Travel with Vance

Place: Bangkok

Hostel: Smile Society

Favorite Food: Chicken Pad Thai

Favorite Bar: Cloud 47 Rooftop

Favorite Memory: Tuk Tuk Ride

Fun Fact: The same word in Thai can have multiple meanings depending on your tone

Bangkok was our first stop and was a much bigger city than I imagined. We were only there for 2 nights, but I felt like a few days was enough. It reminded me of another bustling city like we have in the U.S. except they have as many 7-11’s as we have Starbucks. They are everywhere. We definitely could have stayed longer, but we were excited to get to the islands. I’m sure we will end up back in Bangkok at some point to do some more exploring of other areas. To get a taxi at the airport you have to get a number from a machine and then you walk to a long row of taxis waiting for their number to come up. We told the driver to run the meter (as we were told to do) and he didn’t seem very happy.

The hostel was quiet and clean. The owner was very nice and helpful. We had to take off our shoes in the lobby and leave them in a cubby. The room was small, just enough for 3 single beds and a little bit of walking room between. You had to leave the key in a slot in the room to run the power so that you could not leave the AC going all day (I was familiar with this from my trip to Brazil last year).

Continental breakfast included coffee/tea, 2 mini hot dogs (lol), a mini muffin, toast, jam, Purple Mangosteen and a hard boiled egg. The breakfast room was filled with small fish tanks and played very relaxing music in the mornings.

 

After breakfast we met Dan and Tom in the lobby from England that were headed to the same temple as we were. We invited them to tag along with us and then took off to find the train. We rode the train to the river where we jumped on a Longtail Boat that took us straight to the Wat Pho Temple. Then we rented a Tuk Tuk (so much fun) for the rest of the day and went to see The Standing Buddha, The Golden Mountain, bought a new silk suit and ended with dinner on Koh San Road. Koh San Road is a very popular strip with backpackers. There are alot of Hostels, vendors, restaurants and bars that cater to backpackers/tourists.

Later that night we went to a rooftop bar called Cloud 47. It had stunning views of the city. Some called it the best view in Bangkok. We originally wanted to go to The Hangover 2 SkyBar from the movie, but Cloud 47 was across the street from us and cheaper with no dresscode. They played a wide mix of American songs. Mac was washing his hands in the bathroom when the bathroom attendant starts giving him a shoulder massage. Then after he dries his hands the attendant pulls his arms behind his head and does chiropractic moves to crack his back and neck. We got a good laugh out of this when he came back and told us.

The next morning we took off to the airport for an hour flight to Surat Thani where we took a 2 hour bus to a 3 hour Ferry to Koh Phangan Island for The Full Moon Party. During the ferry ride we experienced our first monsoon rainstorm. I have never seen it rain so hard in my life! Luckily the rain stopped by the time we arrived to Koh Phangan. The experience we had in Koh Phangan was amazing. We did so much and made alot of new friends. One of the reasons it has taken me so long to write a post since I left America (and the wifi sucks!).

Stay tuned to hear more about our experience in Koh Phangan…I promise I won’t make you wait too long (;