Day3 Bangkok

Bangkok’s revenge

Waking up at 6am has never been easier. I bounced out of bed, showered and was ready to catch our flight. We got a shuttle to the airport with 3 hours till our flight. No queues and no bags to check meant we were bumped up to an earlier flight. Weirdly I was excited for the stop over we were meant to take as I like to pretend I’ve been to that country from the one hour stop over but I was happy to arrive in Thailand earlier. 

Happy Chappy!

Lee’s long legs mean we were allowed the extra leg room seats so we spread ourselves out in the very empty plane and enjoyed the ride.

The flight wasn’t quite as great as our Asiana experience but Air Asia is definitely a great airline. We actually were naughty monkeys and experienced our first alcoholic beverage on a plane. All you read is to avoid drinking in the air but it was a great way to start our trip.

Landing in Bangkok was thrilling. Outside it looked like every Vietnam film. Palm trees lined all the streets. Ponds and water logged fields filled every other garden. Our hotel was a little bit out of the city but still on the main trainline so it was easy to escape to town. My favourite feature of the hotel is the train line that went right past the front door. There was only one tiny train a day but it was brilliant to see the track just there for no reason.

We were too late to see the temples but we headed into Siam and saw the craziness that is Bangkok. There was double leveled train lines above our heads, walk ways instead of streets, trees next to neon , 8 lanes of traffic and street food every few centimeters. I was in love. I blinked and I was in Blade runner.

We wandered the streets and stumbled upon the grandest shopping mall I’ve ever seen. We needed Wifi to plan our evening so headed inside only to be faced with every food imaginable. Now for two westerners who have been in Korea for almost 6 months all the food blew our minds. We are secret Americans when it comes to food. Cinnabon, toast with maple syrup and sweet shredded pork and the greatest bagel I’ve ever had. The food baby I had after that lot needed to be walked off for at least a good hour.

Life models all around the mall

My British side almost leapt for joy when I saw this Costa sign. But it was coming soon so I had to settle back down and hope Korea follows the trend.

We wandered the streets for a while and got some money from the atm before we attempted to sneak into the sky bar. The sky bar is a roof top bar at the top of one of Bangkok’s skyscrapers. On the website and on trip advisor we were warned no trainers or shorts would be allowed but we weren’t deterred. I walked in front of Lee and put on my biggest smile. Luckily because it was a Tuesday and quiet we were allowed in. The sun had set and I was a little overwhelmed with the view.

It’s not often that Lee and I are lost for words but this was one of those times. 

We treated ourselves to a few of the best cocktails I’ve ever tasted and talked about everything possible while we listened to the live jazz bar. It really was one of my perfect moments.

That was until we had to pay……..

Lee asked for the bill and reached for his card when we realized we hadn’t taken it from the Atm. In Korea and the UK you take the card then money then receipt. The receipt comes with the card but in Thailand you get money, count it then get the receipt and then the card. We skipped the card step.

In a panic we tried the Korean cards we had specially taken to use abroad. No luck.

This especially grated on me as I paid and checked at least 3 times with my Korean bank that this card would work. As is the way with most Korean bank transactions it didn’t work.

Luckily I dug through my wallet and found a very old card with just enough money on it to pay.

Opphs!

We ran back to the atm and discovered through a lot of expensive phone calls that the second a machine takes your card it is destroyed so we had no cards with no money in Bangkok. We were in trouble. We stayed up the whole night and spent the whole next day trying to think and do every single thing possible to save our asses. Korea told me that my bank had lied to me and that my card was no good and could do nothing….at all!!!! So I will be changing banks very soon…Thank you NH.

At lunch time (countdown: 12 hours with no money) we counted the pennies and headed out to find the cheapest food possible. Luckily in Bangkok that was very easy. We found so many amazing markets and the smell was overwhelming. The smell of Lemon grass and turmeric will forever be a reminder of Thailand. We settled for a tiny food market and ate the best Thai beef soup I’ve ever had. Two bowls cost 1 pound!

It was funny to be 27 and have no money on holiday. When Lee and I were 15 we went to Paris only to realize it was a holiday so all the banks were closed. With no way to change our travelers checks to Euros we had to sit outside Versailles on the bus trip we had taken unable to go inside. Its nice to know that we aren’t grown ups yet.

The call that saved us!

In the end it was Lee’s amazing father that saved us. He sent us money via Western Union and we were okay again. Luckily. With only a few hours to spare before our flight to Koh Samui.

The celebration drink and sausage roll!

So we got our stuff together and jumped in a Tuk Tuk with the instructions of ‘Grand Palace’ I was hoping we could catch a glimpse at night but the high walls meant we were a little let down. What we did see was incredible.

We were on a mission to find Thailand’s best Pad Thai so walked the streets and stumbled on a flower market I’d read about. It smelled and looked stunning. I saw so many flowers I had never seen before. (we also found that Thai 7-11’s sell Big Gulps !!)

A beautiful garden. I could have stayed here all night.

 We walked through the night markets and I bought a stupidly cheap and lovely dress as well as found a great bar on the river to have a few holiday cocktails.

Bunnies in costumes in the night market.

River cocktails

Once we were back on the Pad Thai hunt we stumbled across many statues, many cockroaches (I won’t miss that one cockroach street soon, especially since one landed on poor Lee’s face) and finally found the worlds finest Pad Thai. It did not disappoint!

We almost ordered a second helping but were so full and tired. The place is called Thip Samai and you have to queue for a little while to get in. Its open from 5pm till 3am and only serves Pad Thai. I had the Superb PadThai and I will be dreaming about it for a while.

If you are in Bangkok I’d recommend it.

We did manage to make it to Ko San road. If you are with a group and want to get extremely drunk then it’s the place for you but for us it was a little too similar to Magaluf and the cheap drinking holidays you go on in the uk.

Once we were home a few hours later we felt we had made up for the disaster the day before. Although it was only a few hours of enjoying the city we had a fantastic time.

I think I would happily return to Bangkok.

Like the song says one night in Bangkok definitely did make the rich man humble!