When in Bangkok
December 29, 2016
The last days of our Thailand trip were inevitably coming closer and closer, and we were a bit reluctantly planning our way back to Bangkok. Leaving the sunny paradise of Koh Tao for the big, dirty metropole seemed like a bad dream—not only because it was our second least favorite place, but because it was an unmistakable sign that in a couple of days, we would need to leave our carefree life. And, eventually, say goodbye to each other.
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'Budget constraints,' I said to myself and to Roel once again when talking about the best way to make our last big travel. Luckily for us, there was a night ferry that we could take for very little money and even save one night of accommodation. But as it sometimes happens, the night ferry on Mondays—only on Mondays—is not a real ferry at all. It's a converted fisherman's boat with no bunk beds, only sheets spread across the deck, and with people literally fighting for spots—that's what we gathered from online reviews, anyway. I'd never ever do it again, read those comments, and a little scared, we decided to do it differently and bought a (much more expensive) joint ticket all the way to Khao San road, where we were staying.
Only after we boarded the bus did I realize how comfortable this option was. We didn't have to worry about anything - we didn't have a hassle getting a taxi to the harbor in Koh Tao, from the Chumpon harbor to the bus station, from the Bangkok bus station to Khao San. No haggling, no stress, no endless waiting. And now I realize that the money might just as well be a good investment.
We were even lucky enough to get the best spots on the double-decker bus, all the way at the front - with enormous leg space (greatly appreciated by Roel) and a feeling of being in a cinema, able to watch the whole way through a big screen right in front of us. And so I curled up to Roel and got ready for an 8-hour long bus drive.
As we were approaching night Bangkok in the dimly lit bus, the scenic little routes through Thai countryside suddenly morphed into kilometers of parallel and perpendicular highways, intercepted at points where layers and layers of roads intermingled like braided bread. And in the midst of the white and red sea of little moving lights, the City of Angels was unfolding in front of us like on a big movie screen.
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Our first Bangkok trip left a deep impact, but not necessarily always in a positive way. As soon as we got to the city, we were 'greeted' by hundreds of shouting taxi and tuk-tuk drivers who wanted to offer us a drive to our hotel. We pushed our way through the loud crowd of locals and walked through piles of smelly urine to the bus stop.
The local bus, which we managed to take with big pride in ourselves as real travelers and not just rich holiday people, brought us to a busy neighborhood with a huge endless road with various little local shops situated along the way. It did feel like being in a metropole, but it had an odd feeling to it, and at that time I couldn't put my finger on it.
But as we walked off the main road towards our guesthouse, I started to realize that the unfamiliar, odd feeling that I had was because this was not the usual city I was used to. It didn't have the glamour of Paris, nor the buzz of New York, and certainly not the rusticity of Rome, but one denominator that Bangkok showed to me was its poverty disguised by metropolitan feel.
The buildings lining the main road were gray, faded, inconspicuous. They looked old fashioned and modern at the same time, and the city felt dynamic as well as idle. And just several meters off the main road, on our way to the guesthouse, we found ourselves in a ghetto, where people lived crammed in small houses with insufficient facilities, where rabid dogs with blood dripping from their eyes were there to welcome you, and where urine was its signature smell. And while we hoped so much that we just got lost, we found our guesthouse at the end of this poor, claustrophobic maze.
You get what you paid for, I thought and tried to reconcile myself with the funny squeaky bed, extreme warmth in the room, and a toilet full of feces. The sad part though is that we didn't have a chance to take advantage of all the good things about our guesthouse: the friendly, laid-back company at that place and an amazing riverside deck with lawn chairs to chill at while listening to the sound of the water. We again made ourselves really busy with what was going on in the real Bangkok.
While that part of Bangkok was not our favorite, there were still many places that we loved. Indeed, on our second day, Bangkok felt different. The odd feeling was faint, and I was welcomed by what I had expected: the overbearing, impersonal vibe of a multi-million city, with loads and loads of tourists and beautiful landmarks sprinkled all around.
As we got off the bus and walked towards the Grand Palace, there were thousands of locals, all dressed in black, gathered at a big square. I didn't think that black was the color of mourning also in Thailand, and, seeing kiosks with various logos of Thai ministries on the banners, I thought that it was a government-sponsored event.
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| Locals mourning the late King |
"Sir, what is going on here?" Roel asked a friendly elderly local who was giving us directions to the Grand Palace. The thousands of locals all in long black clothing in the middle of a hot day, as it turned out, were there to mourn the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who had been adored by the whole country. The square would fill with thousands every single day since his passage—of over two months ago.
The Grand Palace was just beside this black sea. It belongs to the most visited cultural landmarks in Thailand, and quite justifiably. As opposed to being a single palace, it is a collection of buildings that are spread across the area of over 200 thousand square meters, including temples, gardens, statues, squares, or royal buildings. Even though it is not used as the residence of the king anymore, it still serves official purposes, such as hosting royal events.
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| Roel wearing borrowed long pants as he could not walk around the palace in shorts |
And needless to say, it was one of the most magnificent palaces I have ever seen. The Thai style, interesting architecture, and lavish decor make it a truly unique place with numerous unique sites. It is home to the infamous Emerald Buddha temple with a single small statue of Buddha (not actually made from emerald), the protector of the Thai, which is deemed the most sacred site of worship.
