Bangkok, Thailand - Day One

I woke up on the train feeling refreshed - it had been the best night of sleep, despite a continually rocking felt though out most of the night, plus the light being left on in the car. We got up and just hung out, watching various parts of Thailand go by. Of course, there was no way to know where we exactly were.

The morning passed by slowly, and as time went by, the countryside that had been dotted with foliage began to reveal buildings. The train employees would give us different information as to how much of the trip was left. But it seemed to drag on and on, until finally arriving at Hua Lamphong station at around 3:30 PM, making the trip over 24 hours. Not surprising, however.

Sarah and I grabbed our belongings and headed out towards the station. It was hot, smelly, and the heat from the trains made it much worse. The station itself was one large room, packed to the teeth with Thai people. We were approached by an information lady, and figured out how to get the appropriate money, map, and transport to our hostel. After getting out 3,000 Baht, I went to buy a map of Bangkok for 50. Handing a 1,000 Baht bill to the lady, she gave me a look of surprise and dropped the money. It was too big, but she still took my money and found the change.

We left the station and were approached by one of the many drivers waiting outside who wanted to know where we were going. I told him the address and he seemed to understand. What I didn't know was that he was a tuk tuk driver, which is basically a scooter with room for passengers. It was an interesting drive, but we made it in one piece, dropped our stuff off, and walked towards the MRT/Sky train, with a few things planned.

My friend Gale had drawn up an itinerary for my three days there. Our first destination was the weekend market at Chatuchak. It was an enormous place, complete with anything and everything you might need. There was clothes, pets, food, shoes, and even fake plastic fruit. Sarah and I browsed for hours, overwhelmed by the number of people and the number of shops. We even got lost trying to leave and make it back to the park near that MRT.

Once we were back in a semi-familiar place we made our way to Sukumvhit Rd, a hotspot for shopping. However, there wasn't all that much going on, and it made for a quick stop. We made it back to our hostel pretty early to look up places to go the next two days we had.

My first impression of Thailand was all over the place. It was a dirty and smelly place, as indicated from the tuk tuk ride, and the next few days would only reinforce this opinion. There is a quaint feeling to it, as it is a combination of a unique past with a struggle for modernization. The next two days were going to be interesting, that's for sure.