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Part 31: Khaosan Road.....
Not only were these swollen bed bug bites, the itchiest, and most irritating I have ever had, they were causing us an extremely unwelcome situation too.
We did a little research, discovering that sprays alone are not really that effective, and the only thing that can kill the eggs, is a temperature of more than 120 degrees!
Yvonne could potentially infest her entire house In Singapore when she returns, and I would likely infest my condo, or any other hostel on my travels, passing it on to other backpackers.
I did not have the budget to get bug exterminators in to my condo back in Manila, and certainly could not bare much more of these bites. We had to think fast.
The only option available to us was to take our entire backpack contents to the hostel laundry down stairs, first washing, then spin drying our backpacks and clothes. Technically the heat of the tumble dryer would kill the eggs and any bugs, or in theory at least.
So for the next 4 hours, thats exactly what we did.
I had to turn the heat to the maximum on the tumble dryer meaning that our clothes would also likely shrink.
Every single item of our clothing and bags were washed and dried.
Not the most exciting part of my journey or adventure but an equally important one.
The bites of these little blighters were so itchy and swollen, we could ill afford any more. They were driving us both mad!
Once finished, we carefully folded our clothes and repacked them, sealing our backpacks, before finally showering.
In all honesty thats the best we could do given the circumstances. Time will tell if it worked or not.
To give you an indication of the severity of these unwelcome guests, our previous room was turned upside down with masked bug exterminators spending several hours de-contaminating the empty dorm. The hostel took this situation very seriously indeed.
After the bed bug drama, we wanted to head out tonight to take our minds off the last few hours.
We consulted the rest of the group, including a few more travellers and arranged a big night out to hit some of the bars and clubs.
That's exactly what was needed, I think we had enough of the tourist spots for a while.
I mean what visit to Bangkok would be complete with out a trip to see the lady boys right? You hear several stories about some of them being so pretty, or not being able to tell the difference, and some of the best looking girls in Thailand were actually men!
Well, I really had to see this with my own eyes, and the most renowned area for this was Patpong. Only a short distance from Siam Square, easily reachable by cab.
After a few beers and laughs at the hostel to warm up, we made our way there in 2 separate taxis. I honestly had no idea what to expect but was well up for a laugh, especially with the latest addition to our group. Seb, a real character from Toronto Canada, brash, cocky, I liked him straight away.
We stopped for food first when we arrived in Patpong and then made our way to the Lady boy bars.
It was quite an experience I can assure you. Indeed some were really hard to tell the difference, while others quite clearly looked like men in drag.
All smiling and suggestively dressed, they were doing their best to lure people into the bars. Blowing kisses, dancing provocatively, grabbing others, offering massages, along with loud music pumping out of speakers it was quite a sight to see them work it, in ridiculously high platform heels and tight sequin short dresses
We walked up and down the strip a few times, turning around at the night market. Mr Toronto was enjoying the attention, playing up to it too. It was really quite funny.
Personally, unlike so many, I was not in the least bit intimidated by the lady boys. I found them both entertaining and hilarious, quite harmless in fact.
You hear far to many ignorant comments about them, not from me.
Homosexuality and cross dressing is not a crime in Thailand, so 'Kathoey' as they are more widely known here, have always been ignored by the legal system and the police.
Thai people are generally more accepting of differences in others and simply have a live and let live attitude towards people with a different sexual orientation. My advice to anyone easily offended is to stay well away, or if you are up for a laugh then head down to Patpong.
The night was still fairly young so we all decided to then make our way to Bangkok's most well known night spot - Khaosan road. Notoriously famous with backpackers and travellers and thats what it predominantly caters for.
Mr Toronto was eager to not fall victim to the cab drivers hiking up their fares, and went on a mission, zig zagging in the middle of the road between traffic, firstly flagging down then waving away any driver that would not switch on his meter.
To be fair he knew exactly what he was doing. Shouting 'Hey...uncle!!, how much to Khaosan road?'
Making sure the meters were on before getting in.
Finally one guy accepted and before we knew it, all 7 of us somehow bundled into the taxi!
