Bangkok, Thailand

Day 37: Hello Bangkok… and 4 hotels!

It is in the next 24 hours that I will explain to you “how not to travel.” And here we go!
Abby and I arrived in Bangkok early afternoon and snagged a cab to “the Mandarin Oriental, please.” (This was the hotel my friend from back home, Ema, had chosen for us to stay at for a few nights in luxury before she headed back home to the U.S. Ema and her travel friend, Danny, would be arriving late tonight, so I was going to check in early and lounge with Abby at the pool until they arrived.)
We are dropped off at a beautiful lobby where our bags are taken from the trunk for us… is this Heaven? We went to check in only to find that they didn’t have a reservation under Ema’s name. After a puzzling 20 minutes it was suggested that we were at the wrong Mandarin hotel… this one was called The Mandarin, not The Mandarin Oriental. Ohhhh! Back in the cab for another 20 minutes and we arrive at the even more stunning lobby of The Mandarin Oriental where once again our bags are taken for us and we are even given fresh leis for good luck. The check in counter then informed us that we still did not have reservations here and the attendant suggested that I get an address next time someone else books our stay somewhere. (Which I did, but poor communication left us with the wrong hotel name and therefore address.) The attendant was able to confirm the reservation number belonged to The Oriental Residences hotel.

Another 20 minutes later we arrived at the correct location! Phew! However, I was unable to check in as the reservation was not under my name. We sat around waiting for them to change their minds only to come to the conclusion that we would have to wait for Ema’s 9pm arrival to get into the room.
We decided to accomplish at least one task this afternoon by getting Abby checked into her nearby hostel at least. Oh wait! Not so nearby anymore… since she thought we were staying at a different hotel. Another cab ride later and we arrived at Glur Hostel. An adorable coffee shop downstairs and decent hostel rooms above. She got checked in and we finally had achieved something successful for the day. Our award waited for us a short block away at a rooftop bar for sunset.

It was finally nearing 9pm and we were completely exhausted from our travels from Cambodia, full afternoon of hotel hopping, and post-food poisoning bodies. I headed back to The Oriental Residences to wait on Ema and Danny to arrive. About an hour later they showed! The craziest feeling meeting a friend across the world! I was so excited to see them and even more excited to see our nice room and the bed that had been calling my name for hours now.
Wait, what’s that? The hotel desk informs them that they’ve only booked a single bed room for double occupancy… we could have a cot rolled in for an extra $50 a night. Seeing that I could buy my own private room at a hotel for this price I decided to opt out and join Abby back at Glur. The most exhausting day ever with a bittersweet ending… sweet being that I did finally find a bed around midnight. Hooray!
We had a big day to plan tomorrow so we all set our alarms for 8am to get to work! Ema and Danny at one hotel. Abby in another room. Me in another room and having to move hostels tomorrow (this one was full the next 2 nights). And my catamaran roomie, Sara, who wanted to meet up from another hotel. Somehow… we were going to plan this master meet up over our poor wifi. Ready. Set. Sleep.
Day 38: Organized Chaos
Morning came way to fast! Showered and packed back up I researched a new hostel to move to and waited for Abby to join me in the lobby to help me move my stuff over before meeting everyone else. This idea looked a little more like me waiting in the lobby until 10am for Abby to join. Then leaving at 12pm for my hostel. Then waiting on Ema and Danny to find us at that hostel until 3pm. Finally we met up and headed to the Grand Palace since we had just enough time for a tour before sunset.

Sadly, our driver dropped us off a block away at a site for mourning where apparently the Royal family had just left and free food was being given out. This was neat to witness but left us more confused on where to find the actual Grand Palace entrance. The mourning area had a security entrance which we thought was a pre-Grand Palace entry. After walking the huge circle we realized the Palace was a block over and we needed to get out of this fenced in area to find it. We finally reached the Palace walls around 5 o’clock and spent the next hour asking guards and other locals where the entrance was to be found. Guess what? We never made it in. After being pointed one way and then the next for awhile we finally gave up. #epictravelfails

We were successful at finding Wat Pho just beyond the Grand Palace and were able to enter with no problem. This is the site most well-known for the “Reclining Buddha.” The architecture was really neat and there were many little temples you could walk into if barefoot and appropriately covered. The Reclining Buddha was so huge! It was cool to see something so different from all the other statues that you see.

It was time for some dinner and fun on Khao San to lighten the mood of our chaotic day! The four of us crammed into a tuk tuk and arrived at the famous backpacker street. We had cheap Pad Thai and overpriced drinks. Danny made our experience complete by eating a scorpion from a vendor! Ema and I indulged in the most amazing coconut ice cream. So fresh and served in a coconut with chocolate syrup, condensed milk, and peanuts on top. Yum! We did some shopping and headed back to each of our individual dwellings haha.

