One Night In Bangkok, Or Three... ;)

[ by Stian ]

It is time for Bangkok and we were to meet up with my friend Sissel and her friend Marion who would be arriving Bangkok as well the same day as us, joining us for 3 weeks of traveling:) I was excited to get to see some familiar faces again and of course looking forward to these three weeks. I knew that traveling with Sissel is always fun since I have done twice already both in 2010, and last year as well:) Marion though would be a completely new face for me though so it would be fun to get to know her as well:)

SUNDAY: Arriving Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and the largest city in Thailand with a population of over eight million. We were therefore surprised to discover how ineffective the public transportation network turned out to be. We arrived early in the morning at the bus station, which is located pretty far outside of the city center. We had no clue how to get out of there other than taking a taxi, but we did not feel like being ripped off again, so we searched the whole place for a tourist information desk, wanting to know if there was a public bus going to the city center. When we finally found it it was closed. That is we had to wait another 2 hours for it to open. There were plenty of ticket stands though, but no one seemed to speak any English at all so there were no help to get anywhere. We eventually asked a security guard and he told us there were NO public transportation out of the station area except from the taxis – so we just had to give in and take the chance of being ripped off again.

The Neverending Story of Taxi-scams

We got to the taxi-stand and there were a security guy that led us to the taxi we were to take. The taxi had a taximeter and I told the taxi driver to use it, but he didn't turn it on right away. We showed him the address for our hotel, but he seemed clueless of where it was at. The hotel webpage said that it should take maximum 30 minutes to get there IF there was heavy traffic from the bus station. The taxi driver did not seem like a reliable guy so I was upset and went out of the taxi and told the security guy that I refused to take this taxi if the driver did not turn on the taximeter. The guard then told the driver to do so and he reluctantly did obey. He also eventually claimed that he knew were the hotel would be at. So we started driving and we drove and we drove. It turned out that he did not know at all where the hotel was at, or at least that's what he said. We tried to call the hotel to get them to explain to the driver how to get there, but there was no reply in the other end. We did drive on the highway for 40 minutes all together – and there were NO traffic, so we drove very fast as well. Then it felt like we drove forever around in the city center until we eventually found the hotel. I was pissed because it was obvious that he ripped us off on purpose. He even asked for way more than what the taximeter showed when we got off, and then asked for tip as well – we told him that would never happen, so we paid what the taximeter said and got off.

Our Hotel: The Ecotel Bangkok.

Our hotel in Bangkok was located in a pretty shabby street, but it looked very inviting, in other words very nice:) It was called Ecotel Bangkok Hotel and is considered a budget hotel, though we felt it was anything but budget, since it's standard is way better than many hotels back home in Norway. We had booked a deluxe room for 4 people, which was very nice as well. We were to stay for 3 nights in Bangkok so it all looked like it would be some good days:)

Meeting Kenneth's friend

Sissel and Marion would not arrive until late afternoon, so I and Kenneth went straight to a shopping complex were we would meet up with a friend of Kenneth actually for a chat who was in Bangkok for transit for a few hours before leaving for another city this particular day. On our way to the shopping center we met this guy, who seemed like a tourist, though Asian, who recommended us to go see the Lucky Buddha, which was located at this one place which was open for public and tourists only ONE day a year with FREE entry, and THIS was the day. We said we would consider it but that we had other things to do first. We then met up with Kenneth's friend – had a nice chat and then we said goodbye and left back to our hotel again to wait for my girls.

Meeting Up With Sissel and Marion

Seeing Sissel and Marion was very very nice. As expected it felt great to see a familiar face again:) It was already getting late so the girls refreshen themselves and then we headed out to find some food to eat. Of course we were met by a guy right outside the hotel that told us he knew of a very good and cheap place to eat close by. So he took us there – and the restaurant was completely empty. We got the menu and then realized it was anything BUT cheap! It was very expensive compared to places we had eaten at earlier. So I and Kenneth decided that we would not be eating here and then left for the shopping area we had been to earlier since we had been told there would be a cheap food court there. So after half an hour of walking we were there and yes – it was indeed way cheaper – so we had a nice evening meal before heading back to the hotel for an early exit;)

On the way though Marion took lots of photos, also by a white-dressed monk – though we suspect he might be anything BUT a monk. Reason for this suspicion is based on after Marion paid him some bahts as a gratitude for letting her take his photo, he started following us for a long time. Eventually we asked him why he was following us, though he didn't seem to understand English. We kinda expect that he might have been a money boy – that is a guy willing to do «stuff» for money and that's why he was following us... well well. After a few more minutes he did though stop following us. Strange guy. We later realized as well that he could not have been a monk cause we did not see any more white-dressed guys like that during our journey.

Also on the way we run into some kittens, so we killed at least half an hour waiting for the girls to be done cuddling with them – haha. They are so soft when it comes to baby animals;)

Arranging Floating Market tour AND transportation to Cambodian border

On our way we dropped by a tour company and got into talk with the guy there. He seemed like a very very nice guy and was willing to help us with a lot. He suggested for us to drop by the floating market outside of the city, which seemed like a very nice place – so we all agreed that we should do that, though we had to do it on Tuesday, since Monday would be spent getting our visa for Myanmar.

