Greetings from Bangkok, Thailand!
My flight to San Francisco left Portland around 6:45 am on March 28th. I had scheduled my domestic flights and international flights separately to save money -- because for whatever reason San Francisco is a significantly cheaper departure point than Portland -- but of course I was immediately met with unforeseen charges when Virgin Airlines taxed me 25 bucks for checking my luggage. Virgin Airlines: you're dead to me. Furthermore, upon reaching SFO I had to first claim my checked baggage from the domestic flight then recheck it with my international flight -- not a huge pain in the ass, but in the future I'll just pay extra to sidestep these annoyances and book my trip entirely through one airline.
Met up with Spencer in SFO and we boarded our flight to Beijing around 3 pm (why I booked such an early flight to SFO I cannot tell you). The flight from San Fran to Beijing was supposed to take 12 hours, which, had it arrived on time, would have allowed us barely enough time to catch our connecting flight to Bangkok. Unfortunately it did not arrive on time. Apparently a volcano had erupted somewhere in Alaska and forced a rerouting of our plane which added two hours to our flight. To make matters worse, Spencer was seated next to a woman with the plague... She was wearing one of those surgical masks and was hacking up a lung throughout the flight. When I periodically left my seat I would see this poor woman stretched out across Spencer's entire row, sometimes with her feet in Spencer's lap, sometimes with her head in Spencer's lap. Spencer, stoic as ever, took it like a champ, and has so far shown no signs of contracting whatever awful disease that woman was carrying -- those surgical masks, after all, are primarily worn by the sick, to prevent the spread of their disease, as opposed to worn by germaphobes trying to mitigate risk. In the end, we arrived too late to board our Bangkok bound flight and were forced to spend the night in China. China Air took care of everything and the accommodations were wholly adequate. The next afternoon we were shuttled back to the Biejing airport and we boarded our flight for Bangkok around 2 pm Beijing time. About 5 hours later we finally landed in Bangkok (about 6:30 pm Bangkok time), nearly 48 hours after departure.
The Bangkok airport was a completely painless experience. We flew through customs and were soon on our way to the hotel. Our cab ride from the airport to our hotel on Khao San Road took around an hour, but only cost us $15. First impression: Thailand is cheap.
We checked in to our hotel, Dang Derm, settled in a bit, then went for an exploratory walk.
Our rooftop view:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/P1010068_zpsox5okpeg.jpg.html?sort=2&o=45Me on Khao San representing Blazer Nation:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/P1010101_zpschdebftw.jpg.html?sort=2&o=56And a Where's Waldo picture if you're bored (I'm wearing the same red shirt pictured above):
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/1b11667c-e9f8-4094-91d5-177da2daac68_zpsxcotqrgu.jpg.html?sort=2&o=58As you can see, Khao San Road is a bit of a shit show. It's a very touristy area dominated by "overpriced" bars and scam artists. The food here is only OK, and the windows of our hotel room directly faced the loudest bar on all of Khao San. That isn't to say Khao San wasn't anything but a phenomenal experience, but it was far from a cultural Mecca.
Spencer and I grabbed a bite to eat, had a few beers, chatted up some Portuguese girls, then called it an early night. We were bushed from the journey and had 10 weeks of traveling ahead of us, so no sense in killing ourselves on night one.
We had made it to Bangkok, and our adventure had began.
Day two saw us wandering around Old Town, snapping a few pictures of random stuff, and simply trying to get our bearings.
Bangkok is hugenormous! Khao San and the surrounding area is considered Old Town, where temples are everywhere and every street is populated with Mom n Pops selling food/Buddha statues/whatever out of shops they undoubtedly live in. Across the canal the complexion of the city completely changes, with skyscrapers and massive shopping centers replacing the rustic charms of Old Town.
Stuff like this:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160331_1212541_zpsodwdaghm.jpg.html?sort=2&o=31this:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160331_1213061_zpspyrz6uvx.jpg.html?sort=2&o=32this:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160331_1251001_zpsiiziqllg.jpg.html?sort=2&o=33this:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160331_1325491_zpsedm8h55m.jpg.html?sort=2&o=34and this:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160401_1030371_zpshzjakuaw.jpg.html?sort=2&o=35.is everywhere in Old Town. Every corner, every intersection, everywhere.
