Wèi shénme bù?: Thailand Part 1: "Hollaaaaa, City of Squalaaaaaa"

I arrived in a sunny Bangkok around midday, but by the time I reached my hostel (about 3 hours later due to reasons TOTALLY out of my control) it had chucked it down with rain and had become a very miserable first day in Thailand. I have to say, it was very unnerving being in a place where my language level was zero and I knew absolutely nothing about the culture. How do long-term travellers do it? Eh?

But luckily, I wasn’t alone! Met some pals at the hostel and slowly eased myself into Thai life! Tried Pad Thai for the first time (LIKE, SO DELICIOUS) and we visited Chatuchak Market and picked up a few bargs. Then the next day we were joined by a few other pals and after the not-so-emotional reunion was out of the way, we headed out to the infamous Khao San Road for a big night out LOL. I’m not too sure what I was expecting, but it was pretty crazy down there. Covered with the typical neon signs and full of restaurants and bars it was a total tourist area. Dozens of market stalls covered the road too, selling souvenirs from novelty t-shirts to fake electronics. There were also men every step you took trying to sell you ‘the best quality’ suits. WE DON’T WANT YOUR DAMN SUITS. And there were a heck of a lot of coconuts too.

Then came the most uncomfortable part of the evening: a ping pong show. Now we’ve all heard stories about the things that go down in these places, but the thing I remember the clearest is the unshakable feelings of shame and misery that hung about the club. As a woman, I found it all very depressing and degrading. But little did I know, that dirty feeling would be a lot worse after our visit to Soi Cowboy…

Khao San Road

Mad tuk tuk ride (I do love a good tuk tuk though)

Anyway, first real night out down, we were all a bit worse for wear the next day so just chilled out by our hostel pool, then wandered about drinking shakes and window shopping. The next day was MUCH more productive! Thanks to the enthusiasm of one member of our little travelling group, we booked a real tour and everything!

It began early doors with the Floating Market in Khlong Latmayom, outside of Bangkok – a very impressive sight I must say! There was everything you could imagine (if you’re realistic with your imagination) being sold on small little boats that floated gently down the stream. Seems to be very popular with tourists as it was pretty busy, but wasn’t too bad luckily. I didn’t buy anything myself, but it’s a very interesting idea I think! And the sellers weren’t anywhere near as invasive as some I’ve encountered in China.

Some snaps from the market

More pics of the wares available

After the market we floated down through a residential area. Would be mad living in one of these houses

Then after this, we headed to the Bridge on the River Kwai, in Kanchanaburi. For those who don’t know the story of the bridge, it was part of the Burma (or Death) Railway which went from Bangkok to Rangoon (Burma, or now Myanmar). During the early 1940s, the town of Kanchanaburi was under Japanese control and they forced Allied POWs (as well as Asian labourers) to build the bridge – most of whom died during construction due to accidents, disease or maltreatment (thanks again Wiki).

The Bridge on the River Kwai and what looks to be a temple on the other side of the river

Me! (handy now I had people to take some
pics of me!)

Last on the agenda was the Tiger Temple. This was easily my favourite part of the day. I know all the controversy surrounding the treatment of animals in places like this, but to me it didn’t seem bad. The fact that there were foreign volunteers there at the time also reassured me a little of the treatment of the tigers. Anyway, the tigers themselves were absolutely beautiful. I’m not really a cat person, but I would love a pet tiger. Such amazing creatures! So when we arrived the most important thing on all of our minds was the classic gap yah photo with a tiger. We came across the tiger cubs first and had cute pics with them. There was then some difference in interests, so the larger group of us broke off into smaller groups and my roomie and I wandered around trying to find the actual temple of Tiger Temple. After finding it, and being very disappointed, we carried on wandering and stumbled upon the adult tiger enclosure. JACKPOT! There were about 12 tigers in total all lying around having photos with the tourists, and we eagerly joined the queue. It was a strange set-up, though I suppose all for safety: we handed our camera to a member of staff and then you took another’s hand and they guided you around the enclosure, positioning your hands on the tigers for the photo. Initially I was quite reluctant to be as playful with them as the staff were being, but I did warm up to it later and it was definitely very fun.

Water buffalo and cows!

A tiger cub

Big-headed tiger

Tiger BFFs

King of the pride (though they actually
don't live in prides I believe)

Although we were all tuckered out from our jam-packed day – not to mention the time spent on the minibus – it didn’t end there! We went out for dinner (had my first real Thai green curry! AWESOME!) then headed to Sky Bar - famous for having a fantastic view of the city, and appearing in couple of scenes of The Hangover Part 2. The view from up top really was something though. Spectacular I would go so far as to say!

Bangkok by night

If I can draw your attention to the steps
below the dome, you'll see them here...

Unfortunately these steps aren't actually part of Sky Bar,
so people were very snippy about photos being taken on them

Two of my beautiful besties -
having the time of our lives

See - told ya

One more part of the day to go: a visit to Soi Cowboy. I shudder to remember. Don’t get me wrong, it was pretty fun at first, but then after about half an hour of watching the many (and there were SO many) old men escort young Thai women off I was really ready to leave. So a few of us did! And that was the end to our very hectic day! Most productive of the whole holiday by far I’d say.

Red Light District

Having planned to leave Bangkok for our next stop the following evening, we only had the morning and afternoon to see a little of the cultural side of Bangkok. At first we had planned to visit the Grand Palace, but seeing the entry price (if I remember correctly, it was about £10) we decided to scratch this and instead, head to the Reclining Buddha Temple with a much more reasonable entrance fee! (A fiver I think) And it was very interesting as well! Very different to the temples of China, which was a welcome change to me I must say. All bejewelled and sparkly. Very pretty.