One Night in Bangkok

Ok, so the title was a lie. Big fat whopper. While I did spend a night in Bangkok, 2 more will follow. I just wanted to infuse a little earworm into your minds to share the song that has been living rent free in my head ever since I arrived here. 😄

I was rather looking forward to moving on from Krabi, actually. I think where I stayed in Krabi took away from the experience. The region has a lot more to offer than what I saw, I’m sure.

So, in the morning of 29.05.26, I flew to Bangkok.

I heard many great things about this place and was ready to explore! I walked around for a bit on the day of arrival, but not much else happened, actually.

I do wanna note how incredibly hot it is here. The heat practically slaps you in the face.

For the next day, meaning today for the purposes of the blog post date, I had booked a tour. After having had really good ones in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, having seen all the good places and even getting a few treats here and there, I was looking forward to getting to know Bangkok and getting a few tips from a local.

Said local, an immaculately dressed man in his late sixties, met his group at 9am sharp.
His group being the minimum amount of people it takes to justify using the word “group”.
There were more people, apparently, who kept texting the guide telling him that they’ll be a few minutes late etc. etc. Well, our guide wouldn’t have it. He kept saying “Toxic people, such toxic people, being late!” with such despicable vigour that I was actually quite amused.

So, of course, we didn’t wait and started the tour that would last almost 2 hours.

The guide - well - while I kinda liked him, he was very straightforward with the tour. We walked to an “old school” mall, according to him, through a flower market, the 4th biggest in the world, apparently. We walked past temples and eventually boarded a bus for two short stops to avoid the heat for a bit and he left us in an underground area with AC and free public bathrooms that I paid a visit.

As a little aside here, just as I was walking to my chosen stall, I walked past another one, in front of which a cleaning lady just stood, getting ready to clean up after each occupant.
I saw the lady stand there, completely still, frozen. I also saw why. It was bad. I shall say no more than that. Only that I then heard a long, extended, disheartened scream emanating from the cleaning lady. That wail - while this was a really bad day for her - made me chuckle. Just picturing her just standing there, taking in the scene, putting all the frustration into those 15 seconds at the top of her lungs - yep, it was rather comically absurd.

Back to the end of the tour.

Did I get to know Bangkok better? Not really. The guide’s style was more like: walking, occasionally pointing left, right and forward, saying, “This is the palace”, “This is the reclining Buddha”, “Go here for the best exchange rate in Bangkok”.

It was short and not particularly immersive. The guide was nice, though, but I’m not sure about the objective of a tour through Bangkok having been met. 😄

He did, however, help me by letting me know where I might find Khanom Tom - a Thai dessert, if you recall, that I tried in Sydney for the first time and grew somewhat addicted to. Ah, good times!

So, after the tour had been concluded, I swiftly took a ferry across the river and followed my instincts that reliably led me to the Wang Lang Market where I found 2 sources of Khanom Tom. Absolute bliss!

I did try to explore the market a bit, but boy, oh, boy, the multitude of people stopping and going was too much for me. I escorted myself back to the other side of the river and hiked back to the hostel. I had had plans for the evening, but a thunderstorm and me being quite exhausted from hiking in the heat all day, had me enjoy a quiet night at the hostel, which incidentally, is a little oasis filled with plants and chill vibes. If you got rid of the other people… 😄

Oh, incidentally. Crossing streets in Bangkok is an absolute pain. Traffic is heavy, there’s oftentimes 10+ traffic lanes, rarely a traffic light. There are some pedestrian crossing points, BUT they might as well not be there because no one will ever stop for you.
What I learnt from Hakim, the tour guide in Kuala Lumpur (holding out your hand, making eye contact with the driver and just crossing), didn’t work in Bangkok.

Therefore, I asked our guide for some prime tips. His not verbatim answer:

“Crossing roads is terrible in Bangkok. No one will stop for you. It is all about the body language. You must look determined to cross and just do it. But that also often doesn’t work because it makes drivers speed up when they see that. They’re very rude! So, what you do is you look at the drivers and pray. You put your hands together and take a bow. Like this, you beg them for mercy not to speed up and run you over.”

And yeah, while his account made me chuckle, he wasn’t exactly kidding. 😄

P.S.: Since I don’t really stand a chance of getting decent sleep at night without a second pillow, like at this otherwise really nice hostel, I am using a substitute: my toiletry bag that I gently cradle at night. 😄

PPS: Please forgive my crude snapshottery from the hurried tour photos at the end (flower market etc.).Read more