22 Nov Bangkok to Khao Sok

Let’s check in again, shall we? I’m currently in Khao Sok National Park! Yay! I think. But I’ll get to that next time. Let’s go over what else happened in Bangkok!

Hostel

I had decided to try another area of the city for a couple nights just to get a different perspective…and what a perspective it was! What better place for a backpacker to go than Khaosan Road, the supposed ‘backpacker’s paradise’ in Bangkok?

I found Alpha Bed Hostel just off of Khaosan. No reviews, as it is a brand new place, but it was the right price and area, and if it is that new it’s probably pretty clean. I booked ahead at booking.com and paid 576B (Thai baht) for two nights, though the sign outside says they charge 350B per night.

The hostel itself is a hole in the wall off of a side alley and up some stairs. They also own the restaurant just outside, so there is a seating area with some free use computers, outlets, a/c, and a few beverages for sale. They use an electronic key card system, so the deposit was high at 300B, but security is good! Plus a 24 hour front desk, a curtain for your bed area, and lockable cabinets underneath. Me likey.

Day Three

After leaving Home Hug Hostel I headed south to the boat ferry station. I went to the stop closest to me, though it took me a minute to figure out I had to go under the bridge through this weird dark alley of closed food carts to get to the dock. I was trying to figure out the map when another tourist came down and luckily had been around the canal a few times 😉. Apparently at this stop I would have to hop off at the next station and wait for a new boat. That sounded dumb, so I just walked the 5 minutes to the next station!

It was 11B from Pratunam station to Phanfa Leelat station, which would leave me close to Khaosan Rd. Cheap way of getting around, a lot more straightforward than the hundreds of numbered buses (to me, anyways), and a boat ferry is just a super cool thing to try.

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I disembarked, almost losing my balance and falling backwards with my large bag (luckily someone gave me a light push on my next try) and headed north. When I made my final turn into the so-called ‘backpacker haven’ I had to stop for a moment. Is this the same Bangkok? I stood in the middle of the street and stared.

The street was a mad house. People from all over the world were walking, drinking, shouting, and bartering. Thais were walking around with trays of scorpions on a stick, waving their displays in your face. A man firmly grabbed my arm and told me to get a tattoo at this shop, and unlike the typical non-confrontational attitude in the region, when I said no and pulled away he yelled after me. At that moment all I could think was ‘what have I done?’ And I suddenly felt like the loneliest person in the world amidst the chaos of people.

But really it was just my first taste of culture shock. Funny, that another area of Bangkok felt comforting and normal despite being so different from home, while the tourist market felt so alien despite being surrounded by people traveling like myself. It was completely and totally overwhelming and I am SO glad I stayed at Home Hug Hostel first.

So I’ve already mentioned my hostel, and once I settled in I perused the main road, considered paying the 10B fee to take a picture of fried insects for sale (and decided not – If Thais actually eat them I’ll have other opportunities!), and looked for a place to eat. I settled on Madame Musur’s, which was recommended to me by a friend.

Madame Musur is pricey compared to the food carts. It is a sit down restaurant on a touristy street. In my opinion it was well worth the expense. I am a big fan of tom kha gai soup, and this was the first place I had seen it on the menu. Of course I had to try it. I have my own recipe that I make a few times a year and wanted to taste the difference. The first spoonful went down and had one of those moments…a moment when that unintentional satisfied moan escapes your lips from something being just so damned GOOD! My goodness, what is it? Better broth? Fresher fish sauce? It was heavenly. And tasted even better washed down with a Musur Mojito.

That evening I had some pad Thai and a crappy pina colada from a food cart. In my time in that area I noticed that there are way fewer options for traditional Thai food. About 90% of the carts sold only pad thai or kebobs, and most of the other dishes I had were rather bland and flavorless. I discussed this with a fellow traveler at a later point, expounding on the idea that the traditional bold Thai flavors had been toned down for the high concentration of tourists unable to ‘take the heat’.

