The morning of the 10th saw us turn up (thank buddah) in Bangkok. We arrived admist screams of “taxi, taxi” with the drivers vying hard to urge us into their respective vechicles. Knowing (from my trusty lonely planet) that there was budget accommodation somewhat close by we waved them away (no easy feat) and started to set off down the street. Up ran a brittish girl who asked where we were going as the taxi driver had just told her the nearest accomidation was 5km away. I told her there’d be some closer and so she called over her boyfriend and they decided to walk with us. Sure enough about 3mins walking and an impromptu turn down a side street and we were at Khao San Rd - backpacker central. Walking down the road we spied taxis pull up dropping off folks from our bus. I chuckled to myself over the couple of mins of circles they probably just got driven on.
This was the day I was swapping Celine for Johnny Boy so after finding a decent guest house and checking in, it was a matter of hunting down some coffee and then waiting for Jb to rock up. Coffee was sorted by a vendor who set up directly outside of the guest house and JB arrived a little later than expected but safe and sound. The first few hrs were spent breaking our fasts and wandering along Khao San rd trying to avoid the damn annoying tuk tuk drivers who wanted to take us on ‘cheap tours’. Which were really just a drive around to a temple or two followed by trips to places where they were hoping we’d be talked into buying shit so that they could get their kickbacks. Which I must admit we did end up doing - simply because JB has limited time in Thailand and we wanted to get the trip to and from Chang Mai, jungle trecking, white water rafting, elephant rides etc organised.
We ended up walking away from the travel agent with a overnight air con sleeper cabin train trip up to Chang Mai (no more busses for me if I can help it), a couple nights accommodation in a guest house with private bathroom (including pick up from train station), 3 day jungle trek, extra day golden triangle tour, elephant ride, white water rafting, bamboo rafting and all meals on trek for all inclusive about $200 Australian. Which is more than we could have paid if we organised everything ourselves but really - it’s not a bad price. And there is something to be said for having everything arranged for you.
In the afternoon it was time to bid farewell to Celine and do a touch of exploring - which didn’t turn out all that well after some ridiculous traffic and unexpected rain. Though I’ll always have a chuckle when I think back on JB and I sprinting through the teeming rain to get to a large awning for some shelter only finding that after getting under it we are still getting wet. A glance up revealing it was only the framework of an awning - the roof was missing. It doesn’t seem that funny in retellilng it but Jb and I were laughing our asses off as we ran down the street searching out some more reliable shelter…
A couple Bangkok temples:
Walking the dog Bangkok style:
