One night in Bangkok
I had three nights in Bangkok all leading up the one that really would count: New Years Eve! What a night that was but first let me tell you about Bangkok, a place, like many other big cities you either love or hate. Turns out I'm a lover.
I got on a bus in Koh Lanta to Bangkok, which I paid 850 Baht (197 SEK/€20) for. It was meant to arrive in Bangkok at around 5.30/6am but instead we were there at 4am. We got dropped by the side of the road about 2km away from Khoa San road where most of us were going. I managed to get the taxi driver down from 600 baht to 200 baht (46 SEK/€4.60) to take me to my hostel, though I knew even with that I was over paying him but it was 4am and I was somewhere in Bangkok! As I showed up it turned out that there were no beds available and I had to wait until midday to check in. So I pushed two wooden chairs together and slept for a few hours, at this stage I'm guess I'm getting used to sleeping anywhere!
I decided to start my Bangkok exploration before I got to check in and decided to head towards the Grand Palace which was only a 15 minute walk from my hostel. As I walked I noticed a couple going the same direction so I asked them if they wanted to try and find this place together. But we didn't make it far, me and the British couple, before a man stopped us and told us that the Palace was closed for tourists because the monks were praying (which was a lie but more on that later). Instead he suggested that we take a tuktuk for 40 baht (9 SEK/€0.90) around some of Bangkok's temples that were free to visit. The reason it was so cheap, he said, was because he would get free petrol from the government by taking us to five different temples and to a tourist agency and a fabric factory. This was a scam! He did take us around a few temples to start with though. First we went to see the Giant Buddha which is exactly that, a giant gold Buddha.
Our next stop was the Lucky Buddha where I banged the gong three times for good luck.
After this it got a bit weird, he took us to the fabric factory which was in fact a tailor. When the realised we weren't buying they basically kicked us out. After that two travel agencies where once again we just asked a few questions before leaving and the finally another tailor that once again kicked us out. But then he took us to the Marble Temple which once again was free and beautiful.
Once we got out he was gone, but after overcoming our feeling of being stranded we soon realised that in fact we were just around the corner from the hostel, back where we started after a free sightseeing tour of Bangkok. We headed for lunch and then made a second attempt to go to the Grand Palace. By the time we got there it was only 45 minutes until closing and an enormous amount of people so we decided to head down to Wat Pho, just next to the palace instead. It is famous for the Reclining Buddha and we paid 100 baht (26 SEK/€2.60) to get in.
After all the temple watching I actually decided to skip the Grand Palace as I was quite happy with the temples I had already seen so instead I went for a Thai massage and the next day I headed to the MBK shopping mall. On my way there I was stopped by a "teacher" who told me the mall which is basically a 6 story gigantic mall with only fakes and an amazing food court, was closed until 2pm and that instead I should go to a Thai boxing match in a Temple -for free. Having learned from the day before I thanked him for his advice but kindly ignored it and continued on my walk through Bangkok.
Then it was time for the big day. New Years Eve in Bangkok. We started off with some drinks at the hostel (the owner gave us free beer). At around 10pm we headed out for some Pad Thai and ordered in buckets and beer towers just in time for midnight. We rang in the new year with lots hugs and kissed between newly found friends.
The night basically consisted of more Pad Thai, people dancing in the street, more drinks and ridiculously long toilet queues. And of course a fight between a drunk former rugby player and 10 Thai men. That was one thing I didn't expect I was going to do in Bangkok!
But I loved it here. Despite being scammed even though I read my guide books warnings before hand despite having a drunk guy waking me up at 3am as he was accidentally climbing in to the wrong bunk bed, I thought Bangkok was pretty amazing!
I got on a bus in Koh Lanta to Bangkok, which I paid 850 Baht (197 SEK/€20) for. It was meant to arrive in Bangkok at around 5.30/6am but instead we were there at 4am. We got dropped by the side of the road about 2km away from Khoa San road where most of us were going. I managed to get the taxi driver down from 600 baht to 200 baht (46 SEK/€4.60) to take me to my hostel, though I knew even with that I was over paying him but it was 4am and I was somewhere in Bangkok! As I showed up it turned out that there were no beds available and I had to wait until midday to check in. So I pushed two wooden chairs together and slept for a few hours, at this stage I'm guess I'm getting used to sleeping anywhere!
I decided to start my Bangkok exploration before I got to check in and decided to head towards the Grand Palace which was only a 15 minute walk from my hostel. As I walked I noticed a couple going the same direction so I asked them if they wanted to try and find this place together. But we didn't make it far, me and the British couple, before a man stopped us and told us that the Palace was closed for tourists because the monks were praying (which was a lie but more on that later). Instead he suggested that we take a tuktuk for 40 baht (9 SEK/€0.90) around some of Bangkok's temples that were free to visit. The reason it was so cheap, he said, was because he would get free petrol from the government by taking us to five different temples and to a tourist agency and a fabric factory. This was a scam! He did take us around a few temples to start with though. First we went to see the Giant Buddha which is exactly that, a giant gold Buddha.
Our next stop was the Lucky Buddha where I banged the gong three times for good luck.
After this it got a bit weird, he took us to the fabric factory which was in fact a tailor. When the realised we weren't buying they basically kicked us out. After that two travel agencies where once again we just asked a few questions before leaving and the finally another tailor that once again kicked us out. But then he took us to the Marble Temple which once again was free and beautiful.
Once we got out he was gone, but after overcoming our feeling of being stranded we soon realised that in fact we were just around the corner from the hostel, back where we started after a free sightseeing tour of Bangkok. We headed for lunch and then made a second attempt to go to the Grand Palace. By the time we got there it was only 45 minutes until closing and an enormous amount of people so we decided to head down to Wat Pho, just next to the palace instead. It is famous for the Reclining Buddha and we paid 100 baht (26 SEK/€2.60) to get in.
After all the temple watching I actually decided to skip the Grand Palace as I was quite happy with the temples I had already seen so instead I went for a Thai massage and the next day I headed to the MBK shopping mall. On my way there I was stopped by a "teacher" who told me the mall which is basically a 6 story gigantic mall with only fakes and an amazing food court, was closed until 2pm and that instead I should go to a Thai boxing match in a Temple -for free. Having learned from the day before I thanked him for his advice but kindly ignored it and continued on my walk through Bangkok.
Then it was time for the big day. New Years Eve in Bangkok. We started off with some drinks at the hostel (the owner gave us free beer). At around 10pm we headed out for some Pad Thai and ordered in buckets and beer towers just in time for midnight. We rang in the new year with lots hugs and kissed between newly found friends.
The night basically consisted of more Pad Thai, people dancing in the street, more drinks and ridiculously long toilet queues. And of course a fight between a drunk former rugby player and 10 Thai men. That was one thing I didn't expect I was going to do in Bangkok!
But I loved it here. Despite being scammed even though I read my guide books warnings before hand despite having a drunk guy waking me up at 3am as he was accidentally climbing in to the wrong bunk bed, I thought Bangkok was pretty amazing!
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