The first day of travelling was a whirlwind and I can safely say, Bangkok is not for the faint hearted.
Arriving at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport at 8am & getting to our hotel by 9am via a £8.00 taxi (About an hours drive), went very smoothly. However, we then couldn’t check in to our hotel until 2pm. We were dead tired and Andrea definitely pulled a 24hour all-nighter on the flight.
We stored our backpacks in a leaky maintenance cupboard and went off in search for a toilet and relaxation. We were confronted by: ushering taxi offers, pushy restaurant reps and a man who worked in the police station; who told us we should leave Bangkok the next day.
The man spoke very good English and told us to go to the travel office in town to book a trip north of Thailand. Little had we known, we had just entered in to the centre of Bangkok with political protests taking place at the bottom of the road to our hotel. We went to the travel office and organised a 14 day trip through North Thailand, starting the next day. (Also to note; we had both slept around 5 hours out of 48 at this point).
We explained to our hotel what we had decided to do, even though we had pre paid for 3 nights, in hope we could re-coup the two extra nights at a later date. In the end, it turned out we couldn’t but as the Thai lady in the travel office said, “losing £26 is nothing compared to losing your life”.
The protests have been peaceful so far and the situation is looking to be resolved; however authorities in Thailand have implemented the Internal Security Act from 9 October to 30 November in the Dusit, Pom Prab, and Phra Nakorn districts of Bangkok due to the protests.
So, we thought it best to leave Bangkok and return another time.
So far we haven’t braved the street food, of which you can get a full Thai meal for around 30 Thai Baht = £0.60p – I’m sure this will change with time as the money starts to dwindle. We did both hard bargain for a “real pair” of RayBans on Kho San Road though. Well, fumbling around for money until the lady just wanted us to go away. Our trick worked 😉
Hello Raybans!
More roaming soon x
Probably for the best Lucy, Kho San Road is a shithole at the best of times. Only thing I’d recommend doing in Bangkok is the floating market. Stay well away from the Cobra show. Oh dear lord stay away from the cobra show.
Haha! Well I did actually see a very young girl holding a live cobra on Kho San Road too but you’re suggesting sounds more disturbing.
I will definitely steer clear when I go back there x
Sounds like its been busy for you already!! 🙂 lol hope your both okay and speak to u soon missing you both!!! Xxx
Very busy Jess! We took a 6 hour coach journey today too – Andrea’s KO in her bed right now. Haha.
I hope you’re well and speak soon.
PS: I heard what Bailey did during the Hunger Games. Ha! x
Ah yes, REAL Raybans….I remember discussion with a fellow about the merits of his hooky wares…It’s quite disturbing how convinced they are – “AND you look so 1989 darlings….which is like so postmodern retro cool…in an ironic way..OBVS” Hope the protests stay peaceful….Have a good one. Paul
Haha – Yeah, I didn’t try your trick with the “fake V’s real” conversation. Thanks Paul – and thanks for the notes from when you went, sounds like you an interesting / great time in Bangkok! 🙂
I’m glad to see that the Thai people are protecting tourists as you don’t know which side they might be on. It should be safer up north, as all protestors have gathered in Bangkok. You’ll have fun in Chiangmai and Pai! I trekked through a forest for 2 days, went climbing for half a day, did some white water rafting another day, took some scooters to a waterfall.. Loads to do! And probably the cheapest area to stay in too!
Hey Olivia,
Thanks for checking out the blog!
We definitely felt safer up north. Chang Mai was really cool for us too – we did a 3 day jungle trek which was awesome.
We go back to Bangkok in a few days after we pass through Cambodia but we’re just going to keep a low profile and then catch the train to the south islands in Thailand. Looking forward to the beach!
Your style is so unikque in comparison to other folks I have read stuff from.
Thank you for posting when you have tthe opportunity, Guess I wull just bookmark this page.
Hey Valentina! Thank you for your comment, glad you like the blog 🙂