Ko Tao to Bangkok was an interesting journey, a ferry ride and then an overnight train that took us a total of 14 hours to complete. The train ride was inexpensive, surprisingly clean and overall a pretty smooth journey. The only downside was that there were no double beds, so Rach and I slept across from each other, I knew she was okay because I would hear her laughing every couple minutes while watching her favourite show “Good Mythical Morning” until she fell asleep. We departed at 7pm and arrived at 6am in Bangkok, it was a ten minute tuk-tuk ride to our hostel that was more like boutique hotel. The Spades hostel was quaint, clean and friendly (finally!!). This hostel is pretty centrally located, close to the famous malls and only a ten minute walk from the sky train. After a much needed nap, we spent some time walking around and familiarizing ourselves with the area.
Later that night we ventured over to china town to see what we could find for dinner and we were not disappointed, street vendors lined the streets that were crowded with small tables and chairs. All the vendors specialized in only a few different dishes each and as we walked and smelled the aromas, we were hard pressed to make a decision. So we tried a couple different places, ordering one dish and sharing it before moving on to the next spot. Needless to say, our bellies were full when we decided to head home for the night.
We spent the next day walking around the seemingly endless rows of Chatuchak market. We were overwhelmed, there were entire sections dedicated to vintage, food, modern, art, lifestyle, pet stores, everything you could imagine, there was a section for it.
Im not talking about a little section either, I mean a section that would take you an hour to navigate, not only because of its size but also because of its winding ways. We truly enjoyed this market as it was immensely different from the markets we have been seeing over the past six months, it was truly unique in all ways. We promised ourselves that when we buy a house, we are coming back here to furnish it with art and unique decor, and that when we have kids, we are bringing them back here to dress them.
The next day we spent wandering around the area and getting lost in the giant paragon mall, it was basically a vertical version of the market we were at the day before, except it was air conditioned and everything was nine times the price. So we wandered with our hands in our pockets and just enjoyed the architecture, layout and mostly the air conditioning of the mall.
On our third day in Bangkok we woke up early to go to the floating market, it was a unique version of the same markets we had been walking through for the past six months but worth it for the experience.
It was crowded with tourists and overflowing with cultural trinkets and elephant print pants. The one unique thing about it was lost in the hustle, what should have been a relaxing ride through the canals, was in fact a crowded and rushed experience. There was no time to appreciate the foods being sold from the boats, to think about how the fact that these women are crammed into their boats that are packed with an assortment of goods and no time to even wonder what they sold before tourists came and monetized their way of life.
After our first canal ride we were dropped off and given some time to wander around on foot before getting onto a second boat. As we wandered around we noticed people had bought animals probably from Chatuchak market and brought them here and were charging tourists to take pictures of them or with them. There were snakes, lemurs, flying squirrels and more, I couldn’t help but wonder at the absurdity of it all.
The next boat we took moved at an even faster pace through less crowded canals, lined with beautiful overhanging trees, birds singing unique songs, grasses and roots jutting out at the banks to create organic pieces of art, yet all of this was missed because of how rushed the driver was. We crashed through waves, sped around corners and went even faster when there was a straight section of canal. Our guide provided no information for us other than when we were supposed to be back at the van to head back to the city. I was a little disappointed as I would have like to know what it was like before it became a tourist attraction, but I guess thats why we have google. We arrived at Kosan road around noon and walked around to find some lunch, which came in the form of some very delicious pad thai. We then bargained with some tuk tuk drivers to give us a ride back to our hostel, and after much discussion finally settled on a price, I wasn’t surprised when we arrived at our hostel and he asked for more than the price we discussed. We packed our bags and headed to the train station so we could take another overnight train ride to Chiang Mai. We would definitely come back to explore more of the city (and to buy some stuff from Chatuchak market!).
See our full video on here and the rest of our adventures on our YouTube channel:
-LLWP