The smell of Thailand
I just love it when you get out of the airport in BKK, and you're suddenly surrounded bu the warm, sweet-smelling air. I don't know what it smells, but it's not like this anywhere else I've been. Well, it's probably just pollution, but it makes my heart make an extra jump every time!
I came to Bankgkok with two friends from back home. The flight was quite long, we went for the cheapest option so threre was two stops on the way. So when we arrived, two of us had elephant legs, totally swollen. It's really uncomfortable, so we headed straight down to Khao San for a few beers to make it all better!
The street-food is just so lovely, and we were so hungry, we just sat down on our backpacks to eat before even finding a hotel room. Sitting there, surrounded by other travellers, the smell og phad tai and spring rolls, the warm air... You can just feel there's a real adventure coming up!
We spendt a few days eating, drinking, playing pool and shopping. There's no need to bring a lot of stuff while going to Thailand, you can just buy everything real cheap in Bangkok! So I bought some really comfy clothes, like fishermans pants and vide skirts and so on. It's not a fashion show, so no need to look classy :)
Looking into the travel agencies, I found so many tours I would like to join in on! But, had to save it for later, as my budget was only what I saved up while studying full time for the last year. And the money was supposed to last for almost 3 months. So we only got the bus/boat tickets for Koh Chang, and like hamsters we saved up a lot of snacks for the trip, and off we were!
The Inn has a little more than 50 rooms, all reasonably clean. This place has been here for years, so it's a bit worn, and might not look very fancy. The rooms are kept very simple.
Most of the rooms are a little bit noisy, but you really can't expect anything else in the middle of the "party street". You can chose between rooms with hot water or not, and AC or fan. AC takes the price quite a bit higher, and hot water is really not needed when the temperature gets to 35 C, so the cheapest opinion might be good enough. You could also choose a room with TV, but why should you have a TV in Bangkok..?
In the reception, there are several computers with internet connection - very cheap!, and you can get your digital photos burned on a CD. There's also a reastaurant area wich is very nice for breakfast. If you pay a little extra, they let you make your own lunch to take with you if you're going to travel a long way that day. Recommended for long train or bus-rides!
Safety boxes are available behind the reception, but bring your own padlock.
As many of the other inns around Khao San, Siam Oriental also provides luggage storage, for a short or longer period of time. The cost is chips, so if you want to get away for a week and then come back, storing most of your luggage here would be a good choice. Just don't leave valuables.
Staff is friendly, the place is well organized, and there's always a free room :)
Prices from 280 Bath low-season.