And for the rest of the time, we were walking around like proper tourists—me following the signs at the place and Roel reading about the must-see's in the rough guide—and discovering little wonders along the way.
"We need to see hermits," Roel tells me with serious determination and we begin our search for little stone statues of naked masseuses on a hill (as described by the rough guide), after which you can hear us shout 'I see a hermit!' or 'There they are!' only to be followed by slight disappointment the second after, realizing that those actually weren't hermits.
(We were also looking for the big guardians of the temples, which were the most conspicuous statues in the whole area, but it took us quite some time to realize that those were the enormously big statues right in front of our noses. And also because being navigated by the rough guide meant that we didn't really know what temple we were at right now.)
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| The guardian of the Grand Palace |
The Temple of the Reclining Buddha was our last cultural stop of the day and was the biggest surprise for me. Expecting to see a larger-than-average statue, I was astonished to read in the rough guide that the statue was 15 meters tall and 60 meters wide. I boldly proclaimed that it must be just bullshit and still couldn't believe it, and only when I saw the massive golden statue did I realize that this must be one of the most magnificent Buddha statues ever.
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| Reclining Buddha |
And so we experienced a different Bangkok, full of lavishly decorated temples, enormous relic houses, beautiful greenery, and clean environment.
And while we were feasting on the cultural beauty of the city during the day, we headed to the neighborhood of the Khao San road in the evening—the infamous party road in Bangkok with thousands of intoxicated tourists enjoying the city's nightlife—where we together with Nouschka feasted on good food, cocktails, and, as it must be with me, desserts.
And yet another face of Bangkok unfolded the day after when we went to Chinatown. Its primary appeal to me was the great souvenir shopping opportunities, essentially making it totally unappealing to Roel. And so I tried to make it over as soon as possible, but the roads were way too narrow for so many people there, who were pushing and slowing you down.
The vibe in this part of the city was also much less kind, with people pushing their way through the crowd without any respect for others. I guess that's what happens in China when you need to fight for your spot, and this place was no different.
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Probably the experiences from our ghetto and the Chinatown made us feel a little disappointed by Bangkok; after all, the neighborhood and place you stay in plays an important role in how you perceive your holiday. But that was not the Bangkok that we wanted to remember, and luckily morphed our opinion in a better way the second time we visited it.
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| Chinatown in Bangkok |
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| Khao San road |
This time, motivated by the idea of going partying at Khao San on our second last evening, we decided to find a place close to it. And so we didn't even know but we ended up on a really nice walking street, with small restaurants and cafés, souvenir stalls and fast food trolleys. The continuation of that road led to the most gezellig restaurant street with live music, lots of lights and people eating and drinking well into the late hours. And Khao San was just the street next to it.
The guesthouse, even though very simple and with shared bathroom, was still really nice and relatively clean, and it assured us that this would be a better stay than last time.
Our plan for the evening to drink like animals at Khao San did not work. I guess we are getting old, but after spending the whole day traveling, and now having a huge, unhealthy dinner with some drinks, we didn't feel like partying. Roel was really tired and I suddenly felt so full after the pepperoni pizza that I couldn't even move. My legs were also totally swollen and the party mood was gone. "I feel fat, lazy and disgusting. Drinking beer and eating pizza," Roel said, pretty much summing up our evening that night.
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| "I feel fat, lazy and disgusting." |
And so we did what we still wanted to do in Bangkok.
Our first stop was Siam square, a very rich neighborhood and a capitalist paradise. It features modern, extravagant architecture, a food court with expensive western restaurants and stores, and a shopping mall with prestigious western clothing brands. There's a tower for business purposes, high-speed trains in the area... But most importantly, what surprised me most, was the bathroom - with a little lounge with chic vintage chairs and tables placed all around the top-to-bottom mirror walls for the ladies to fix their makeup while comfortably seated.
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| Hug machine inside a shopping mall in Siam square |
As soon as we stepped into the MBK shopping mall, a seven-story building opposite the road, we noticed a huge difference between those two. Suddenly, the beautiful modern features of glass and chrome were gone; and so was the simplicity, elegance, and luxury. Now you see fake Nike sneakers for 5 euros, cheap sunglasses with no UV filter, and basically anything a person looking for a cheap deal might want, all displayed in cramped stalls. And despite its enormous size, this place looked dwarfed compared to Siam.
The last night approached and Roel had planned to take me out and have one last nice meal with me in Thailand. We started with cocktails in a cozy, chic bar next to our place, and then wanted to move to a high-rated restaurant in our vicinity. But as it was already around 9 pm, most of the people were done eating, and the place was completely empty. And so was another one as an alternative. At that point, I didn't even care so much because I was so hungry, but the cozy and lively atmosphere of the main food road had its appeal—especially if you plan to have a nice, long dinner with desserts and cocktails—and so we went to that same place as yesterday. And as it turned out, it was the only place (excluding the airport) that we tried for dinner in Bangkok in the whole time.
And so I woke up stressed and sad the next day, hoping that we would make it all on time. The travel was, in the end, without problems. The only issue was the constriction in my throat and watering of my eye as the time was approaching to say goodbye to Roel. And to Thailand.
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