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  • Day 117

    Bangkok

    January 17, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We made the quick 1.5 hour bus ride to Bangkok the next morning and after we settled into our hostel set out to explore this city.

    The first stop was the infamous backpacker area of khaosan road. Or as the locals call it, falang (= foreigner) road. A really impressive crowd of travelers gathers here in the numerous bars, clubs and hostels. We had really good street food in a side street and then wanted to walk through the old town to the main station to pick up train tickets.

    That's when the ugly side of Bangkok hit us twice. Luckily we were kinda prepared, so all we lost was 50 cents and 30 minutes of our time. One tuktuk driver didn't take us to the agreed destination - the tourist information - but to a grossly overpriced travel agency that had a sign saying tourist information. Apparently not a protected term in Thailand ;). So we feigned some interest and quickly left after hearing the price they demanded. 1850 THB per person! That equals roughly 45 EUR. We paid 1500 THB for both of us at the train station. But not after we barely avoided another scam at the station. When you enter you see another "tourist information" right away, whose personnel brings you to the "only" place to buy the combined train and bus ticket necessary to get to Krabi. Luckily, we were suspicious by now and so Claire stayed in the main hall "to buy water" as soon as we spotted official looking ticket counters. There the combined ticket was roughly 12 EUR cheaper for the same service.

    But we of course wouldn't let this influence our mood! So, the next morning we went to the national museum which offers free guided tours. For real, no scam! And it was really interesting. We learnt a lot about Thai history, Buddhism and the Thai monarchy. Afterwards we had quick looks at the 3 famous temples of Bangkok and later made for 2 impressive shopping districts. We didn't buy anything, but others certainly did. So many opportunities to buy whatever you like.

    On Friday we had an organization day and on Saturday we went to the vast chatuchak market. THE market in Bangkok. You can find about anything there. Just not the specific things we were looking for ;).

    All in all, Bangkok is fascinating, overwhelming and certainly buzzing. But all those scams going on certainly leave a bitter taste in your mouth.
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