Holy sh*t. What can I say about Bangkok? This place is a shock to the system. It's so very different to India. It's madness.
I arrived right in the middle of Thai new year so you could say I arrived in the craziest city on Earth on it's craziest weekend. Thai new year is not just one day, it's celebrated mostly over 3 days called Songkran, but it seems to officially go on until the end of the month. And Songkran doesn't just involve going out boozing, it is a 3 day, city-wide water and talcum powder fight. All the streets are literally jammed full of people who go around with super soakers and buckets of water throwing them at any and everyone. They also carry bowls of talc mixed with water which they spread over people's faces. It's great!
I had got the bus from the airport with 5 or 6 other solo travellers so we all went to hunt a hotel together. However this is easier said than done in the middle of Songkran! The people were very respectful though and could see we weren't ready to get into the action just yet. We eventually got somewhere after only a minor soaking and a light dusting of talc. After that it was straight out and into the thick of it. An unarmed westerner is a prime target so most of the night was spent drenched and talc-ed.
The next day we were all in various states so went out at separate times. I thought Songkran was far more interesting than sightseeing so I just wandered about though the streets. I came across the actual festival site in a park and bumped into Sarah, one of our group of bedraggled travellers from the night before. We had a look around the festival and then strolled around the Royal Palace as it was free to get in that day because of Songkran. As the heat of the day approached we went to chill with a drink, which is not easy when a water-fight the size of 3 Notting Hill carnivals is going on around you! We were totally soaked to the skin by the time we'd walked through the crowds. But by this time I had bought a powerful super soaker rifle so I was giving as good as I was getting. I'd also discovered a neat little trick. A blonde western woman seemed to be much more of an appealing target than a dark haired man. Fortunately I had one with me, so I let her go in front to take a lot of the flak!
That evening I went for food and drink with Daniel, a French-Canadian member of our little troup. We had some lovely Thai green curry - which I can see becoming my staple diet. We decided to go and see some kick-boxing the next day as it's Thailand's national sport. However, after a long trek up to the stadium it turned out to be ridiculously expensive. I don't know how Thai people can afford it at all.
To find an alternative we had a quick look in the guidebooks to see what other evening activities there were to see [please note, those of a sensitive disposition may want to give up reading here!] and only one thing really stood out - the ping pong show! Daniel assured me his french guidebook said you can't leave Bangkok without seeing it, of course I argued (yeh right!) but in the end we took a taxi to Patpong, the notorious red-light area and started to walk around. Instantly there were Thai people everywhere trying to sell us everything from socks to sex! These people really put us off and it all seemed decidedly dodgy. We went for a walk around the area and saw go-go bars and ping-pong shows on offer everywhere. We tried to work out how they could possibly scam us and how to avoid it. They were telling us the show was free and we only had to pay 100 baht for each beer. We checked our wallets and didn't have much in there to be scammed out of so in end we took the plunge and went in. It soon became apparent how they make more money as, as soon as we were seated for the show some scantily-clad women joined us and after about 30 secs of chit-chat asked us to buy them drinks. We refused and they left while we waited for some burly bouncers to come and beat the money out of us instead! Fortunately the bouncers never came so we were left to nurse our beer and watch the show. We didn't actually get to see the original ping-pong trick in the end but there were some variations involving egg-breaking and horn playing that went down well with the crowd!
It's the next day now and we survived to tell the tale. Just as well really as today is my birthday! On the down side Daniel was the last of our little group to leave early this morning so I'm on my own for the moment. But on the plus side I'm spending my birthday in the Khao San Rd - woohoo! I'll be heading down there in about 3 hours so I expect to have a group of fellow revellers within, oh about... 3 hours and 5 minutes! Tomorrow night I should just be able to get up in time for the bus to Chiang Mai at 6pm!
[UPDATE] My birthday was a great night out. I hit the Khao San Road and met up a couple of people straight away. The night is a bit of blur due largely to the cocktails which come in buckets like the ones you build sandcastles in! They come with a load of straws and everyone shares. Everything went smoothly with the bus so I'm in Chiang Mai now just about to go and explore.
