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First of all - it seems I've lost or deleted my West and East Oz blog (crap!). So I'll be back to that soon. In the meantime here is the story so far in South East Asia...
Bangkok - Thailand (population 7.7 million)
Arriving late into Bangkok airport I decided it was best I book and stay in a nearby hotel. I'm not that brave nor do I have the patience to be fighting my way through the epee center that is Khao San road at midnight.
In the morning I honestly felt like I'd been hit by a bus. I've not suffered with jet lag up until now, but for some reason it smacked me in the face. So after a lie in I made my way to the city via taxi, train and another taxi to the city. I'd not appreciated how bloody big this place is. It took me well over an hour and a half to reach central Bangkok, but all in all only costing me about 200bt, which is a very good price at around 4 quid.
First things first I need to start with is sorting out my visa for India. A simple task you would think right?.......No!
Stepping off at Asok station (still 45 minutes from where I want to be) I was still a little dazed by my surroundings and made my way to the Indian consulate office. Thirty minutes later I arrived. But again not taking into account the sheer scale of Bangkok, added heat factor and a 17kg bag (Thank god Ben culled by bag before leaving Oz). I arrived on the fifteenth floor of the Indian consulate, only to be told that they only accept new application up until 2pm, it's now 2:15. Why oh why does it always happen to me ;-)
Once I'd worked out the maze that is the Bangkok's rail network, rang the sweat out from my t-shirt, I made my way from Asok to Phaya Thia station. Phaya Thia is the nearest and easiest station traffic wise to catch a cab into Khao San road. After the taxi took a very peculiar route which added about 70bt to the fare I was finally here……..Oh my days! (note to self - Don't take pink taxis, they rip you off).
Next job was to find somewhere to stay and having done my research I'd again thought this would have been a simple task, but yet again I was proven wrong. Searching hotels, hostels and guest houses I was struggling to find something that was in my price range and fit for habitation.
After an afternoon of wondering I gave in and checked into Jose Guest House. Think 'The Beach' and Leanardo in a dodgy room in the opening scene……Well that was me. No blinds, dirty bed sheets, no air-con and a strange pong coming from the so called bathroom. Still I was just glad to be behind a closed door and away from the madness outside.
Showered and unpacked I made my way back to Khao San road for a relaxing evening stroll (yeah right!) and a spot pad-Thai street food. I managed an hour before flagging and heading back to hit the sack.
Slowly getting used to my new surroundings, noises and smells I managed to get a couple of hours sleep. Before I knew it I was up and back on the road to the Visa office, but with a little more confidence that I knew where I was going this time.
Application submitted and six working days to wait I'm now tied to Bangkok until next Thursday. This seems like it's going to be a long and interesting stay, as I had only intended to stay for 3-4 nights. Still, it's going to warm me up for the rest of Thailand.
For night two I've spent a 100bt more and upgraded to an only slightly better guest house. Still has the smells and what not, but I do have air-con and don't have to sleep worrying that something is going to eat me in the night (bed bugs).
Exploring the area it's obvious that this is still very much a struggling democracy. Heaps of street food vendors, stalls selling anything and everything, from the well-known fake brands to Thai massages. Mixed amongst the madness is the darker side - homeless, beggars with some form of disfigurement to children as young as three sent out to beg. It's easy to forget that people are just trying to make a living, so it's time to sit back, embrace and just accept that it's how they do things here.
Home of the rip off designer imitated goods - Khao San road is bursting with it. Whatever you want from designer watches, bags, wallets, electrical goods through to pants and socks, this place has it all. One thing you can be sure of though is that it's all a pile of s***e! Despite the genuine effort that has gone into making these products look authentic (for which I give them 10/10) nothing will last, as I found out first hand.
My ipod headphones have failed on me and I thought what better place to buy a cheap set then good old Khao San road. I found a boxed pair which had been packaged perfectly. They even came complete with the well-known all frills apple packaging. After bringing the price down as much as I could (standard practice when buying most things in Thailand) I think I ended up still paying six pound. Now you would think that having spent 5 years at BAA dealing with third party renewals that this would be a walk in the park……think again!
The thing here is that even though at the back of your mind you know that this purchase may end up being a total waste of money you still grip hold to the thought that you're getting a good deal compared to what you would pay back at home. This is where most people fall into the trap of buying something that is WAY overpriced, even in Thailand standards, and gives the vendor a good reason to pack up and take a half day.
After getting back to the guest house I up packed my proud purchase and plugged them into my iphone. My excitement was replaced with sheer disappointment once the sound quality came to life. As a result I'm now back to using my duff old pair and have binned by first and last Khao San road purchase.
