Swasdee-krap Bangkok

Although I had always enjoyed having company when traveling, I decided to go solo this time and explore Thailand! This day marked my first solo backpacking experience.

Before going to Thailand, I knew nothing about the country except for elephants, golden reclining buddhas, Pat Pong, Thai food, the King and the very cheap buys. Since this was my first time going solo in a country I barely know, I must do my research. Thanks to the travel guide I bought one year ago about Thailand, I was enlightened by the breadth of things I could see in Thailand. The book also shared tips in getting around plus some cheap hostels to stay in.

I arrived into Bangkok at 1pm local time. Greeted by these gigantic Thai statues at the airport, I knew I was in for something special.

I took the Airport Express Shuttle (at 120 baht) and reached Khao San Road - the famed backpackers' area - after 1 hour. After getting off the shuttle, I sat into a small al fresco restaurant to checkout where I am exactly, and of course to have something to drink. Thanks to my handy travel guide and to the helpful passersby, I was able to find my way around Khao San Road. However, the mayhem, touts, and the not so good hostel (300-400baht / night!!! are u crazy!) rates around that place persuaded me to check out the other backpackers' area, Silom Road, in southern Bangkok.

I took the Chao Phraya River Express (for only 13 baht) down river to Sathorn pier, the pier closest to Silom Road. Some of Bangkok's architectural gems are scattered along the banks of the river.

The Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn), several Chinese temples, the Portuguese embassy, and several 5-star hotels added to the charm of the river cruise. It was a great experience.

I reached the Sathorn pier and took the Skytrain and went down at Chong Nonsi Station to start my hostel-hunting. Then, the rain started to pour. Caray! So I went back to the Skytrain, and decided to do mall-hopping instead. The Skytrain and the River Express were just very accessible to most destinations! Still carrying my big backpack, I walked into some of Bangkok's amazing malls like the Siam Center, MBK, and Siam Paragon. Tired, harrassed, and wet, I decided to have dinner. And what did I have? An all-you-can-eat Thai noodle with a myriad of toppings to choose from for 59 baht only.

haha.

At around 10pm, I decided to do serious hostel-hunting and went back to Chong Nonsi. After 5 minutes of walking, I saw YHA! Yoohoo! Luckily they still had a room for me that I had to share with 3 other people. "The last one.", the receptionist told me, for only 175 baht. I don't know if I'm lucky or not but I soon found out that the room I was going to share with was with 3 girls - 1 Taiwanese, 2 Americans. haha. But the thing was, the room was soooo small, sans windows, equipped with only 2 electric fans...I was sweating profusely. I was able to have a good night's sleep though. :)