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Riiiiiight...last day here, leave tomorrow morning at silly o'clock for Kathmandu.
Bangkok then, or more specificly, Khao San Road where i have spent most of my time... Other travellers reading this who havn't been there yet, heed my words carefully and don't say I didn't warn you!
People say you either love it or hate it on Khao San - Indeed, I managed to do both, most of the time simulataneously which confused myself sometimes. 2-3 days here actually staying on the main street itself should be enough for anyone (not 9 days as I did, but i'm getting to that). The road itself is quite short but completely transforms at night into some crazy market/carnival hybrid with all sorts of stuff going on (want a University Degree or a UK driving Licence? no problem, will only set you back 1000bt or so...). But the road does get very old, very quickly. 95% of all the stores sell exactly the same stuff, usually tshirts (which are actually pretty good but you get sick of seeing the same ones everywhere). It all reeks of tourism, but I knew it would before I arrived. It is THE backpackers hub in Bangkok, often the only Thai people you actually see are the shop people, taxis ppl, barstaff etc. Always crammed with people and always noisey and just generally chaotic it does get to you sometimes, and unlike ,say, New York where you could easily get away from the hectic life by calling into Central park, Bangkok doesnt really have anywhere where you can actually just chill out for free. It is very polluted and dirty - good luck trying to find a bin anywhere, I just tend to look for the biggest rubbish pile and set my rubbish ontop.
The shopkeepers/Tuk Tuk taxis/street venders.... I have never been so close to opening a can of Wupass on complete strangers in my life than I have on these muppets. They just don't leave you alone. Half the time you don't actually want to even walk into a shop, because as soon as you do the guy is over to you, pulling your arm, asking you a hundred questions and literally trying to put the tshirt onto you. Then they follow you around the shop just generally stalking you until you are forced to flee and never return. I think they've got their whole customer service thing a bit wrong...I wonder what Woolworths would be like if we adopted their techniques... If its not the shop keepers, its the people actually physically trying to sheppard you into a suite shop or into their TukTuk taxi. ''Where you go??'' or ''Where you from?'' they tend to shout at you. The trick is not to show them even the slightest bit of attention, thats their window to get to you - if you shake one of the hands of the scary Indian fortune tellers that prowl about alot looking like something out of a bad horror movie, you ARE doomed and he will most likely steal your soul. Any naieve person arriving in bangkok is going to get fleeced at least ten times in their 1st day - example;
- Whatever any 'friendly local' who stops you in the street says, the Grand Palace, Temples etc are not closed today due to a holiday or anything, they just wan't to get you on the back of a Tuk Tuk for their own 'sightseeing tour'. They claim for 10bt they ill take you anywhere in the city all day long..that they may do..eventually, but it will via 20 suit shops, 10 Jewellers and quite possible a brothel or 3. You realise all this soon enough and learn to avoid them like the plague. If I want a taxi or a tuk tuk i will bloody hail one down, ok?!
All sounding a bit negative here, but its all been a good experiance. Highlights of Thailand was the north around Chang Mai (far nicer than Bangkok) and the hilltribe treks in the forests etc. Advice to others staying in bangkok, try to stay on one of the roads parallel to Khao San to avoid alot of the nonsense that goes on, and bring earplugs if you wan't to get some sleep. And don't stay on Khao San for too long, get about the city a bit and make trips to Khao San rather than staying there as, i said, it all gets a bit boring after a while, or as Thais say here quite alot ''Same Same, but different''.
Might get that on a t-shirt actually.
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