Yesterday we arrived as the sun set over this bustling metropolis. Weary, sweaty and smelly we disembarked the city train and headed out into the mayhem of the streets... with a new friend in tow.
Awaiting the train was a doe-eyed German boy with a Justin Bieber haircut and a sorrowful countenance. He told us he was meeting a friend in Bangkok for a month's travel but had been abandoned on the morning of his trip. With puppy dog eyes he asked to share a cab into town.
Having researched the best spots in the city we asked to be taken to the Thewes region, our cabbie wholly flustered swerved into the hard shoulder to examine our map. Eventually, furious that we weren't fluent Thai speakers he got out of the cab to ask some street workers. Finding this hilarious, myself and Conor kept a keen eye on our bags and laughed, Bieber looked ready to collapse into a fit of tears.
Once the cabbie returned we asked to be taken to the backpacker district (which we'd been forewarned was hell on earth) and figured we'd follow the map from there. The cab ride set us back a staggering 77B (Bieber didn't pitch in...) which works out at under €2.
We were unceremoniously dumped at the top of Khao San Road with nothing but our wits and a seeming tonne of luggage. Strapped in we walked along the bustling bars and heaving market stalls until we spotted a sign saying 'Rainbow Hostel'. Relieved we walked to the front desk and were given a key to view our room, our German friend followed suit. Once we got to the top if the stairs we were greeted by a sign "Guests, we ask you no working Thai women in rooms!" which was a worrying start. Walking the mildewed hallway we got as far as a smashed ceiling tile before we deemed it unsafe to venture any further, ashen faced Bieber told us he was going to follow us out (despite our best attempts to shake him).
We ambled along the busy streets for a while, holding hands and soaking it all in until eventually ze German realised we were giving him das boot and excused himself. To avoid the bustle we ducked into a Burger King to reassess our orientation skills and grab a cool drink.
Due to varying English translations we could not seem to pinpoint our location on any of our three maps. Feeling foolish I eventually asked the guy working the till if he could show us, he couldn't, then he asked his friend, he couldn't either, then the manager came out to show us where we were, no idea. Observing all this was a beautiful, slim, tanned and cool French couple who swaggered over, placed their fingers down and identified exactly where we were. Merci!
Conor, who had cleverly packed a compass, saw that we had to head north so we left the restaurant and followed the little green arrow. Realising when we hit a big interchange that the compass' RED arrow was in fact north we set off in the opposite direction.
Having walked for a further twenty minutes we re-examined the scale on our map and realised we had another 30 minutes of walking ahead of us with our rucksacks in the humidity. We abandoned our quest to leave the commercial Backbacker den of iniquity and went in search of the nearest guest house.
Walking door to door we were turned away as it was approaching 10pm and most spots were full. We eventually found a delightful, air-conditioned guesthouse with a smiling receptionist. She showed us their impeccable rooms and laid out the prices, we were gobsmacked! Rooms here cost a minimum of 1000B which was double what we'd been quoted elsewhere. We politely declined and headed back out into the heady night air.
Walking past an exceptionally fancy hotel we were approached by the security guard who asked us if we were staying, we explained that we weren't buy asked the rate. A basic room would set us back 1700B and we told him this was too much. He started to lead us away from the hotel to his friend's guesthouse, walking back alleys an unsettling feeling came over us both and we bailed once we saw the room.
As we walked back to the main streets I stopped for a second and worked out the conversion back to Euros on the original guest house and foolishly realised the room cost approximately €30 for the night. We went straight back with our tails between our legs, were shown to our comfy room and were given a discount as we obviously looked broke and miserable. Success!
After refreshing we went back out to talk the streets of Bangkok. We stumbled across an alley way with trendy bars and a nice mix of travellers and locals. Having walked the length of the street we nestled ourselves at a cool shisha bar based out of an old Honda.
After a few beers we hit the hay after what was a long day. More to come on the general vibe here in Bangkok shortly! Our view from this room ain't quite so fancy!
Glad ye are both safe and well
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