After several hours of walking Spencer and I had begun to learn some of Bangkok's tricks. For instance, very few legitimate Tuk Tuk and Taxi drivers hang around Old Town. Or, more accurately, very few Tuk Tuk and Taxi drivers around Old Town will give Westerners the same price they give locals. A common scam we encountered was drivers telling us certain things were closed, but that they could take us to all the spots which were open for one low price. One guy gave us such a long spiel about how much he could help us that when we walked away with a polite "khob khun krap" (thank you) we only received a "fuck you" in return. I guess he's used to people buying his bullshit. I don't blame them, of course. We're grateful to be in their country and our middle class is significantly more well off than theirs. One USD equates to about 35 Baht and it's extremely common to find meals for around 40 Baht, to give you an idea. Still, the constant heckling gets tiresome, so when we met "Crazy Red" at the end of our walkabout we really were lucky that our character judgement hadn't been sabotaged by the day's barrage. It would have been all too easy to blow him off as another person trying to take advantage of us, but somehow, some way, we knew Crazy Red was different.
Crazy Red, as he told us was the most literal translation of his name, Dang Titong, is a school teacher in Chiang Mai who was down in Bangkok only to purchase school uniforms for his pupils, as he doesn't particularly like the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. In line with his aversion to the chaos of Bangkok, Crazy Red escorted us to a very quiet back alley where he promised we would find "real" Thai food. Here Spencer and I would taste the best Thai food we'd ever had. Prepared in the garage kitchen of a sweet old Thai woman and served on the humblest of dining wear, we knew we had struck gold. We devoured our papaya salad and pork dish like we'd only eaten dog food up to that point in our lives. With juices running down our arms we needed napkins, which somehow aren't really a thing in Thailand, so we had to settle for a roll of toilet paper. It was messy, and it was fucking incredible.
For the next three hours we drank beers and chatted with Crazy Red, who genuinely only wanted to practice his English and learn more about America so he could share some knowledge with his students. And he shared plenty with us as well. By the end of our conversation we had pages of notes for useful Thai phrases, which have served us well.
In the end we had made a new friend, and Crazy Red even offered to have his mom cook for us when we visit Chiang Mai. We got his number and will definitely be looking him up in the near future.
After the extended afternoon drinking session with Red, and perhaps still feeling some jet lag effects, Spencer and I were cooked. No matter. We'd accomplished more in our half-day than we usually accomplish in a week back home. And besides, we were holding off on visiting the more must-see attractions until Jake arrived that night. We passed out early and the next thing I remember it was 1 am and Jake came through our hotel room door.
Jake had arrived, the crew was complete, and shit was about to get weird.
With the group fully assembled we were finally ready to do some damage, and on day three we truly pushed our limits. One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble, as the song goes.
We began our day at the Grand Palace, which was crowded, expensive, and even hotter than usual as we had to wear long pants for what I assume were religious regions. We left after only a few minutes without even seeing the main temple. It was just too much.
We continued onto Wat Pho, the sight of the world famous reclining Buddha.
Wat Pho was much less crowded and I think we all enjoyed this piece of sight seeing.
