It was the 2nd of October 2015, day one in Bangkok, and it was hot!
My Partner, my cousin and I stepped out of the airport and headed straight to the infamous Khao San Road. Walking down this street was overwhelming to say the least. Picture the crowds sipping from famous Thai buckets whilst simultaneously dancing to Gangnam style on table tops. Vendors, wafting interesting looking delicacies right under your nose as you walk by. I mean, literally offering you trays of various cooked meats (including scorpions, maggots and I still don’t know what the hairy black thing was), sweet smelling sticky rice and an assortment of other food I couldn’t identify.
Khao San Road was an assault of the senses. Music vibrating through your body, Taxi drivers shouting, ‘Tuk Tuk’. Men following you, making popping sounds with their lips, trying to entice you into overpaying to go and see a back alley ping pong show. All we could do was look at each other and laugh in sheer surprise at the organized chaos around.
The room was kind of shit but the bed and air con were nice. I think it was all just a bit of a shock to the system. We got used to our new surroundings pretty quickly though. Brushing our teeth using bottled water, turning the air con to maximum and googling, ‘how to use a bum gun’.
The one of the biggest adjustments was trying to remember to drink water regularly. It was so stuffy and hot that all the moisture just got sucked out of us. The good thing was, a bottle of water was around 12 Thai Baht ( GBP = £00.24).
That first night, there was a very loud storm with thunder, lightning and heavy rain. I slept well. I don’t know if it was real or if I was dreaming, but I swear that I woke up and saw that my partner was sleeping butt naked – he says he wasn’t!
We had the luxury of WiFi and English TV channels which was good, although our priorities quickly changed and we really didn’t care for TV after a few days. There was so much to see and do, and none of that involved plonking ourselves in front of a TV like we did back in England.
The next day, I awoke with a sense of excitement and I remember feeling as though an adventure was beginning. We left our hostel to explore Bangkok and all it had to offer – poncho in hand, due to the rain.
