Introduction to Bangkok

Grand Palace

We stayed in Bangkok longer than we had intended to due to a mixture of buckets, a nice hostel, good people and the MBK centre (best shopping centre in the world). We had intended to stay 3 days and then spend more time there at the end of the trip, but in the end we stayed 6 days. We checked into an amazing hostel called Smile Society. We didn't have our own room but the dorms were so comfortable, with air con, bed lamps and wifi. The owner was really nice, the hostel was modern, with lovely bathrooms and we met some great people there. It also had a great location: right in the middle of Patpong (the red light district) which was good because there were loads of cheap stalls near bye and we were right next to the sky train (best way to get around the city). We were also one stop away from Siam square, the best shopping area in Bangkok, and the first thing we did after we dropped off our bags at the hostel and had a shower, was head to the MBK centre – a shopping centre that I last visited when I was 17 and it was my favourite thing about Thailand.

Inside the MBK centre

 It is the best shopping centre in the world! It has 7 levels packed with real brands, fake brands, delicious food, and electronics. It has everything you could ever want, both legit and fake, and it is an air conditioned escape from the boiling hot city. It is a shopper's paradise! So, on the first night we went there, we were really tired after our night train, and ended up sampling the Thai McDonalds for the first time in Thailand, looked around a few shops and marvelled at how much there was to buy and talked about how much we were going to buy on the week before we leave to go home. We even decided to buy new suitcases and just pack them full of cheap clothes. We went back to the hostel and got chatting to some people in the lounge and ended up going out for a drink with them. I was really tired and went home to bed and Jemma came back a few hours later.

The next day, we met up with an American boy and a Canadian boy from the night before and went to get our Vietnam visas from the embassy with them. It was going to take 3 days so we booked a few more nights in the hostel. After getting our visas, although we knew we were inappropriately dressed for templing (we didn't have covered shoulders or legs) we decided to go to the Grand Palace. We set off, in the hottest temperatures I have experienced yet, with the two boys, the American guy from Texas insisting on leading us there on foot and by sky train instead of getting a taxi, which I knew would be the cheaper option (taxis never cost any more than £2 to go anywhere in BKK). In the end, he led us to completely the wrong place and we ended up at the King's Palace and had to get a taxi in the end to the Grand Palace, which would have been cheaper to do in the first place, but never mind. When we got there, there was a man outside with a sign, telling us the Grand Palace was shut due to a monk ceremony until 12.00 and that it would be better if we visited the big Buddha instead and came back later. Despite numerous warnings of this scam in all the guide books, Jemma still fell for it, but me and the American guy cottoned on and decided to try another entrance. Then we heard loud speakers playing out a message to the crowds saying 'there will be people outside the Palace who will try to delay your entry, do not listen to them! The Palace is open every day from 9am till 5pm with no exceptions!' This confirmed that we had just been approached by a scammer. The next scam attempt came when we entered the palace and tried to rent some clothes to cover ourselves up (Temple rules). We were sure the clothes should be free, but there was a man telling us all the free clothes had gone and we had to go outside and buy some. Jemma and I nearly got into an argument because I was insistent that I wouldn't pay for clothes and she wanted to go outside and buy some.

In our attractive borrowed outfits

Luckily the Canadian guy said he didn't want to pay either, and when we asked the man again, he let us in and gave us the free clothes. They were awful and sweaty and trekking around the palace in the scorching sun in them was a bit of a nightmare but at least they were free! I had been to the Palace before when I last visited Bangkok, but Jemma was blown away by it and had to borrow my camera to take pictures because she had lost hers. After the palace, the four of us went for lunch at a restaurant, and then to another temple to see a big Buddha lying down. The two boys then had a massage at the place where Thai massages originated, but I thought they were overpriced, and after my painful experience in Koh Tao with a Thai massage, I decided to opt out. Jemma and I caught a taxi back to the hostel, which took about an hour (BKK has the worst traffic ever), but only cost us £2 between us. I then had a nap while Jemma went online. That night, we went out for dinner and drinks on Khoasan road (backpacker ghetto) with the two boys, plus an English guy called James and a Korean guy called Juho. We ended up drinking buckets and had the most hilarious drunken night ever. It was brilliant. We ended up bartering with the sellers wandering around and bought about 15 bracelets between us with various funny sayings on them. We went to a club and got chatting to some Thais, who taught us the words for 'I am very drunk', which the owner of the hostel found hilarious when I said it to her later that night in the hostel. We ended the night with a McDonald's and rolled into bed around 4am.

Khao San Road at night