This guy was cool:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/P1010077_zps5tt5ktx0.jpg.html?sort=2&o=47This guy was just a dick:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/P1010078_zps4co6d1mh.jpg.html?sort=2&o=48Many rooms like this:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/00800f66-bb15-42ca-a721-a62c505089b0_zpslbr1qtar.jpg.html?sort=2&o=50and this:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/P1010080_zpsvtt9eyxi.jpg.html?sort=2&o=51Some more spectacular rooms like this:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/P1010091_zps4vabahlh.jpg.html?sort=2&o=52Some weird stuff like this:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/P1010094_zpsilr5eiqu.jpg.html?sort=2&o=54And of course, the main man himself:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/P1010099_zps5g3fjysm.jpg.html?sort=2&o=55I also banged a gong:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/P1010073_zps0ej9ygfm.jpg.html?sort=2&o=46From Wat Pho we walked back to the hotel through a much less touristed part of Old Town in hopes of finding another hole in the wall where we could again enjoy real Thai food. When we passed a joint populated solely with locals we knew we had found our spot. The menu was entirely in Thai so we had to point to the pictures on the wall. Even then I don't think we got what we ordered, but it didn't matter, it was all good. BBQ chicken, more papaya salad (which we were able to order by name thanks to Red) and whatever the hell this was:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160401_1318271_zpskurrhckd.jpg.html?sort=2&o=36. Again, it was incredible. This Thai food was the best I've ever had, by miles, and it only cost me $3.
After a dip in the hotel pool and a shower we were rejuvenated and ready to tackle the Bangkok nightlife.
First up, Chinatown, where some of the best street food in the world lines the road for miles. We ate strange meats and dipped them in unidentifiable sauces, and it was delicious. We wandered down some dark back alleys where we got strange looks from the locals, but we managed to make it out before being attacked by one of the bad guys from Big Trouble in Little China.
We carried on to one of the three or four red light districts of Bangkok. We found the red light strip easily enough, but not without first accidentally stumbling through the gay red light district.
Greeted with, "You're not gay," we were confused until we saw all the Chip n Dale like guys hanging about. Whoops. Oh well.
Just a block away we found the red light district proper, where bars like Super Pussy advertise things like "Ping Pong" shows.
At this point I'm going to skip some stuff...
Our behavior was fine, but some stuff, as we learned, is best left to the imagination.
...later that same evening, back at Khao San Road, we continued to drink and be merry. For whatever reason we decided it was a good idea to drink literal buckets of alcohol, I guess because they were two-for-one, but they were strong, and the night became a blur shortly after.
Day four brought us to the world's largest open air market: Jatujak. This place was massive. Too massive to capture in pictures, though her ya go:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160402_1359471_zpsolm5imvq.jpg.html?sort=2&o=39, http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160402_1330051_zpsjhsrdans.jpg.html?sort=2&o=38, and
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160402_1328251_zpscpjp3bzy.jpg.html?sort=2&o=37.Endless alleys selling everything under the sun. Perhaps the best way to describe the scope of this place is to share that Jake got lost. We set up a meeting point and gave ourselves an hour and a half to peruse the market before reuniting. It took me over an hour just to walk perimeter and Jake was at least a half hour late returning to the meeting point, even with text exchanges trying to guide him. Massive, massive market. Sometimes things claim to be the biggest this or that, but then you see them in person and are underwhelmed. I have zero doubt Jatujak is, in fact, the biggest open air market in the world.
After a 40 Baht soup lunch:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160402_1427221_zpsawb3bqtb.jpg.html?sort=2&o=40, we rode the air train (
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160402_1510571_zpssxwpyqbv.jpg.html?sort=2&o=41) to victory monument:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160402_1541031_zpstq0ngcoo.jpg.html?sort=2&o=42, and onwards from there to Siam Place in the market district:
http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/vondummpenstein/media/IMG_20160402_1630221_zpsfgocp4ih.jpg.html?sort=2&o=43.Sometime in the early evening we arrived back at our hotel where Jake and Spencer more or less shut things down. I was tired as well, but I ventured out to reconnect with a local bartender I had befriended the night before.
Nang is a sweetheart and although most all we could do was smile at each other -- due to the language barrier -- it was well worth my time to spend time with another local (and talk to a woman).
Day five was travel day. We were burnt out on the big city and wanted to switch things up. We were booked on a 10 pm sleeper train which unfortunately didn't leave us enough time to see the night's Muay Thai fights. No matter, we'll get that done when we return to Bangkok at the end of our loop.
We boarded our second class sleeper car:
https://goo.gl/photos/ryTeXAFSwqGJA8LD6 b and headed north to Chiang Mai.