Traffic rules which I'm sure have been thrown together by the locals - motor bikes and tuk tuks weaving in and out of congested smog filled streets, jammed with cars, two way roads turned into a free for all and continuous horn blowing. The only saving grace here is the sky trains, which again are a notch up from what we're used to in the UK, and bloody cheap to travel on.
Another observation is the high number of westerners with Thai brides. This really is where to lonely come to find love, or as I spotted the other night - a western traveler far too drunk to know what he is taking back home. I think duct tape had been the winner in these cases because there was nothing else feminine about this Bangkok lady ;-)
By night it's much the same as above, plus the invitation for ladies (maybe boys) and ping pong shows…..really!
Dark side streets off the main strip open into a labyrinth of lanes, leading to more street vendors, guest houses and mobile bars (my personal favorite). I spent a good couple of hours in one of these mobile bars. Complete with flashing neon lights decorating the cart, beer and cocktails and a few tables and chairs just dotted on the road and you've got yourself a bar - brilliant!
Day three and I'm warming to Bangkok but really need a decent bed and a good night sleep. I've decided to move further down the eastside of the river to Silom. More of a business district it's a lot more chilled out, but still only a stone throw away from everything and great for metro and BTS links.
Here in Silom I've discovered Saphai-Pae back packers. Cheaper than the dodgy haunts in Khao San road and probably one of the best hostels I've ever stayed in….period! At only 300bt a night (around 6 pound) you could argue that this is expensive for a hostel, but it really was an amazing price for what you got. Clean bedrooms (with your own light and not one but two personal plug sockets - other backpackers will understand where I'm coming from here), modern, free internet, decent showers and good food. Hence it did not take me long to make the decision to hang here for the rest of my stay in Bangkok.
The only thing I'm missing is company and this hostel seems to be lacking places to interact as you would normally in most places. It had too much of a hotel feel, so people really did keep themselves to themselves. I was starting to lose it slightly and really wanted to meet someone. This was not helped by some stuck up American who really thought he was too good to speak with anyone, unless they had a US accent. At first I thought he was just shy, but after three failed attempts at getting a response from him I decided he was just a twat.
One afternoon I took to my bed and watched 'The Beach' for a bit of travelling inspiration. A few lines in this film really stood out for me:-
"Never refuse an invitation; never resist the unfamiliar; never fail to be polite; never outstay your welcome and keep your mind open and suck in the experience, and if it means travelling alone……well then f*** it" ;-)
After a little me-time I headed out on to the roof balcony for a smoke and ended up meeting Reece, a chap from Manisa in Australia (nicknamed Twilight - due to is resemblance to Jacob). Having never been outside of his hometown in Oz, and never outside the country he was clearly a little shocked by the whole experience of being in Bangkok. Lucky he'd found me ;-)
This gave me the little boost I needed as I soon realised that everyone goes through the same process. In a more spontaneous natured Gavyn, I asked if he's fancy going for a drink on Khao San road. A quick response of "yes" followed by a short taxi ride and we're doing it Khao San style.
Trying everything from Chang, Vodka buckets and even eating deep fried bugs from a street vendor (which Reece proceeded to spew back up on the road) it was defiantly a much needed release. We also ended up drinking with a couple of girls from Sweden (Note to self - must tell people my orientation up front in future).
Over the next couple of days Reece and I made a day trip out of the city to try out a spot of bamboo rafting, elephant riding and a walk across the bridge over the river Kwai. All very commercial, but still a day out from Bangkok. Of course there was also a couple of visit to a few of the many temples that make up Bangkok ;-)
I'm not religious by any means, but you can't help but feel a sense of spirituality when you're in a temple, and just generally walking around the city. This could be something to do with the heaps of monks walking the street, but who knows. There is one thing here that I think we lack in the UK, and that this respect for one another, regardless of status, and even if there is nothing material that you can do for someone (I could be wrong, but that's the feeling I get), and this is held together by core values baked into this country.
With one more day left there was enough time to collect my Visa, passport and book my train ride from Bangkok Hualamphong station to Phitsanulok (halfway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai).
I've also made a little alteration and addition to my adventure. After much deliberation I've moved my flight dates from India forward by a couple of weeks so that I can add Berlin as my short break stop before heading back to the UK in May. Why you ask? Just because I can and it's my trip. Plus Foster the People are playing and I'm dammed if I'm going to miss them completely this year ;-)
For my final night I met up with Lisa from Oz (a work and colleague of Chris') who I met in Sydney. Lisa is working out here for the week, so it was really nice to catch up and get treated to dinner. Thanks Lisa.
A farewell handshake with Reece (Yes normal gentleman handshake boys!), and then to bed for my 6am start out of Bangkok
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