And we’re off! After being in India for 40 days, we’re off to SE Asia, where rice and noodles are king, islands are deserted, and people are friendly.
I have no expectations for this part of the trip and know very little about the countries I’m about to visit. I hope to learn more about this region and explore the unexplored.
After a long trip from Udaipur to Bangkok, we made it! We arrive and our first experience was the metro system in BK. Similar to bay area BART, it takes you from the airport to the city and from there you can take a bus or tuk tuk to your destination. Taking the tuk tuk was quite an experience. We were told the cost would be 80 Baht from the metro station to our hostel… we had a first hand experience of scam artists and people trying to take advantage of tourist. It was as if every taxi or tuk tuk had talked to each other and agreed they were not going to charge anything less than 200 Baht (3 times more the price). Now, $2.66 to $6.66 is not that big ideal really, BUT the principle and the lies they tell (too much traffic (there was none), it’s far (it was 10 minutes away), meter doesn’t work (by law they’re supposed to use a meter). Anyways, we ended up taking one for 150 to our hostel. We were tired of walking around looking for an honest driver.
We were pleasantly surprised to arrive at our hostel, Khaosan Baan Thai afew minutes from Ko San Road. It was cheap clean and cozy. The owner/employee (don’t know) was extremely nice and caring. She helped us with planning our stay in BK, find good food, and guide us to an honest travel agent.
Off to the streets and get some food. Thai street food is great! However, I think living in San Francisco Bay Area, we’ve been spoiled with good Thai food that even some restaurants here in BK do not compare. Maybe Chiang Mai will be different.
We’re here for 2 days and hope to head over to the islands to do some scuba diving and snorkeling! We love the beach!
