Arrived in Bangkok after 24hrs traveling...

Trip Start Jun 17, 2007
1
3
Trip End Aug 07, 2007


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of Thailand  ,
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Finally reached steamy Bangkok at 11:30pm after 24 hours of traveling with 5-inch legroom seats, soundly snoring seatmates, and a 5-hour layover in Tokyo walking through every duty-free store 14 times. Not surprisingly, after getting my belongings and strolling to the taxi stand, the chaotic Bangkok experience officially began, with a 5-minute taxi driver bargaining session to avoid getting driven to a brothel and charged $30. After eventually communicating my disinterest in his grand visions for me, I arrived at the hotel and got a few hours of time zone-compromised sleep.

My day all around Bangkok was a whirlwind blur--only writing it down now I realize how much I did, in 100-degree humid heat and jeans (no entrance to Buddhist temples in shorts.) I took skytrains and river boats to get everywhere, avoiding taxis after my airport headache (public transport is quite efficient here, and clean and cheap).

First on my list was the Grand Palace, where the King used to live, and also where many important Buddhist shrines are located. It was quite an impressive property to say the least. This site is arguably the most important site in Thailand, and its biggest tourist attraction. To that effect, there were tour guides for at least 15 languages, and what felt like 3,000 pushy old ladies hovering, selling cheap umbrellas and/or bird-feeding rice. Next up was Khao San Rd, a small old hippie/Western Backpacker road made famous in the '70s. It has one after another cheap bar, restaurant, hostel, and knock-off goods kiosk, usually in that repeating order. Along the way, I saw a lot of hungover backpackers loitering around at 11am, figuring out what bar to hit up to restart their day. Had my first amazing Tom Yum Goong soup and Pad Thai at a small hole-in-the-wall shop off a side street. After a combination of the 100-degree heat and food coma hit me, I attempted to grab a leisurely drink atop Sirocco, a really expensive (but air-conditioned) 5-star restaurant atop the highest building in Bangkok. Unfortunately, given my raggedy, sweaty appearance, they wouldn't let me up, which fondly reminded me of my usual going-out attempts in NYC.

I had to settle for walking around outside more (I think I dropped 5 pounds in my first day.) Realizing that shopping malls couldn't deny me entry, I skytrained it over to Siam Square's 4 massive and ultra-modern shopping malls, which put the US's best malls to shame. On one end, they had thousands of cheap knock off stalls with everything imaginable, from live chickens to laptops. On the other extreme, the Paragon mall was like NYC's 5th Avenue on steroids, with every high-end store there, and at NYC prices. Exhausted from walking around, I eventually headed over to Sukhumvit Rd around dinner time. The area is known for a few things: great food, foreign embassies, and a slimy "red light" district featuring "lady boys" and "ping pong" shows. Keeping my distance from the latter two activities, I circled in on round 2 of Tom Yum soup and Green curry ($2), and settled in on one place with some other Westerners around. I chatted for a bit, but after a couple beers realized I needed to save up some energy for the remaining 49 days, so headed off to catch up on much-needed sleep...great start to the trip.
Print this entry Bangkok hotels