The flight and immigration check into Bangkok went smoothly. I quickly found a shuttle bus to Kho San road, an area in the middle of the city popular with backpackers, where I would look for a cheap room. My first impression of the city from the motorway was that it seemed very clean and modern. Had expected it to look a bit more like India after being in Taiwan but on first look seemed cleaner than most places in the UK.
After 45 minutes the bus arrived at Kho San, it wasn’t exactly what I had been expecting. The scene was a bit like a strip on a Mediterranean Island. Lots of bars and loud dance music playing. I arrived just after midnight and spent a sweaty 30minutes looking for a guest house that had vacancies….all the cheap places seemed to be full. Eventually had to stay in a mid range hotel that was above my budget but must admit it was nice to have a good shower and soft bed to lie on after the travel day.
That evening I ventured out into the road and was surprised again to see how touristy the street was. ( see photo) About 95 percent of the people you walked by were westerners and about 50 percent of those seemed to be obnoxious drunkards……oh well it was a temporary location….Had some street food…the famous Kho San Pad Thai, a plate of noodles with egg, peanuts and chilli, really amazing, tasty and good value at around 50 pence a plate.
Crashed out in the hotel room and slept like a log not long after.
The next morning I found a really cheap no frills guest house on one of the roads near to Kho San, the room was very basic similar to the one at the start of “the Beach”. Had an internet café downstairs though and was well within budget at 3 pounds a night….bargain!
After shifting my gear to the new room went out to explore the city…The sun was shining and after my initial reservations with the Kho San area things were looking up….well not every thing was perfect…I slipped on the stairs on the way out of the hotel and sprained my ankle quite badly would make for a painful days sight seeing …After busting my PC earlier in the week seemed like the bad luck was continuing…damn it for some reason have become really clumsy of late…..maybe its travel fatigue? ( actually my run of bad luck was to continue for the next 7 days or more…. see later and next instalment for more unfortunate incidents)
Walked down to the river and chilled in a park for a while , then went to explore an impressive series of temples along the riverside near the royal Palace. The temples or “Wats” here are amazingly decorated, one of which contained the largest reclining Buddha statue in the world( see various photos), They are Buddhist but resemble a cross between a Hindu temple and a Chinese Taoist temple in design. A good juxtaposition between the last 2 countries I had been to. Later I caught a boat across the river and spent an hour checking the view from a steep sided temple pagoda while listening to some really chilled devotional music ….a really cool way to finish the day. By the time I got back my ankle was really killing me so got a few cheap cans of bear in the local 7-11 ate some more Pad Thai and then chilled in the hotel room playing some guitar before falling asleep before midnight…Had definitely turned my sleep clock around after so many late nights going to sleep in Taipei.
The next morning I was up just after 7am. Had set aside a day to go to the Chinese embassy in Bangkok and get a visa for later in the trip. Actually worked out half the price to do it in Thailand than it would have in the Uk. I had read that the office got busy after 10am so aimed to be there at opening time of 9am .
Got a motorbike taxi to the MRT station and then caught a train across the city to the embassy. When the cab driver dropped me at the station I had noticed he was really happy when I paid him and he shook my hand vigorously …. I just assumed cabbies in Thailand were very happy …..till later in the day when I realised I was missing a thousand Bhatt note ( roughly 20 pounds) after checking every where for it, and then everywhere in my hotel room later. I realised where it had gone… The thousand baht note is a similar colour to the hundred baht note. When I paid the cabbie I must have given him a thousand by accident……he either thought I was giving him a ridiculous tip or just ignored the mistake…either way could see why he was so happy now…( damn it more bad luck… I swore I would be more careful in future )
Anyways back to the embassy…I arrived around 9.15 and the office resembled an Indian train station…got a ticket for the counter and saw that there were already 320 people in the queue before me…damn it was going to be a long morning …….two an a half hours later my number flashed up on the visa counter and I handed in my application , It was approved within a minute ( maybe due to the traffic in the office) and I was told to come back after 3pm to collect.
Killed some time that afternoon in a large electronics market nearby ….in fairness it was just as good a the ones in Taiwan and a lot cheaper…regretted not waiting to get my PC fixed in Thailand now…after that went to the largest park in the city which was in immaculate condition…Fairplay my initial appraisal of Bangkok ( central city anyway 0 was correct it was a really nice and clean place to live.
After picking up my visa ( had to wait another 1.5hours in a queue) headed back to the MRT station in town, then spent 2 hours walking back to Kho San through China town. China town was amazing. like Taiwan but with a Thai twist, really enjoyed exploring the markets and street food stalls.
Once back at Kho San had another cheap night with 7-11 beer, street noodles and guitar playing. For some reason had been feeling really anti-social since I got to Thailand…not in a bad way though…. was just enjoying my own company…maybe a reaction to spending 6 nights in a tent with 2 other people the week before
Next day I headed to the Laos and Cambodian embassies to get more visas…it was possible to get visas on entry for both these countries, but had heard tales that the boarder guards are in the habit of asking for bribes when issuing stamps, and with my passport about to have less than 6 months validity inn didn’t want to take any chances…..
The Laos visa took about 2 hours to process and the Cambodian one about 5 minutes…both embassies gave me 60 day visas for about 20 quid …this resolved my passport issues …result!. Walked back through china town again and then went out in the evening to explore some adjoining roads to Kho San ….was actually growing to enjoy the Kho San vibe after a few days…there were quite a few cool little bars alongside the larger loud trashy ones, and plenty of musicians ( of varying quality ) performing in the area….
The following day I got up late and spent the afternoon checking out the royal palace ( really amazing ) and some of the local museums….That evening I booked a bus ticket to an island called Kho Chang where I planned to spend the next week on the beach. The Island had been recommended to me by Rob, who had been there a few years back, as somewhere less touristy than the more popular party islands in the south. ( things would not quite work out as planned but you’ll have to wait till the next instalment to find out why).
Finished the day by going to some local guitar shops and checking out ridiculously cheap guitars that I no longer needed…oh well. Talked to some local vagrant looking types who were interested in what I was doing in the area…the vibe away from the Kho San area was so different….. very relaxed though slightly rough round the edges in parts, the locals are very friendly and always smiling and laughing…..
Had another early night as per the previous four……have to say I really enjoyed Bangkok. Only saw a small part of the city but thanks to my visa runs and long walks back it seems I had seen a lot more of the city than most of the other travellers I had met who were passing through…..
Next stop Kho Chang the beach for a week of chilling ( actually my experience on Kho San would be far from chilled for various reasons, but will divulge more details next time…………..)
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