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Published: January 8th 2013
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My room is on the top (4th) floor, away from the hustle and bustle and I managed 5 hours' sleep until 6am, after which I was wide awake, so I set about planning my second day. At 8am, I headed up to the roof where there is a swimming pool and good views over Bangkok. The pool rules stated that you had to wear a full suit to use the pool so I decided not to risk going in wearing shorts only. My plan for the day was to visit Thonburi, the original centre of Bangkok, on the other side of the Chao Phraya river. The area has on old network of canals which are essentially the roads. I read that tours by longtail boat run from the nearby Phra Arthit pier - this was indeed the case, however, I was quoted 1400 Baht (around £30), double what I expected. I hung around for a while and luckily a group of Spanish girls came along and I was able to tag along with them and get the tour for 400 Baht. Bargain!
Our rather surly driver set off across the river, where the temperature was much more pleasant, although the
water was choppy and it was unnerving as the boat kept rising off the water and thudding back down again. Thankfully the canals were calmer. We passed houses built on stilts and we were approached by a couple of shops-on-a-boat, which pulled alongside and offered refreshments. We stopped at the "floating market" for half an hour. The prices here were lower than Khao San Road - I bought an iced watermelon shake (which was better than the pineapple shake) and some lunch (Thai pork on a stick) for 36 Baht (about 80p). I arrived back at the pier to see our morose boat driver setting off without me! I managed to shout him and thankfully he came back to pick me up, grudgingly.
Once back at the hotel, I went for a walk to see the area in the daytime. I was approached by two young Thais (brothers) who were very entertaining and wanted to take me on a tuk-tuk ride around the city, including a stop at the Tourist Information Centre. I eventually agreed, as I wanted to try the tuk-tuk experience and I thought it might be useful to get some ideas about where to go after
Bangkok. As it happened, I was given more hard-sell than information, as the travel agent wanted to arrange every detail of my stay in Thailand. This was precisely what I didn't want - for me, the beauty of travelling is not knowing where you're going to be more than a few days into the future and having to freedom to do things on a whim. I got her to focus on my proposed destination after Bangkok: Kanchanaburi, north west of Bangkok (the location of the famous bridge over the river Kwai). She offered a 3 day all-inclusive tour, but it seemed a bit pricey and I wondered how much commision the tuk-tuk driver would be getting for taking me there. Accepting it would have left a sour taste, so I turned it down on principle. I was apologetic but the agent wasn't interested any more. Unfortunately this was not the first time I had encountered someone who seemed very pleasant and friendly only for them to become very unfriendly when you decide not to buy anything. When I left, the tuk-tuk driver was gone. Perhaps he had got wind that I wasn't going to bite and scarpered.
I planned
to allow myself an evening nap before heading out to see what the night would bring, however, my body clock was still all over the place and I was in no state to go out when I had planned. After more sleep and a visit to the internet cafe, it was 2am by the time I went out and what a contrast to the previous night. The streets around Khao San Road had mostly shut down and the activity on Khao San itself was centred on a small number of bars playing music. The men selling suits had been replaced by women offering a different type of service (edit: from speaking to someone the day after, it seems that most of them might not have been women). I realised I was far too sober for the environment, so I got a beer and sat well away from the street. Then I fought off a few more to get pad thai from one of the few remaining food stalls before heading home.
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Chris Gold
non-member comment
Good work son