I arrived right in the middle of Thai new year so you could say I arrived in the craziest city on Earth on it's craziest weekend. Thai new year is not just one day, it's celebrated mostly over 3 days called Songkran, but it seems to officially go on until the end of the month. And Songkran doesn't just involve going out boozing, it is a 3 day, city-wide water and talcum powder fight. All the streets are literally jammed full of people who go around with super soakers and buckets of water throwing them at any and everyone. They also carry bowls of talc mixed with water which they spread over people's faces. It's great!
I had got the bus from the airport with 5 or 6 other solo travellers so we all went to hunt a hotel together. However this is easier said than done in the middle of Songkran! The people were very respectful though and could see we weren't ready to get into the action just yet. We eventually got somewhere after only a minor soaking and a light dusting of talc. After that it was straight out and into the thick of it. An unarmed westerner is a prime target so most of the night was spent drenched and talc-ed.
The next day we were all in various states so went out at separate times. I thought Songkran was far more interesting than sightseeing so I just wandered about though the streets. I came across the actual festival site in a park and bumped into Sarah, one of our group of bedraggled travellers from the night before. We had a look around the festival and then strolled around the Royal Palace as it was free to get in that day because of Songkran. As the heat of the day approached we went to chill with a drink, which is not easy when a water-fight the size of 3 Notting Hill carnivals is going on around you! We were totally soaked to the skin by the time we'd walked through the crowds. But by this time I had bought a powerful super soaker rifle so I was giving as good as I was getting. I'd also discovered a neat little trick. A blonde western woman seemed to be much more of an appealing target than a dark haired man. Fortunately I had one with me, so I let her go in front to take a lot of the flak!
That evening I went for food and drink with Daniel, a French-Canadian member of our little troup. We had some lovely Thai green curry - which I can see becoming my staple diet. We decided to go and see some kick-boxing the next day as it's Thailand's national sport. However, after a long trek up to the stadium it turned out to be ridiculously expensive. I don't know how Thai people can afford it at all.
To find an alternative we had a quick look in the guidebooks to see what other evening activities there were to see [please note, those of a sensitive disposition may want to give up reading here!] and only one thing really stood out - the ping pong show! Daniel assured me his french guidebook said you can't leave Bangkok without seeing it, of course I argued (yeh right!) but in the end we took a taxi to Patpong, the notorious red-light area and started to walk around. Instantly there were Thai people everywhere trying to sell us everything from socks to sex! These people really put us off and it all seemed decidedly dodgy. We went for a walk around the area and saw go-go bars and ping-pong shows on offer everywhere. We tried to work out how they could possibly scam us and how to avoid it. They were telling us the show was free and we only had to pay 100 baht for each beer. We checked our wallets and didn't have much in there to be scammed out of so in end we took the plunge and went in. It soon became apparent how they make more money as, as soon as we were seated for the show some scantily-clad women joined us and after about 30 secs of chit-chat asked us to buy them drinks. We refused and they left while we waited for some burly bouncers to come and beat the money out of us instead! Fortunately the bouncers never came so we were left to nurse our beer and watch the show. We didn't actually get to see the original ping-pong trick in the end but there were some variations involving egg-breaking and horn playing that went down well with the crowd!
It's the next day now and we survived to tell the tale. Just as well really as today is my birthday! On the down side Daniel was the last of our little group to leave early this morning so I'm on my own for the moment. But on the plus side I'm spending my birthday in the Khao San Rd - woohoo! I'll be heading down there in about 3 hours so I expect to have a group of fellow revellers within, oh about... 3 hours and 5 minutes! Tomorrow night I should just be able to get up in time for the bus to Chiang Mai at 6pm!
[UPDATE] My birthday was a great night out. I hit the Khao San Road and met up a couple of people straight away. The night is a bit of blur due largely to the cocktails which come in buckets like the ones you build sandcastles in! They come with a load of straws and everyone shares. Everything went smoothly with the bus so I'm in Chiang Mai now just about to go and explore.
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