A Quick Stop in Bangkok

After a couple of mini bus transfers I got on the night bus from Krabi to Bangkok, which was actually quite comfortable. I started the trip with two seats to myself, but the guy behind me, Luke, was getting dripped on by the air-conditioner so he moved up to sit next to me. This was lucky for me because I figured I would find a place to stay when we got there, but we arrived early and in the dark I felt a bit lost. He was part of a group of five Australians who had been to Bangkok many times and they invited me to tag along with them to find a place to stay. We all ended up in single rooms a few blocks away from the hustle and bustle of Kho San Road. The room was just big enough to fit a twin bed and my backpack. It had only a window to the hallway, no outlets, and a shared bath, but what did I expect for 250 baht (about eight dollars) in Bangkok?

The nice thing about arriving so early was that I was up and out exploring the city before any of the other tourists. I hit the Grand Palace, the Emerald Budda, and Wat Pho all before 11am. The architecture of the palace and watswas completely different from what I had gotten so used to in Korea and I really enjoyed it.

Right outside the palace I came across a rather interesting sight - a massive barber shop set up on the sidewalk. There were tents with no less than 30 people getting their hair cut beneath them. Many of the barbers attempted to gain my business, but with no success. I walked on to the black briefcases I had read about in my guidebook.If a black briefcase is set out in front of a person on the sidewalk it signifies that he/sheis a palm reader. I knew that it was a bit of a joke, but I was fine with spending 50 baht for a little fun. The first one I saw was an older man who said he spoke English because he had been a teacher. He of course told me all good things – that I would live a long life, marry someone I loved, have children, and be very successful – all in all, the fortune I wanted to be told.

In the afternoon I walked up to Vimanmek Palace taking every side street possible. At one point I was walking along a canal and found myself on the outskirts of a small slum, I went to turn around, but the local men told me to keep going. I ended up walking on rotting wooden planks through what appeared to be people's living rooms, but everyone kept pointing to go straight. When I eventually got to what I thought was the palace it wasn't, but the woman behind the counter said that someone would give me a ride and she pointed out the door. I got in a golf cart and Joe, as he introduced himself, gave me a ride. He greatly enjoyed his 15 minute English lesson and was waiting to give me another ride when I walked out of the palace.

The palace itself was nice, but would have been much nicer if the teak wood hadn't been painted over. When you arrive you have to put everything in a locker, as they don't want pictures taken inside. The second I closed the locker I realized that I had forgotten to take out my shoulder cover up. The woman who was helping me said it was no problem that I could borrow something like many of the people that were in shorts or tank tops. The tops were all horrible Hawaiian shirts, but for some reason I was the only one with a bright orange one. Three different groups of people felt the need to point this out to me. Luckily, as everyone's cameras were in lockers, there is no photographic evidence of me wearing the hideousness that was that shirt.

I decided to save my feet for the sunset walk I wanted to do and attempted to get my first taxi. I had been warned of a couple of scams that the taxi drivers pull on the foreigners and was told to always ask for the meter to be turned on. The first taxi driver quoted me 80 baht, I said “Meter”, he said “70”, I said “Meter”, he said “60 with a shopping trip”, I said “Meter”. He went down the line to see who would turn on his meter and the seventh and last one was the only one who would. I got back for 50 baht with no shopping trip. (A shopping trip is when they are given gas money for bringing you into a shop.)

In my guide book it suggested watching the sunset over Wat Arun from the opposite side of the river. I attempted walking along the river, but there isn't a river walk like in most cities. The only place I could get a glimpse of the Wat was a boat taxi port where they asked me everywhere I was going every two seconds. I gave up on the sunset, but my walk took me through a bunch of really great markets.

I headed back to my guesthouse and met up for dinner with the Australians. We had fantastic food and I even got to try frog legs for the first time. It was a birthday for one of them, so we celebrated with buckets from one of the bars on the sidewalk.

I decided to move on to Chang Mai the next day so I bought an overnight train ticket from a travel agent. It rained almost the entire day so I spent my day walking around and ducking into cafes when it started pouring. Because of the rain I headed to the train station early figuring it would be something new to see. Hundreds of people were sitting on the floor of the train station and I joined for some people watching. Suddenly at six o'clock I heard some music and everyone stood up. I followed suit and waited till the song was over to ask what was going on. Apparently at eight every morning and six every evening the song is played and sung by everyone in public places showing respect for the Queen.

Ten minutes before the train's departure I found my cabin. It was a sleeper with four beds. I shared it with a Thai couple with a one year old and a German man about my age. The baby was super cute and would come to me every chance he got. I spent the evening talking with two men I met, an American and a Japanese. We were joined by a rather intoxicated Thai man who spoke exactly one word of English - nickname. He spent his entire evening trying to get us as drunk as he was, but was not successful as he fell asleep on the American every 10 minutes.

The next morning I found the best part of the Thai train – you can stick your head out the window! The scenery was beautiful and even better with the wind in your face.