The flight to Bangkok went really smoothly. I think it took about 25 hours to get to our final destination where we flew LAX > SF > Hong Kong > Bangkok. I really enjoy long flights because there’s something about being isolated from the rest of the world that makes time kind of stand still. On the plane I worked on a bunch of photo touch ups from Joanna’s graduation and party, started reading American Gods, and I watched the Hangover II to prepare me for Bangkok. The sun never set until after we arrived to Hong Kong so it made it easier to adjust to the 12 hour time change. I did catch a picture of the new bridge they’re building from Hong Kong to Macau which is 31 miles long and will finish later this year.
We arrived in Bangkok a little after midnight and caught an uber to our hostel. It was a 30 min ride and cost $8 which wasn’t bad. I did some research online on transportation here and a lot of people were saying Uber is overpriced here but the estimate on catching a cab was $12 and sometimes you have to bargain with the cab because their meter is “broken”.
We’re staying at Yim in Huai Khwang, a district in the city. The private room came out to be $38 per night and to my surprise, we had our own bathroom, balcony which was nice, and it included a western style breakfast of toast, eggs, and sausage/bacon.
As expected, around 2am I was starving. I thought ahead and exchanged $40 at the airport for Thai Baht. Quick tip, NEVER exchange money ahead of time in the US before you arrive to your destination. In LA they were exchanging 28THB for $1, at the airport it was 32 THB, and next to the hostel it was 34THB.
There was a 7-11 half a block down the road and they had sushi triangles (onigiri) which I loved eating in Japan for $.80 each. I also found a chinese hotpot and dim sum place next door to the hostel that is open 24/7. After the post midnight snack I got about 3 hours of sleep and woke up before 7am.
The plan today was to take it easy as I was certain I’d crash around 3-4pm. The girl at the front desk suggested we check out a mall in Pathum Wan, I think it was called the Siam Square One mall which was a few subway stops away and then go check out a temple on the other side of town. The annoying thing I found out here is that they have two different subway companies so you have to buy 2 separate RFID cards to transfer from one line to another. They also take security really seriously. Every time you enter the subway station or a shopping area there are metal detectors and security guards that check your bags.
One of the nice parts of this area of the city was that you could access all the main stuff via skyway, I think they did this to account for all the rain they get. The forecast said it would be 93f and heavy humidity but because there was a breeze, it was pretty manageable.
The mall was a little lame as it was all western stores but Joanna did manage to get a pair of long pants in a different shopping area because temples and traditional buildings prohibit shorts.
Next door there was a really nice covered street food area. They were playing John Mayer on the speakers and just had a really nice vibe. I’m going to be posting all my food pics and the prices on my instagram feed so I’m not inundating people on facebook or on here. I do have to say that everything we tried was tasty and very cheap.
We decided to head back to the hostel to take a break. The break turned into a 4 hour nap for me and when I woke up it was already past 7pm. I wanted to get a massage, Chang beer, and wander Khao San Road but it would have taken over an hour to get there. The front desk suggested we check out the Train night market which wasn’t too far away. It turned out to be a great suggestion as there was a ton of food and shopping there to check out.
At 10 pm I felt one small rain drop and didn’t think anything of it but then BOOM! Heavy rain started falling. I was wearing running shoes so those got completely soaked. Joanna had a good idea of putting our backpacks underneath our rain jackets to keep them dry. I’m a little disappointed that our food frenzy was cut short. I think we spent around $10 for food today.
Right now I’m finishing up this blog post and watching people drive by on the street. The ones driving mopeds are ankle deep in water right now which is crazy.
