Bangkok

Bangkok is a weird place. In some ways, we found it surprisingly modern and relaxed, considering it's an Asian city of 17 million people that has just been through an earthquake. On the other hand, if you scratch below the surface you can definitely find exactly the kind of chaotic seediness that it is famous for.

We arrived at 4am after an uncomfortable overnight train, with Chelsea still suffering from the Koh Tao gastro. Unable to check into our hostel until at least 12:30, we had to just sit in the lobby and try to nap on the hard chairs. This was made worse because we were staying in an absolutely bizarre place: an outer space-themed backpacker hostel, with bunks designed to look like pods on a spaceship and alien decorations everywhere. The man behind the desk had a playlist of about six songs (mostly Bieber) that played on a loop for hours. It also, inexplicably, smelled of BBQ sauce everywhere. We thought the space pods would be funny, before we knew we would be sick, and regretted it immediately when we arrived. Hard to imagine anything worse than being trapped in a claustrophobic airlock in the middle of the night when you are desperate to "evacuate". We stared into the void, and we did not like it, so we booked another hotel and returned to planet earth.

After a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed, Chelsea was back to full strength, so we were finally able to get out and explore Bangkok. We took a river boat (very cheap, excellent public transport option!) to Wat Pho, to see the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, and then caught a tuktuk (more expensive but great fun) to Chinatown — the largest in the world. The stalls were filled with exactly the kind of unexplainable, alien stuff that you expect in a Chinatown, but we did also find a small road with cute, indie cocktail bars to spend the evening.

The next day we caught another river boat to the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and watched a traditional dance show at the Royal Theatre, before meeting an old friend of Dan's for happy hour drinks. Chelsea likes to think she's the globe -trotting one with the international friendship web, but this time it was one of Dan's old uni contacts from his year abroad in Canada that we caught up with. So that's one in the eye for Chelsea and her Rhodes network.

Later, we all went to Patpong Night Market (the red light district), which was... enlightening. This was the seedy Bangkok that we had been expecting, full of ladyboys and sex workers and gross old white men looking for various kinds of service. We knew it couldn't all be efficient public transport and beautiful monuments! The drag show we watched was extremely impressive, while other parts of the district were a lot less so. All in all, a worthwhile cultural visit, but perhaps not somewhere we're desperate to go back to! 🙃

On the plus side, it feels like we've finally left 'White Lotus resort Thailand', and accessed something a bit less polished. We're looking forward to what North Thailand has to offer over the next week or so!Okumaya devam et