He agreed and expressed much the same opinion, stating that when he couchsurfed with a Thai local they were unsure if he would be able to tolerate the spice of the dish he ordered. It’s understandable, considering how hot ‘Thai hot’ is, but extremely unfortunate for those of us that want to experience it! If I want no spicey, I should just tell them no spicey!

So far I think that Khaosan is not my kind of place. It is a great spot to party and to purchase souvenirs, but not as a general hangout area. Maybe if I found a group to hang with – people who could share the ‘buy one-get one’ alcohol bucket deal with me…😂 Teehee, I just snorted.

Day Four

Today is temple day. I walked down to a park near the Grand Palace where I could sit and enjoy a coffee and finally catch up with my parents (they just downloaded Skype), and that was lovely. I got to show them my surroundings and some of the local flowers and birds. The parks here are just gorgeous. The Thais also have this really cool concept where they have outdoor gyms in their parks. And I don’t mean jungle gyms, but actual weights, bicycle machines, etc. free for the passerby to get a bit of exercise in with their stroll. Fricking awesome!

In transit to and from the park there were hundreds and hundreds of people thronging the sidewalks. Turns out they were all here to see the Grand Palace…it was like this at every single entrance. It was a bit daunting so I decided to keep walking and start south and visit some other sights first, then work my way back north towards the hostel. So I got to the river and hopped on a ferry to take me across to Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn. Intense, gorgeous, and flipping huge. There was a 50B fee to get up and personal, but there are a lot of surrounding statues and structures that are completely free. I really enjoyed it.

Next was Wat Pho, which was also very beautiful, but for me not nearly as enjoyable. The only reason being the massive number of tourists! I understand a landmark being popular and crowded, but it was a people traffic jam! With a 100B entrance fee, there is a very large courtyard with lots of areas to explore. Much larger than Wat Arun, but the main attractions, such as the famous reclining Buddha, were just plain claustrophobic. People were pushing and shoving and waiting in long lines to take a specific picture…my heart is racing just thinking of it again! I skipped the other main area of the temple because I couldn’t go through the torture again.

After that trying ordeal I couldn’t imagine pushing through all of those people to see the palace, and my feet were killing me anyways. I actually haven’t even been able to get a famous Thai foot massage yet because I’ve got blisters on me blisters! Taking my shoes on and off again to enter the temples kept tearing them open. So I decided to skip the palace this round and save it for another day. I headed back to the hostel, meandered the streets, got some aMAZing sticky rice with fried banana filling from a sweet old lady, and got stuck at a restaurant because of a major downpour of rain for a couple hours.

All in all, Wat Pho was worth the trip, but I wouldn’t go again. I mean, ‘wat pho’? Too stressful. Haaaahhhhh. Wat Arun was great. They are both impressive structures and I’m glad I went. Also, it’s not all about the Buddhas…the murals are what really captured me.

Day Five

I packed up my bag and wandered around trying to find breakfast with Lee, another American traveler in the bunk across from mine. He is just leaving from Bangkok airport after a three month trip. He has frequented this city so is a bit more savvy about the foods available, and was craving a noodle soup in particular. Whew, am I glad he was!! We ended up walking into this half food stall, half structure in a half alley (how else can I describe these places? It’s wild!) with all signs in Thai, no English.

This is the second best meal I’ve had so far. The lady behind the stall asked if we wanted soup, had us point to the rice noodle size we wanted, said ‘beef only, BEEF ONLY!’, shook her ladle and shooed us in to grab a table. I also pointed to the bowl of tripe I saw and gave her a thumbs up. Another woman brought out two bowls of the best 45B I’ve ever spent. Mine had the tripe as well 😁. How do they make their broth so good? I must know. The sign is in Thai, so I can’t tell you the name, but here is a picture of the outside and it was on Thanon Tani Rd across from the post office.

Getting to the post office was my original goal. I needed some stamps to get a few postcards out. Then we headed back to the hostel and parted ways. I spent a while catching up with Naomi over the phone (I miss her terribly!), utilized the hostel’s computer, got new toothpaste, then headed towards my next destination…Khao Sok National Park. Can you all just imagine that I said that in the voice of the guy that does all the action movie previews? Because that’s how it sounded in my head.

