The First Taste of Bangkok

I have been in Bangkok now for about 10 days and in that time, despite continuing with my work, I have managed to see a bit of Bangkok and experience life here.

On arriving I was met by Tik at the airport who graciously offered to pick me up. We grabbed some Pad Thai and other snacks from the street sellers on the way back and that was first example of Thai Cuisine; just as I had expected it was fantastic.

I was fortunate to be shown around by Martin and Tik for the first few days – we have drank cocktails in Sirocco Sky Bar (more famous for the restaurant), wandered Suan Lum (Lumpini Night Baazar) and eaten at some great places including an energising, health conscious restaurant called Glow.

Martin and I even ventured into the seedy night life of Soi Cowboy, briefly visiting a typical Go Go Bar. At this time of year there are not as many tourists and locals around, due to the hot weather and Songkran respectively, so the bars are fairly empty. We went at about midnight on a Friday night and the bar was empty – unfortunately this meant the stage shows stopped and we got a lot of attention from girls wanting a “lady drink”.

Consequently we didn’t stay long but it was an interesting experience all the same – when we entered a dancer was playing the trumpet, just not with her mouth…

I have been concentrating mainly on working and lazily enjoying the swimming pool, massages etc. this week while Martin & Tik are in Japan. Doing my work here has been without problems so far – video calls on Skype are a great way to hold meetings and the many distractions have only occasionally prevented me from getting stuck into work.

Yesterday I met up with a friend of Martin & Tiks – Quinn Strenn, a genuinely nice guy and down to earth traveler from America. His adventure started in Hawaii and has taken him to the Philippines, Bangkok, Laos and back to Bangkok. Listening to some fantastic stories, both good and bad, from a genuine traveler was almost inspiring as Quinns courage in traveling alone.

This was also my first experience of Khao San Road. Infamous and known to every traveler of Bangkok, it is often summed up with the simple word “Crazy”. Walking down the unbelievably busy street you can find dirt cheap hotels, cash machines, street sellers, Irish bars, McDonalds and even a recently opened Apple Store. Watching the world go by here is infinitely entertaining.

Accurately described in Alex Garland’s fantastic novel The Beach as “the centre of the backpacking universe”, Khao San Road is often talked about with a mixture of disgust and delight. Here it seems you can get anything you need – meeting new people, getting great advice and enjoying a good (if slightly overpriced) beer in a 24 hour party atmosphere.

Like the famous lead character of the book many travelers long for a more real, tranquil and untouched experience of Thailand – although those I have spoken to still enjoy the Khao San experience.

Today is the start of Songkran which is a festival celebrating the start of the Thai New Year which ends after Wednesday – I plan to stay Wednesday night on Khao San as this is apparently the place to be during this water throwing festival. Unfortunately there is so much water about it isn’t wise to take any electronics (e.g. a camera) but I will be sure to paint the picture in my next post!

I am really enjoying my time here in Bangkok, with the only slight downside being the time I am spending keeping on top of my work. Although I love the work I do the time spent on it is time I am not planning or doing things – of which there are many in Bangkok.

Karen will be joining me in a couple of weeks for a month, which I am really looking forward to. Hopefully I can get ahead of work and take more time out to explore and discover during that time.

I hope you have enjoyed reading. Next up will be my experiences of Songkran and Khao San Road!