Homeless and Lost in Bangkok

The ride from Vang Vieng, Laos back to Bangkok was a long one. I left Vang Vieng at about one in the afternoon, we stopped once at Vientiene (the capital) to change buses, then again at the border to deal with immigration, then we finally arrived in Bangkok at five in the morning. I was still in a daze, and had no where to go, so I just wandered around walking between Khao San Road and Rambuttri Road with my packs in tow. My flight wasn't until 1 am the next morning so I had about 18 hours to kill.

Statue at Wat Pho

My backpack was killing me so I found a random place to sit in front a food stand, where I met Jasper, a girl from California, with the biggest book I had ever seen a backpacker carry. It looked like an encyclopedia. We roamed around Rambuttri Road and found ourselves at a river where we watched a very flexible man partake in his own yoga session, and a group of older Thai people doing very cute aerobics. We eventually parted ways and then I was on my own again.

Awkward picture with the reclining Buddha. (You can still see the star on my arm from Vang Vieng)

To quickly summarize the last day of my trip (and because I am quite sick of blogging about it 6 months later) here is a quick recap: checked my bags into a storage, wandered around Rambuttri Road, and Khao San Road, found myself in a local market, wandered more, went to the National Museum, found a park next to a river, fell asleep in the park, security guard woke me up, I exited the park embarrassed, found myself in a wat, wandered more, then I found myself at Wat Pho, full name is Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan (try saying that ten times real fast), home of the 43 meter long reclining buddha. I took more awkward pictures alone, wandered more, then I officially found myself lost and alone in Bangkok.

Statues at the fountain

I took out my map, was approached by a Thai man who was trying to help me, then calls over a tuk-tuk and tries to explain to me where I'm going to go, then next thing I know I'm being escorted into a tuk-tuk, then driven away. I had no idea what just happened. I had no idea where I was going and was certain I was going to get robbed and shoved into some sort of sex trade business.

Thirsty cat at the fountain

Beginning in Bangkok

I arrived in Bangkok at about 6:30 PM Sunday night on New Year's Day. I had no idea what I was doing. No research. No travel/guide books. Just me, my instincts and advice from others. This was probably the most unplanned, spontaneous, irresponsible trip I have ever taken, but I think it worked out for the best because it was truly some of the most amazing weeks of my life.

Massages on Khao San

At the airport, I decided to head to Khao San Road for the night via taxi, since I couldn't find a train straight to Chang Mai from the airport which is what I intended to do. As I was standing in line for a cab trying to look as lost as possible hoping some nice people would invite me to hang out with them and follow them on their well planned vacation, a Canadian man approached me asking me questions. Clearly my "lost girl" look needs more work. Luckily this man was also heading to Khao San Road so we split a cab and both saved some baht. I wish I remembered his name, but this Canadian man from Montreal with a funny accent was one of the jolliest, nicest, most helpful people ever with an amazing philosophy on life. He was on holiday from teaching in China, where he has been teaching for almost 7 years. He was starting in Bangkok then eventually heading down to Singapore to get surgery to fix the cataracts in his eyes because he was going blind. Best of luck to you good sir.

Nighttime on Khao San Road

Moving on, Khao San Road was insane. There are foreigners everywhere! I actually went through some culture shock coming from Korea where there are only Koreans. I walked around Khao San and Rabuttri Road, checked out all the little shops on the road and tasted some street food. I wish I could have gone out to party, but I was exhausted from the night before and I really didn't feel that safe going out on Khao San drinking alone, so I went to my room and passed out. Next time.

Pretty lights

Khao San Road was definitely a trip. It was too crowded for my taste, but I recommend everyone to go, it's an experience all in it's own that everybody needs to check out.