Day 39: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
A 6am alarm had me pumped for the day! We had a plan and knew this day wouldn’t go to waste. Abby, Sara, and I had all signed up online with Asia Discovery for the Damneoen Saduak Floating Market trip! 550 baht for roundtrip transportation to and from your hotel to the market about 1.5 hours away. We were all 3 picked up on separate little shuttles and taken to a meeting location in downtown. I found Abby here, but no sign of Sara still! I began to wonder if I would really ever reunite with her?!
A comfortable shuttle ride later we arrived at the market and it was a real sight to see! There are plenty of floating markets to be found in and around Bangkok, but this one is the most famous as it is the oldest and largest. 150 baht gets you a seat on a boat that will paddle you through the market for 40 minutes. You can signal for them to stop at any point you’d like to buy something from a boat vendor you are passing. I suggest buying quickly if you actually want something. The first 10 minutes were food and drinks, the next 10 minutes were souvenirs, and the last 20 minutes were us rounding back around to the boat dock which was just sightseeing of the houses that lined the canal. Very interesting scenery, but they fail to convey you only have the beginning of the trip to buy things. Don’t worry though! There is plenty of on-land market stalls when you get off the boat… it’s just not as fun and authentic as buying from the boat.

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We bought some coffee and a few souvenirs then waited at the meeting spot for the next part of our tour. We were given a short ride on a longtail boat. This was advertised as a way to see the surrounding village (which we had just done) and some cool trees (?)… still a nice little boat ride, but it was definitely just for those tourists wanting to check “ride in a longtail boat” off their Thailand to-do lists. And guess who I found in the line to board the longtail?! Yep, it was Sara! We ended up all 3 on the bus back to Bangkok, so we had some time to catch up and plan our evening!

We met at Abby’s hostel that night to decide on dinner and walk to the nearby Sky Bar filmed in the Hangover II. This place had spectacular views but we all agreed it’d be a one-and-done drink there since cocktails were about $25 each. First, we walked to the Bangrak Bazaar market’s Food Festival happening right outside Glur Hostel. There were so many options of food that all smelled amazing! After the cheapest dinner of fried noodles and pork I’ve found we headed to the Sky Bar.
Yep, gorgeous. Yep, expensive. Check! Abby wasn’t feeling so well so she walked back to her hostel. Sara and I decided to go to a couple of other popular bars nearby before calling it a night. First stop was a short walk from the Sky Bar. It was a basement bar with jazz music and a speakeasy vibe. It was called Maggie Choo’s and I absolutely loved this place. The drinks, music, and atmosphere reminded me of bars back home on Magnolia St. We eventually left for one last place we had heard about, Cloud 47. Another sky bar, but less crowded and expensive. This place was really great as well! We met a few Canadain guys on the elevator up and they made great company for our night cap!

It was time to call it a night after a great day of fun around Bangkok! I said “goodbye” to Sara who was headed to India the next day and “see ya later” to the Canadians who seemed to have similar travel plans for the next couple weeks as Abby and I. Back at the hostel I find my room to be evacuated due to AC problems and a note to see the front desk… So much fun trying to pack and move all your things to a new room and top bunk at 3am.
Day 40: Sofitel Hotel
Abby and I both checked out of our hostels and met in a cab for Sofitel Hotel in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok. This 5 star hotel had a good rep for day use of their pool and locker room which was just what we were looking for until our night bus to Chiang Mai. The Sukhumvit area is known for it’s expat population and pricey modern shops and restaurants. Sofitel fit right in! The lobby was stunning and we felt epically out of place with our backpacks and swimsuit cover ups on. We were sent to the 9th floor to check in to the pool for 600 baht each which gave us pool access and locker room access (showers, free water, lockers, etc.). It was perfect. The pool was beautiful and the views were quite nice as well. It was going to be a relaxing afternoon of poolside luxury… or so I thought.

Food poisoning episode no. 2 decided to strike during this lovely afternoon. I spent the next 3 hours in the locker room between attempting to lie down on a bench and then getting nauseous and running to the toilet. Rough day and even harder when you are homeless and spent $30 on a pool you can’t enjoy. Evening was beginning to roll around and I was hoping I could kick the nausea before our night bus, but there was just no way! I ended up booking a night at Sofitel while Abby continued on track to Chiang Mai on the bus.
Dropping $200 on 1 night of accommodation when you’re used to paying $10 hurts pretty bad. But I will say it was quite enjoyable! There was a bathtub, the fluffiest king bed ever, chamomile tea for bedtime, a phone next to the toilet (so fancy?), a robe and houseshoes, and views for days out the window. And might I add… out my window I could see that Four Points by Sheraton hotel next door had an awesome rooftop bar/pool party happening… Not too shabby of a hotel choice if you come to Bangkok! Some sprite and a hot bath later I was curled up in my ginormous bed praying that I’d feel well enough the next day to fly to Abby in Chiang Mai.

Day 41: Chiang Mai
Rest & prayers really do heal. I felt so much better when I woke up. I ordered some steamed rice for breakfast (basically my new diet since apparently all things make me sick here now). The room service attendant was so confused that I didn’t want anything else with my rice. Haha. I booked an afternoon flight to Chiang Mai and made it to Abby at Hug Hostel about 6pm.
Chiang Mai was adorable. It was a bit of city life, but on such a smaller scale than Bangkok. The downtown area was easily marked by remnants of an old city wall that now had a manmade river and fountains lined with pedestrian friendly sidewalks. We explored the nearby streets and found some simple foods for our unhappy stomachs before returning to bed.

Next stop Pai! We are hoping to spend 4-5 days in Chiang Mai eventually, but for now it is just a pitstop city on our way to a neighboring mountain town called Pai. To get to Pai we will take a 3.5. hour shuttle van through some of the windiest mountain roads known! Everyone warns of car sickness, but I can’t wait… these kinds of rides are typically fun and somehow quite calming to me.
Wander On,
Sammi Kaye