Thai tourist visas are free here)so i go like ok fine..he says ok please bring your passport to my office..i say ok what time to do you close your office coz i get off work at 5pm..he says that's ok we are still open then...i say ok...then he says which country are you from madam..and i say Kenya..then he says..so you are black??then i say uuh yes..then he says am sorry madam you have to go to the embassy yourself because they don't allow agents to get visas for black people!!..and i say .uuuh ok!(what else can i say??rili,it's not his fault)So I had to go the embassy myself.
The Thai embassy in Cambodia is by far the weirdest embassy I have encountered(well i haven't encountered many embassies anyway but still...)Normally a Thai tourist visa is free and it takes 4 days to process..i did not have 4 days.It was Monday and i was travelling on Friday.So i had heard that if you wanted a quick Thai visa all you needed to do is pay the guard some cash and give him your passport andyou can have your Thai visa even the same day.I always thought that was weird and a little risky,what if the guy dissappeared with your passport?i mean?So i went to the Thai embassy early the next morning and the guard was standing there and I just had to do it..gave him my passport,talked to him in Khmer..explained how i needed a visa soon..we haggled over te prce..i convinced him am like a sister to him..what with all the khmer i speak..that should count for something right?lol,so we finnally agreed on the price shook his hand with a 5dollar bill and the next day came picked up my passport it had a 2 months tourist visa,shook his hand with another 5dollar bill and our deal was done.Getting a visa from the guard in an Embassy..It was awesome!!mmh i wish the American embassy was like that too :)
So I took the bus and it was a long trip..i wont talk about that,but there was this white girl who kept staring at me and eventually she came up to me and asked " are you from East Africa by any chance?" and i said yeah i was Kenyan and she goes like " Kwa hivyo waeza ongea Kiswahili?".That means..so you can speak Swahili?I was really surprised!!she could speak perfect Swahili and she knew Gidigidi majimaji(some kenyan musicians)that was really something,I was excited.
Then we get to Bangkok and the place is massive..really nice country.And nobody is staring at me!!that is really weird..am so used to being stared at in cambodia..but here..everyone is minding their own business!!I feel kinda deaf and dumb and mute..i do not know thai language,,it's depressing..well they speak good english but am so used to talking my way out of things in Cambodia coz i know their language fluently..and i hate that i can't hear what they are saying here lol!!Am glad I have a friend here.On my first night out he took me somewhere where i saw things that are....well they were erm..disturbing..wow,am in Bangkok for sure.Well i was warned,but you know me,that got me even more interested!!Ill probably need therapy in future..but for now i wanna know what Bangkok is really about.
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