Bangkok

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A taxi from the airport took us straight to Khaosan Rd, probably the most famous backpacker street in the world. After trying a couple of hostels and finding them to be full (fears of a reoccurance of Singapore) we found a hostel with space in the middle of Khaosan called 'The Khaosan Palace', a bit of an exaggeration. As with a lot of the hostels in this area, the lobby was done out as a posh hotel, but the rooms could do with a lick of paint to say the least, but it wasn't too hot and there were no obvious bugs knocking about, so we took it.

Khaosan Road is pretty intense, especially when you've got your backpacks on looking for accommodation. About every 10 steps you take you're harrassed by Thais trying to sell you lighters/wooden frogs etc., get you into their tuk-tuk/taxi, get you to go to their Patpong show and much much more. The street is bustling all day and all night until 2am, and is a sea of illuminous lights advertising bars and clubs and hotels. The sides of the streets are littered with market stalls all selling the same crap (same same) and mobile food stalls run up and down the street selling fruit, rice dishes, fried insects, and pad thai, which at 20 Baht (less than 30p) is an absolute bargain.

After a couple of days in Bangkok, you become accustomed to the hussle and bussle, and see other backpackers wandering around desperately looking for a place to stay, overwhelmed, just as you were a few days ago.

As far as sights were, our priorities were the Reclining Buddha and the Grand Palace. Right outside our hotel was a tuk-tuk stand, and for 20 baht for 2, they would take us around all the sights we wanted to see. An absolute bargain, we all thought, how very wrong we were. Basically what happens is, is that after every sight you see, you are taken to a tailors, or jewelers, or travel agents, where the tuk-tuk driver receives a commission from the shop. They claim that the shops pay for their petrol for the day but I reckon they get much more than that. We managed to only have to endure 10 minutes in an Indian tailors, where they try their hardest to sell you a new suit, a shirt, a leather jacket, some new shoes, a wallet, a belt. Once they realised we were not going to buy anything, they basically threw us out of their shop, a bit ironic. We also went to T.A.T, which they claim to be tourist information, but really it's a travel agents, with a very push sales person. Still, we wanted to book flights and tours and accommodation in Chaing Mai anyway, and got a pretty good deal. The sights that we managed to see en route to the tailors included some temples and a huge Buddha. At one of the temples, a Thai guy who worked there advised us not to go to the marketplace that the driver was taking us next as it was mafia run and we'd probably have to pay a lot of money unless we agreed to buy something. We weren't sure if that was true, but didn't want to take our chances so made the driver take us straight to the Golden Palace. When we arrived at the Golden Palace, it was closed. It opens at 8am and closes at 3:30pm. The tuk-tuk drivers had lied to us about it being closed in the morning, bastards! Still, we had another day of sightseeing the next day, so not all was lost.

Since Bangkok, we've met a load of western travellers, all of whom fell for the same scam as us, hearing tales of being taken round 3 tailors, a gem shop and the travel agents, we think we got off pretty lightly.

That night we decided to go and see a Patpong show, as a visit to Bangkok isn't complete until you've seen a show apparently. I won't go into details here, but it wasn't great, and very uncomfortable at times. We are not sure if it was the show that we went to , or if they are all like that, but weren't prepared to invest in another show to find out! Again, we met a couple of American girls in the show who had been charged twice what we had been, and were being charged 50 baht more for each beer!

After enduring about half an hour of the show, we headed to the night market just down the road. We found that whatever price the stall owner tells you an item is, half it at least straight away and then go from there. I purchased a redbull sleeveless top for 12o baht (1 pound 50ish) which was a bargain.

The next day we headed back to the Grand Palace, dressed in shorts and flip flops, and found out that to enter the Grand Palace, you needed trousers and closed toe shoes. BAck to the hostel to get changed then! To save a bit of time we tried to get a tuk-tuk straight back to the palace, but were told by numerous drivers that it was closed, which we knew was a blatent lie as we'd been there already about half an hour ago! Once you agree on a price for the tuk-tuk and think that you're going straight to your destination, the driver then tells you he's making a quick stop at the tailors or wherever for his petrol, we'd then get out of the tuk-tuk and search for another, who would do exactly the same thing! We have since all agreed that trying to get a direct tuk-tuk in the day, while these shops are all open is pointless. Cramming 4 of us in one at night however, is an adrenaline-inducing experience, and about 1/4 the price of a cab.

Sweating in our combats and trainers we arrived at the Grand Palace, paid our 250 Baht entrance fee, and walked around the palace grounds. The palace is beautiful, and the best temple we've seen so far, but the main shrine was covered in scaffolding (a common theme in many of the temples we've visited). We then headed down the road to the reclining Buddha, which is 50 baht to get in to see, and definately worthwhile. It is a huge golden Buddha lieing on its side, and is absolutely enourmous. The fact that it is indoors surprised me.

We wanted to check out the floating market we had seen in the Lonely Planet guide but found out that it is a weekend market, and there is a much more impressive one about 100Km out of the city that we can incorporate into a tour along with the Tiger temple when we return to Bangkok.

Our second night was spent watching Muay Thai (thai boxing) at the Ratchadamnoen Stadium. At 1700 baht a pop this wasn't cheap, but we saw 6 fights, including 2 K.O.s where the stretcher had to be bought on, and had ringside seats. When you enter the stadium, there are ticket booths advertising prices in English, and booths advertising in Thai, which are no doubt much cheaper. We still managed to get 300 Baht off the asking price though.

I still have a lot to see in Bangkok when I return, which I will be doing twice before heading home, and as a whole it is a city with a lot to offer if you know what to expect. One thing that Bangkok has taught me though, is that you should not trust anyone in Thailand, especially in the cities. As I am writing this, I have found out that you can buy Cambodia tourist visas directly from their website for 20 USD, whereas we were told that they cost 60 quid by a woman in a Bangkok travel agents. My advise to anyone planning on visiting Bangkok is to know roughly how much things cost before attempting to buy from someone you can't trust.

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