Day 12 - Early starts, China town, FLASHpacking really begins, and views from up high

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Although we said we were annoyed the train attendant who woke us before we reached Bangkok it was actually really interesting to watch out of the window on the last hour of the journey, we saw so many night markets and basically watched the outskirts of the city begin to wake up.

After arriving back in the City of Angels we managed to brush off the rip off taxi people and get a taxi driver who would use his meter to take us to the Hilton. We were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves! Although he managed to get lost, he did finally get us there and for a lot cheaper than the others wanted, we gave him a ‘big’ (relative to the amount he charged) tip to say thanks for being honest and he seemed super grateful, which was nice. The taxi ride was great, as we watched the dark night give way to the light of morning and saw monks out collecting alms.

We arrived at the Hilton just after 6am, in a bit of a bedraggled mess after a night on a train. Obviously our room wasn’t ready yet, and unfortunately we could not use the showers in the fitness area until 7am, so we just changed in the toilets, left our bags with the concierge and hit the city. We got the hotel shuttle boat across the river and then the public ferry north, and hit china town. It was amazing.

We started off in Little India, marvelling at the smells and colours, even at 7am in the morning. We moved down into China town and into Sampeng Lane, one of the famous market streets. It was crazy busy already (to us, although as the morning got busier we realised it was actually relatively quiet!!). We saw stall holders setting up and as we walked along the lane (which was massively, massively long and probably took us about ¾ hour to walk it!) the busy-ness increased as stalls were fully set up and trading for the day. It was like being lost in a Moroccan souk at times. It was crazy how stall after stall in each section could sell pretty much the same thing (big sections of plastic hair clips, blingy jewellery, fake Disney stuff, hello kitty things, shoes, bags etc) yet still be busy. Coupled with the stalls either side of the lane you had motorbikes and vespas whizzing up and down the lane, which was narrow enough without these trying to get through, then you had food stall holders pushing their carts up and down and setting up for a few minutes in a spot before moving on again. The smells and colours were an assault on your senses. Fresh pomegranate juice, lime juice, orange juice, coffee, duck, dim sum, noodle soup, chestnuts......anything and everything!

Everything was also so cheap all we could think of was wanting to buy a ton of stuff and set up a shop back home! After finally emerging from the main lane we continued exploring side streets, here we found entire streets dedicated to selling bags, and we don’t mean handbags, plastic and paper bags that shops give out when you purchase something, and the plastic bags that sand or rice can be packaged in. It was fascinating!

We then hit a food section where you could buy cooked (or live) food. We saw tanks of fish and lobster, next to roast duck and lots of noodle soup stalls (it was probably more exciting than just noodle soup, but we had no idea what it was!). By 10am we still had not seen a single other tourist, we were truly emerged in china town!

We stopped for a drink several times in a 7/11, and once in a more authentic place (but the diet coke turned out to be 3 months out of date – Sarah of course spotted this from the taste before checking out the date!). We then went in search of the giant swing, which was built in 1784 and was used in Brahmin festivals, but discontinued after too many people died. It was impressive to see, but strange to try and picture how it was used.

We then went to the corrections museum, to see the old main prison in Bangkok. Unfortunately it was shut on a weekend, but we could still wander around the ruins of the prison, now turned into a park, and the remaining cell block. We could also peek into the museum and see the exhibits and read the information plaques, so all in all didn’t really miss out by it being shut, although didn’t exactly get such a clear view as if we had been able to go in!

We then made our way over to the Golden Mount, and climbed the 120 steps to the top (not so easy in the midday heat), the views from the top were amazing.

During our walk we also happened to stumble upon an area of housing by a canal, which Tom described as a shanty town (Sarah just saw it as authentic, although rickety and had seen much better days, granted). We went for an explore and it was fascinating to see how people are living in the city centre. Before we knew it we had stumbled upon the oldest house in Bangkok, totally unintended. It was interesting to see the old wooden houses, and how people still live in them today with villages along the klongs (canals) still functioning similarly to how they would have hundreds of years ago.

By now we were worn out, hot and thirsty. So decided to head over to the backpackers area for a cheap meal and drink. Enroute Sarah managed to step on a wobbly pavement (easily done in Bangkok as the pavements are an experience in themselves), but this one decided to shoot some murky water all over Sarah. It stank (of sick) and after a while turned orange.....we then had our first argument of the holiday (although Tom refers to it as a ‘bicker’ rather than argument) as Sarah was in a mood as she stank and itched (the liquid made her legs itchy) and didn’t feel Tom cared enough!! (the heat and lack of fluid/food seemed to be getting to us!!), we managed to buy a bottle of water and try and wash Sarah down in the street, the smell didn’t really go away so after using copious amounts of alcohol hand gel (always handy) we managed to get rid of most the smell, made up and were on our way again.

We decided to go to Khoa San road. Here Sarah had some street food (more pad thai!) and Tom opted for a cheeseburger from MacDonalds (?!). We shared a beer and decided to try out a thai massage. We picked the cheapest place, paid and were told to go upstairs, we then panicked and felt like we were heading for something we had not ordered, but luckily upstairs was simply another room full of people having massages. It was a no frills experience, but great. We left feeling much looser limbed!!

We then tried to do a bit of shopping, mainly looking for a fake rolex for Joel, but the prices we were being asked for were stupidly high, and we got sick of people trying to get us to have suits made or get in their tuk tuk for only 10baht for an hour (yeah right, like we’d fall for that scam!).

We gave up and went for a diet coke, before heading back to the ferry and the hotel.

Upon being back at the hotel we found out we had been upgraded to a suite!!! The suite was stunning. A massive living room and study area, and a gorgeous bedroom and bathroom. We were really excited!

We then hit the exec lounge for an afternoon drink. After going back to the room to shower and change, we hit cocktail hour in the exec lounge. People watching in the lounge was fascinating and provided all the entertainment we needed for the night. We sipped cocktails and watched the views of the city – which take your breath away. We watched the sun set over the city and the night come alive. We were both captivated by the view! We sampled quite a few cocktails and then headed to the 7/11 to stock up on some diet coke for the fridge on our room. We then went back to the hotel and decided to have a drink in the roof bar, where Sarah had ordered a surprise – a picnic on the roof.

It all started off really romantically and was gorgeous, (garlic bread, lobster salad, homemade nachos and guacamole) until we realised it was not exactly meat free as promised, the sushi had foie gras in it, there was chicken sandwiches, the pasta had bacon in it and the toast had more foie gras on it. Feeling sick Sarah went to complain. They were apologetic, but said they had understood no meat to mean no beef!! They offered us something else to eat, but by now Sarah was feeling really sick. They insisted on bringing us dessert, which was gorgeous (a combo of strawberries, meringue, cream and tempered chocolate twirls) but didn’t make up for the spoilt picnic. Tom managed to speak to the exec lounge people who were setting up for breakfast and they allowed us to have a diet coke on their private roof terrace alone for 20mins, which kind of made up for the ruined picnic. So we sat there drinking our diet coke watching the city below us.

We then decided to call it a night. It was the most perfect night’s sleep ever. We’d had a turn down service, so there was spa type relaxing music playing in the room, an oil burner with aromatherapy oils burning and slippers out waiting for us. We opened the curtains and lay in bed watching the views from the massive windows. We slept amazingly, the bed is like living on a cloud......so so comfy!! We are now awake and about to go for breakfast to see what another day in Bangkok will bring us!

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