Throughout my two months of traveling, Bangkok seemed to be
my place where I could go and settle down for a few days. I would get to
Bangkok, sleeeeeeeeeeep and plan my next adventures. Since I had already done
most of the touristy, need to do type things in Bangkok I had no problem
relaxing here. I found a hostel that I would highly recommend here! It is
called The Mile Map and it was wonderful for a hostel and was very close to a
sky train stop. This was my first ever hostel and traveling alone experience and had no idea what to expect. Thankfully the Mile Map was very clean, air conditioned and full of friendly people. The sky train is probably my favorite thing about Bangkok. Not only did I feel extremely accomplished being able to successfully maneuver myself around the city, but it is the most efficient way to see (part of) Bangkok in my opinion.
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| The Mile Map Hostel |
I was in Bangkok three different times throughout March and
April and found myself in the same areas. It was strange that even though
Bangkok is not necessarily homey, each time I flew in it was like a sense of
relief…back in Thailand. I had developed a routine each time I was in Bangkok.
I would make sure to 1. Stop at the local college and watch them play soccer,
they had a game every time I was in town. It was a small Christian College,
which I found so random to be in the middle of Bangkok, but anyways the field
was right on the way to the sky train. I am sure they thought I was a stalker
of some sort because I would always get looks like who the heck is the random
American sitting amongst the Thai fans. 2. Go to Siam Paragon and Siam Center
(the malls). Two malls that were side by side, needless to say I spent more
than my fair share of time there. 3. Go to Lumpini Park, which I have renamed
to the Central Park of Thailand. This park is BEAUTIFUL and so peaceful. You
can ride bikes, run, read, and even rent paddleboats. 4. Lastly I would make
sure to go to Starbucks. Thai Starbucks has the BEST smoothie on their menu
that I will miss when I am home. It is mango passion fruit, and way too good to
pass up.
The last time I was in Bangkok Anna, her boyfriend Alex, and
his friend were there at the same time. All of us met up one night to go to the
LeBua sky bar, which is where parts of the Hangover 2 was filmed. You can
literally see for miles up there, the view was nothing short of incredible. At
this point in the trip I hadn’t seen Anna in a few weeks so the location made
for a sweet reunion and of course a perfect chance for us to dress up a little.
I have heard there are many sky bars in Bangkok, and if they are anything like
the LeBua I highly recommend taking a trip to the top!
Since Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, it is very easy to
get travel from. There are always buses, trains, and planes leaving to go
elsewhere from Bangkok. I primarily used the sky train and train system, with
of course the occasional taxi. Once again I had trouble with the taxis haha.
Many of the taxi drivers refuse to use their meter in the cab and want to
charge you a fixed amount that it outrageous. Being in Thailand for quite a
while now I am aware of this and won’t get in a cab unless the meter is already
on… except this one time when I was running really late J I cant remember how much I agreed to pay, but
I do know it was too much, but I figured at least I would get there quickly and
just be at the airport. Little did I know we would be stopping at a gas station
(wait in line forever), the driver would be having a quick snack with some
friends and I would almost miss my plane. When FINALLY arriving at the airport,
the driver jacked up the price to almost double the agreed upon price. Long
story short this resulted in me slamming the car door, throwing money through
the open window (the original price), and maybe using a few choice words…
Whoops. I think it’s safe to say my sass got the best of me. Unfortunately that
leaves me at Ashley-1 and psycho taxi drivers-1.
At first when writing this post I could hardly think of a
thing to write about Bangkok but now that I am writing I can think of a whole
list. I will spare you the rambling novel until my next Bangkok post, I’m sure
I will be back soon enough!