We also asked him how to get to Siem Reap after getting back from Myanmar. We were told that all the buses for Cambodia leave early in the morning and it would not be possible to get to the border at the time we requested, that would be 11 am, after arriving to Bangkok airport. The only other option would be to take a taxi then. He recommended us to stay another night in Bangkok when arriving from Yangon, and then take the bus to Cambodia the next morning. The girls did not like this option since they did not want to waste a lot of time in Bangkok. We then asked if it was possible to arrange for someone to drive us to the border. He was not sure, but he would check it out and come back to us, which he eventually did. When he later got in touch with us again he informed us he had found a guy that could take us to the border for 3000 baht, that would be 600 baht each (120NOK). We immediately felt that it sounded like a good idea, so after having given it a thought we agreed to go for this option. The other option would have been to spend another night in Bangkok and to pay about the same price for a hotel anyway, so it seemed like a good idea. So the guy would arrange for a driver to pick us up at the airport and then to drive us to the Cambodian border. We were happy it all works out so well :)

Thai Foot Massage

On our way back we all felt like getting a foot massage so we stopped by this place close to our hotel where we would get an hour of massage for only 200 Baht. There were many guys working at this establishment, but I got a girl to massage me. Really I have to admit – girls are not as good as massaging as guys are – but it was ok. She didn't seem that interested either cause she was listening to music through earplugs singing for herself, she did though allow me to hear with her at some points giving me one of the earplugs, haha. She finished with me before the others were done, even though I got my session started the last, but I did not care really. I was waiting for my friends to be done and the girl, who was a very short and a bit overweight, was tip toeing around me, giggling. At one point she laughed and run up to me trying to whisper me something that I could not completely get a hold of, but I suspect what she said was something like «do you want more?» then giggling again – in other words I suspect that she was offering me a happy ending. I just smiled back and said I was all good for now – haha.

A Bar Out of the Blue

Almost at the hotel, the girls suggested we should have a few beers, but we had NO clue were to find a pub or a bar in this area so we just suggested to see if they had something at the hotel. Suddenly though a street bar just popped up on our right hand side where we were standing. It was very very strange, but there it was – a complete bar with beer and everything. It was like a higher spirit had just heard us and made our request come true. So of course we had to sit down for a few beers then:) So we had a few beers and a few laughs, and got in touch with some local people – all in all a very good time before heading back to the hotel for sleep:)

MONDAY: Getting our Visa for Myanmar

The next morning was Monday and it was time for us to get our visa for Myanmar. We got up early and headed for the Myanmar embassy. There was already a huge line, but we didn't have to wait that long after getting our application delivered, thankfully. We just had to fill out the papers correctly, attach a couple of passport photos and of course pay for it – and hopefully we would be able to pick up later in the day already. We then headed for sightseeing before returning around 3 pm to pick up our visas and thankfully we had gotten the visas – wiiiii:-) We were very glad that the process wasn't as time consuming as the Visa for China turned out to be, hooray.

Sightseeing in Bangkok

We did some sightseeing, but not too much. First we dropped by a Hindu temple complex, which was nothing special. Many of these temple structures seem have been constructed mainly for commercial purposes so they don't impress me very much.

We then wanted to go to the main area for sights but were of course stopped by some taxi guys that told us it would be way better to do a river cruise which would pass all the sights anyways and we would get way better photos. I and Kenneth were reluctant to this option, but the girls seemed to like this idea. The riverside was very close by – but the taxi drivers said it was not so we HAD to take the taxi. The girls of course believed the taxi-driver instead of us, so we just did not feel like arguing and got into the taxi. We were then taken to a river port where we had the option of doing the river-tour, which cost 700 baht pr person. I refused to pay this amount of money so it happen so that the girls went on their own and I and Kenneth stayed behind. Just after the departure of the girls I and Kenneth started to walk back towards the main road. I wanted to see the sights, but Kenneth did not, cause he had seen them before. We were then stopped by a tuk tuk driver and told us we could get the same tour for cheaper price at another port – after some discussion we then thought well maybe it could be nice, and since it was cheaper, then why not. So we were taken to this other port and got into the boat and headed for the sights area. Our «guide» was extremely annoying shouting at us to take photos of everything we were passing, even though we did not feel like taking a photo of everything. He then took us to the floating market of Bangkok city, which is just a scam – really it was not very good at all. We were told the tour would take an hour and a half, but after 40 minutes we seemed to be finished. We had not been able to take any good photos at all of any of the sights. The guide told us that he would drop us off at the sights area so that we could explore on our own, but he demanded, literally demanded us to pay him tip before letting us off. I refused to pay any tip to this guy and eventually he did drop us off. Kenneth later told me that he actually did pay him tip cause he did refuse to let us off if he did not get the tip... so he was really an asshole that guide. We paid 500 baht for the tour – that was 100 NOK's wasted for NOTHING!

