Khaosan Road: Our Last Day in SE Asia

Hi everyone! We're coming to you today from our hostel just north of the Khaosan Road in Bangkok, which, for the uninitiated, is known as the "center of the backpacking universe." This area is filled with everything budget travelers could ever want, including a variety of guesthouses, cheap restaurants with good local and western food, bars that serve alcohol in literal buckets for just a few bucks, live music, street markets, a gratuitous number of massage and tattoo parlors, nail salons, people selling fried insects on a stick (yes, really), about 54 different 7-11s, and every manner of transportation you can imagine (well, except for a subway).

The Khaosan Road area of Bangkok became a popular tourist destination starting in the 1960s, when it was the location of choice for American servicemen looking for a little R&R in between tours in Vietnam. It's continued that unique flavor to this day, and is one of the only areas in Bangkok where you'll find families, backpackers, moneyed tourists and locals all hanging out in the same place. We had stayed in a different area of the city during our first visit, but we knew we wanted to see this area and so decided to stay here upon our return.

Since we last posted, we enjoyed a few more days in Cambodia, sampling the local cuisine, making several awesome new friends at our hostel (shoutouts to Ashley Elaine Conor Adam Alex Tori Keal & Cass) and spending more time exploring the temple complexes around Angkor Wat (including watching the sunrise from Phnom Bakheng; thanks for the tip, Auntie M!). Unfortunately, Nick came down with some form of food-borne stomach infection and missed the last temple visit, though we did finally get to dig into those traveler's antibiotics we bought. I'm amazed it took this long, frankly.

Another 8-hour bus ride brought us back to Bangkok on Sunday, and we leave bright and early Tuesday morning for Nepal!!! We'll check in with y'all once more before we start our trek, and then you likely won't be hearing from us for a couple weeks. Pictures coming soon!Read more