>>Side note on the toothpaste- Remember my weird joy of trying new toothpastes? Did I mention that? AVOID Detamate naturals! It tasted disgusting so I checked the ingredients and it has menthol and camphor in it. Now menthol can have several bases, it could just be their way of saying mint flavor, but camphor is dangerous if swallowed (as can be straight menthol). Think of it this way – menthol and camphor is what’s in your Bengay or Vick’s Vaporub. Gross. I switched to this stuff instead, and I don’t know if it’s better but at least it doesn’t have camphor. Camphor! Jeeze.

I made my way down to Ratchadamnoen Rd and found a bus stop. I had four bus options that would get me to the southern bus terminal (Talingchan), so I just made sure this stop had at least one of those numbers listed. The terminal itself is like a big shopping mall. There is a 7-11 (as there is everywhere) and I grabbed some weird snacks to try, but it’s mostly clothes, phone cases, and jewelry, with a food court on the top floor. Check out some of these familiar places…I had a durian and almond icecream! Other options were green tea icecream with sticky rice on top or a durian Oreo blast.

I purchased an overnight bus ticket to Suratthani for 547B, where I can then find a new bus to take me to the Khao Sok village. There several ticket windows. I found one that had my destination listed and stepped up. The girl at the window was very nice. She said three different numbers which I assumed were departure times and asked if I wanted VIP or air con (I think). I said ‘cheap-cheap’, and she smiled and handed me the ticket. Then I killed some time, and at the bus platform indicated on the ticket they tagged my bag and showed me to my seat.

My ride was a double tiered bus with comfy recliner seats! A few snacks and water were provided as well. My neighbor was very sweet and practiced her English a bit on me. We shared pictures of our families. I came prepared with my daybag and had my jacket, snacks, books, pillow, and portable charger available to make the ride as comfy as possible. Good thing, because they weren’t kidding about the temperature on these buses. I am told that since the air is so humid here, and with so many people in a confined area over a long period of time, that they have to run the a/c to prevent condensation. However, I hardly slept a wink.

I arrived at Suratthani station around 4 or 4:30 am. I hopped on the local bus to Phuket at 6AM, which stops at the main lodging area in front of the park. It was a beautiful ride, took about 3 hours with all the stops and only cost 100B. I’ll tell you all about the park in a few days!

The Cost

I know everyone is wondering how much I spent in my 5 ish days in the city. Let’s break it down!

Day one

Taxi: 590B Hostel: 510B SIM card: 600B Food: 115B Museum: 50B donation = 1865B

Day two

I split several costs with Violette this day, so it isn’t exact.

Bus: 13B Food: 240B Alcohol: 40B Massage: 250B = 543B

Day three

Hostel: 576B Food: 180B Alcohol: 220B = 976B

Day four

Ferry: 8B Food: 140B Temples: 150B Postcards: 8 for 20B = 318B

Day five

Food: 171B Toiletries (toothpaste and tiger balm): 130B Postage (20 card stamps + 1 letter): 319B Bus to station and Suratthani: 559B = 1179B

Total = 4881B = $148.68

Not bad, right?? Travel was very expensive for this leg of the trip. Now, this is my very first stop on a very long journey, so I’m being particularly frugal, and also not buying gifts or anything because I don’t want to have to lug it around for who knows how long!

A few things I would like to see or do when I come back (yes, I said when!):

1. Either a night bike tour or street food tour
2. See a Muay Thai fight
3. Tour the Grand Royal Palace
4. Get a lot more massages
5. Check out the red light district or see a lady-boy show

I didn’t want to rush things or wear myself out too soon in the game. Remember, my goal is not to do every thing possible there is to do! It is to relax and enjoy myself and roll with the punches. So far, so good, but I’m running into small road blocks here and there. More about that in the next issue!

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