Wat Pho - Temple of the Reclining Buddha

We then headed for the Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha, which was nearby, and also located adjacent to the Grand Palace of Bangkok. It is one of the oldest and largest Thai temple areas and the reclining Buddha is one of the largest Buddha images in the world (15m high, 43m long) as well as the temple houses more than one thousand other Buddha images. Of course there was an entrance fee – but Kenneth did not want to come along since he had already been here before so he chose to wait outside, so I went inside on my own. It was a very nice temple area, but wow there was really a crowd there. It was almost impossible to get by the tourists here... so after having spent almost half an hour there getting some photos, I was very glad to get out of there. Funny thing I got to know afterwards (thanks to wikipedia of course) is that this temple is known as the birthplace of the traditional Thai Massage, since this temple area also was the first public university in Thailand.

Afterwards we headed towards the Grand Royal Palace, which is supposed to be very very nice. On the way we were stopped by a man in police uniform who told us about the Lucky Buddha that we HAD to visit. It was only open for tourists ONE day a year, and THIS was the day. The same story we had heard the day before... hmmm. This guy told us he could fix us a cheap tuk tuk but we had drop by a tailor on the way. We thanked him for the information but told him we were not interested. He claimed that the Royal Palace was closed for visitors this day so we were wasting our time going there. He was a bit annoying so we just left. When we finally arrived at the palace entrance it turned out that we had to pay another 500 baht to get in, and also to loan some cloths to cover up our knees and so on... I really did not feel like spending more money so I chose not to go in. We just turned around and found a public bus and left back to pick up the visas from the Myanmar embassy.

RIP Rip Offs

After getting our passports with the visas back, we headed for the hotel. This time we took the public bus, and I have to say that people working on buses are not really friendly – but then again, being the person who is selling the tickets on public buses in Bangkok must be one of the worst jobs ever. We had opted for taking a tuk tuk back to the hotel – and we had been told by the people in the reception at the hotel that it should NOT cost more than 30 bath to travel the distance we wanted, but the tuk tuk drivers all requested around 200 baht, so we refused to pay and then opted for the public bus instead which was way cheaper. So we chose the more uncomfortable way, but at least we did not get ripped off.

At the hotel we met up with the girls again. They told us that the river tour they did was just a scam and it was really bad – so we told them that we did the tour as well, but for a cheaper price and that it was also just a scam... so this is obviously a thing going on in Bangkok. Well well.

Early Night for Me

After having rested a while we went out again for dinner. The girls, and Kenneth wanted once again to do a massage, but I did not feel like one so I just left back for the hotel. I ended up staying at the hotel for myself for many hours, because after the massage the girls went out for drinks and beer and Kenneth met a local guy and they all stayed out for a while. I had already gone to sleep when they got back to the hotel.

TUESDAY: Floating Market / Departure for Myanmar

The next day we were picked up by the guy from the tour company to go to the floating market. He would be driving us himself to the floating market, and then afterwards he had agreed to drive us to the airport as well. He was very sweet – 'cause he had originally planned for someone else to drive us, but he told us he wanted to make sure that we got to the airport in time so he chose to drive us himself then.

At the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

A floating market is a market that is located next to a body of water and vendors sell things directly out of their boats. Bangkok was once known as the Venice of Asia due to its extensive network of canals, though some of the waterways have since been filled to make way for roads. The floating markets was once a very common way to bring and sell products in this country, though today they mostly serve as novelty entertainment and as tourist attractions. One of the more famous floating markets is the one located just outside of Bangkok, that is the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market – I guess this is the one we went to since it's the main one for organized tourist tours.

I have to agree that, though a tourist attraction, I did find the floating market to be a very nice experience. The ride in the canal was nice cause there are plenty of photo opportunities, and there is a whole lot of nice souvenirs to be purchased here. We though quickly discovered that the products are way overpriced at this place, but the girls and Kenneth were good at bargaining this day, even though they might have been able to bargain the price even lower, but well well. I though do not want to carry too much stuff around so I chose not to buy anything... but I got some nice photos :-)

Departure for Myanmar

Our nice tour company-guy then drove us to the airport, though he was very kind to stop by a post office first, because the girls had already purchased so many souvenirs that they needed to ship stuff home – haha. When finally arriving to the airport we had to find a place to withdraw money and exchange into dollars, since we had been told that they only change US Dollars in Myanmar and that we had to do it on arrival at the airport in Yangon – this was according to the 2012 edt of Lonely Planet – but the Myanmar LP is total waste of money because we would quickly learn that Myanmar has gone through a rapid change the last few years so none of the smart advices in the book seem relevant anymore. We though got to the airport, and we got our US Dollars, and we were now finally on our way to explore the very unknown:-D Wiiiiii:)

We were very glad to be leaving Bangkok. Even though there were nice things here as well we did not get a very good impression of the city. Most people are really just out to scam you all the time. Also it's very stressful at times, and crowded. So all together I can say that Thailand so far unfortunately have been my least favorite country to visit during this trip...but I had some nice food at least:)