It was so squashed, that I could barely breath. But all of us were in fits of laughter as the alcohol was beginning to kick in. The cabby seemed to be enjoying it too.
Thank god it did not take to long, or I would have wet myself from the laughing. We tipped the cabbie before he dropped us off right at the start of the lively Khaosan road.
Described in author Alex Garlands 'The Beach' as the 'centre of the backpacking universe' and you could see exactly why.
With countless budget hostels and cheap hotels, internet cafes, bars and clubs, restaurants, massage parlours, travel agents, market stalls, and tattoo shops, it was a place where backpackers congregate.
Although packed and buzzing with people, my first impressions were not great really, typically full of the cocky club reps working the streets, and handing out cheap flyers with gimmicky drinks deals.
One in particular was amusing with the worse cockney accent ever, kept repeating he was from London, and tried to convince us that this alone was good enough reason for us to enter his club.
There were also large groups of mainly drunk, young Australian backpackers staggering up and down the road, which wasn't the prettiest sight - but still, we were all in good spirits and decided to just enjoy the night.
The girls at the hostel recommended a venue called 'The Club' saying it was the 'place to be' so we headed there.
Once inside, and despite getting an eyeful of the drunk bare-chested Aussies 'dad dancing' on the main stage, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting.
The DJ was playing a well mixed selection of underground 'progressive' house music, on a pumping sound system, with a quite decent laser display adding to the already building atmosphere.
Then after quickly downing a couple of drinks each, we all hit the packed dance floor.
We spent quite some time goofing around, all dancing together before the club unexpectedly closed at 2am! Thats the law here.
None of us were quite ready to head back just yet, and Yvonne got chatting to a hippie local guy who was fresh out of the 60's. He seemed quite cool and mentioned there was an after club, and invited us all there with him, as he knew the owners.
Outside, the streets were full of drunk loud backpackers emptying the clubs and bars all at the same time, and the Thai hippie guy, with some of his non English speaking friends, eagerly manoeuvred us all through the busy crowds towards this club he was so keen to get us in. Eventually leading us to a pitch black alleyway!!
To say this looked dodgy was an understatement, freaking out some of our group. The hippie guy was insisting it was fine, and to follow him down this narrow dark alleyway.
I don't know why, but me and Mr Toronto were laughing and just followed! Slowly leading our concerned posse after him.
We turned a corner and began to hear muffled music before we reached an entrance to a shabby looking club. The entrance was free and our group were the only non Thais here - we really stood out.
After getting a round of drinks in we didn't exactly join in the fun, instead just choosing to stand in the corner watching the locals dance and sing to the cheesy sounding music for a while.
Then right next to us, 2 guys started arguing and out of nowhere a fight broke out with the pair of them exchanging heavy blows!
Chaos broke out as the door men steamed in and quickly dealt with the fracas. But shortly after they killed the music, switched on the lights and suddenly emptied the club.
It was probably a relief as we were all thinking of ways to escape anyway. To be fair to the hippie guy, he was extremely apologetic to us and rather embarrassed.
Anyway after some much needed junk food, it was time to head back to the Hostel and Mr Toronto worked his magic once more bundling us into another cab for a squashed ride home, pretty much retiring for the night soon as we reached.
The next morning we anxiously checked our limbs for bug bites, and to a huge relief, there were no new additions, it appeared that our plan had worked.
It was my last day in Bangkok and other than some gift shopping, a massage, and popping out to a delicious local cafe, we all chose to hang out at the hostel for the day.
Making full use of the awesome movie room later that evening, slouching in the giant bean bags with munchies and watched The Beach.
My flight was 6am the following morning so I headed off to bed early wishing all my new travel buddies a fond farewell.
Bangkok did not quite hold the same frantic energy as Manila for me but we managed to squeeze in an awful lot in the few days I was here.
Still a fantastic city that would leave a huge mark on me, it was time to move on.
Next stop, Chiang Mai......
- comments
Anna Banana bloody bugs!!!!!!!!!!!