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Published: July 23rd 2010
Bangkok by night
from Vertigo at the Moon BarThe journey to Bangkok was very pleasant. The boat from Ko Tao to Chumporn was first class, and the coach from here to Bangkok was comfortable. I love long coach journeys because I just listen to my ipod and daydream (mainly about the guy I met on Ko Tao - hot - but my conscience is clear just for the record!)
The nightmare began when I arrived in rainy Bangkok. The realization that I had put a padlock on my suitcase, but left the key to it back in Ko Phangan, crept up on me. Silent panic set in. To add insult to the injury, I got a taxi from Koh San Road to my hostel on the other side of the city, only to find out it is shut and locked after midnight (it was 00:30) so had to get the taxi to take me back to Koh San Road. Very expensive (I haggled him down to 600 baht, which was still extortionate) Then I paid another 350 baht to stay on Ko San Road. Not impressed. Not at all.
Next day got a taxi to the skytrain, then the skytrain to where my hostel is, where I
set about the task of lock picking. Didn't work, so had to cut through my luggage. Just a bit pissed off about that...and took me a while to get over it I must say. First day I was just trying to find my bearings. I didn't realise that most places are actually accessible by inexpensive public transport and had I done so earlier on, I would have saved quite a lot of money in taxi and tuk tuk fares. By now my foot was unbearably painful. I was just going to leave it but thought f*** it just go and get it checked out at the hospital. 1000 baht is, I feel, a small price to pay to not have to have my foot amputated (a story I later heard after someone's friend's foot got infected and if they had left it longer it would have had to be amputated).
I ended day 1 up at the Moon Bar in the Lumphini district where I watched the sunset over the whole of Bangkok. What a sight! Beautiful!
The next day I did the tourist thing, going to Wat Pho (the impressive reclining Buddha, seeing the canals, going to
the Amulet Market, city pillar shrine, standing Buddha, big Buddha, and the forensic pathology museum as suggested by my Lonely Planet. This was gruesome and fascinating, with 4 dead bodies, dead babies and a human head cut in half on display, along with actual murder weapons and the clothes of murder victims, and the actual ropes used in hangings etc. Great stuff. I didn't go to Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew because I though quite frankly it was a rip off. But other people said it was worth the money but only if you got a guide which would have cost a further 400 baht. I did, however, get ripped off on a canal tour. A woman hassling me saying 1200 for the tour, I said no way, so she asked if I was a student I said yes, so she cut it to 900, I said no way, then she called 'OK 700' so I thought begrudgingly oh go on then! It must be good at that price! It wasn't.
At first I found Bangkok very hard to navigate, particularly as most signs/shop signs are in Thai. Therefore I did not really enjoy the sights etc, because
of my foot I hated walking around, and nobody could understand me so felt very alone and very much like I was thrown into this huge city at the deep end, but feel prepared for my next visit now that I understand the public transport network.
Soi Cowboy and Nana The hostel I stayed in was really nice and sociable. I went with the lads on the third night to the red light districts and saw large amounts of clunge! Anything goes here! The men are allowed to touch the strippers, even bite their bums! I, being a girl, felt very welcome in all the bars which I was a little suprised about because it's obviously mainly men that go to these places. Outside of the bars you had cute kids coming up to you trying to sell roses etc, one legged elderly men rolling themselves on skateboard type devices begging, ladyboys, prostitutes and lots of colourful bright lights. I didn't see as many ladyboys as I thought though, and the ones I did see were beautiful. You can tell between a ladyboy and a woman because ladyboys tend to be taller and have bigger boobs.
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