bangkok.

I'm not typically someone that is scared of flying but our flight to Bangkok was pretty brutal. A 6 hour flight on Air Asia whose name really should be Air Bus (I think this airline is worse than Ryan Air). Every time we hit turbulence I couldn't help but think about the fact that one of their airplanes crashed a few years back. After a lot sweating, yoga breathing, meditation and praying on Christina's part...we made it to good old Bangkok. 

We settled into our hostel where our room was located on the top floor and I had the pleasure of having the highest bed on that top floor. Heat rises for those of you that don't remember and boy did it. 

We read about a good restaurant that was near by and decided to walk there for dinner. Walking through the streets of Bangkok made me realize that now we are in the real Asia. I think the entire time we were in Japan, I probably saw 5-10 homeless people. Walking the streets of Bangkok was drastically different. One second you are smelling the most amazing food - fresh cilantro, grilled meats and chili sauces as you pass a popular food stand. Then the next few feet comes exhaust from the hundreds of motorbikes and rotting food on the side walk. The next street is filled with women in groups, sitting in a stadium seating waiting for men to come by and pick them up (I swear this trip is going to turn me into a feminist). The next block where our restaurant is located is suddenly quite and so completely different from the hustle and bustle you were just in before. Somtum Der was written up on some website and supposed to have the most delicious Thai cuisine. We were forewarned to take it easy on the spice level but we were still not prepared for the level of spicy that medium means in Thailand. We ordered a roasted duck with cellophane noodles and there were so many red chilis in every bite that we couldn't even eat it. We quickly asked the waiter to reduce the spice in the other dishes and were good to go. We were able to finish and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our meal.

Based on recommendation and from watching the Hangover II, we knew we had to hit up a rooftop bar. We were told to go to Sky Bar but upon further reading we decided to go to Moon Bar instead as it seemed it wouldn't be as crowded. We were escorted by probably 10 people to different floors/sections until we finally reached the rooftop. We grabbed a seat right in front of the glass that probably came up to my waist - totes wouldn't fly in the US. I tried to ignore my fear of man made heights as we sipped in our Mojitos taking in the views of Bangkok.

The following morning we woke up super early to see the temples before the crowds and the heat set in. For anyone traveling through SE Asia - this is the way to go. Wake up early and take a nap later if you need to. We arrived at Wat Pho aka the Reclining Buddha. Not only was the over 100 foot relaxed all gold (or bronzed - I dunno) Buddha pretty amazing but just the intricate details of every single little part of the temple were what blew my mind. Every pattern was so beautiful and detailed. A little tip we failed to remember - don't wear shorts and tank tops (despite the fact that it is 100 degrees outside) to the temples. As we walked in to see the Reclining Buddha we were quickly ushered out of the line where a Thai lady whipped out the brightest Kelly green robes and wrapped them around us so tightly to make sure not a single piece of skin was showing. 

We then walked next door to the Grand Palace - home of the Thai royal family. Once again, we were embarrassingly ushered aside and sent to a room to get proper attire. We were dressed in long wrap skirts and oversized button down oxfords. 

After wondering around and navigating the hundred different tour groups and told it would be over $20 entrance fee we decided to opt out of the tour. I'm sure it would have been beautiful but a girl has to save some money for vino. 

We road our first tuk tuk home from there. Another thing that would 100% not fly in America. The driver plopped us in the back with the smallest rail to hold onto and then speed off weaving in and out of the traffic, taking turns without even slowing down. It a blast and way faster than a  taxi. Later that day we had another tuk tuk pick us up. We patted ourselves on the back for our bargaining skills to only pay 50 baht (a little more than a dollar) to take us to Koh San road. We were going to have to make one stop along the way which we knew was standard for tuk tuks. Stores pay them to drop customers off and take a look around their store. We were prepared for the tuk tuks to do it and thought what the hell. We were dropped off into what seemed to be a variety of fabrics and clothes imported from India and would have been laughable for 2 backpackers to be tramping around in. But the place was air conditioned and we entertained the staff and wondered around for a few minutes. We politely exited only to find that our tuk tuk driver left us stranded - after that we were over the tuk tuks. That afternoon we wondered over to Koh San road know as the backpacker hang out spot in Bangkok. The real reason we headed to the area was a hidden gem of a street food place that was supposed to be one of the best. Nestled behind a series of clothing stands, there is a little alley that you walk through that opens up to a larger area of tables and chairs and surrounded by all kinds of stewing meats, grilled skewers and honey soaked teas. We sit down and point at a few things and the waiters and waitresses just seem to laugh at us. Yet a hot bowl of beef, noodle soup makes it to our table and we chowed down. We then ordered some skewers and chicken curry with rice. All of it was unbelievable and the whole meal costed $5! We wondered around Koh San road after stopping at the stalls selling fake ray bans and electronics that were probably stolen. 

koh san road.

We decided to end our day with a nice Thai massage. The first couple massage I have ever had would be with Christina laying right next to me as two ladies crawl on top of us yanking our limbs in different directions. It was amazing and painful all at the same time but only $12!

That night we went to a Bangkok legend called Somboon Seafood. Known for their curry fried crab - this place started out as a food stall and has expanded to be a local chain with 5 restaurants throughout Bangkok. There happened to be one walking distance from our hostel and we decided to check out ordering one medium curry fried crab and prawns with garlic. The curry fried crab was unreal - the picture below is not going to do it justice.

We headed back to our hostel with our minds set that we would go out. We started talking to some of the other people hanging around and made a plan to go to back to Koh San road - if you remember this is the backpackers haven for going out. Christina and I downed a bucket of gin and tonic - that's all they serve their cocktails in here. A bucket that you use to build sand castles with now filled with a small bottle of gin and can of tonic water. We quickly had a crew of about 15 people - including people from Dubai, Norway, England, and the US - that stuck together searching for some bar that some other friends were at. We hung out in the street for a little and for some unknown reason to me now everyone decided to eat fried scorpion. I took a little bite of one and may have forced Christina to do it too - I must say it tasted more like the cartilage of a soft shell crab (not nearly as bad as I thought it would be) but don't worry that will be my last time trying that. Koh San road was pretty crazy. Bars and streets filled to the brim with loads and loads of backpackers. 

I woke up the next day with a pounding headache and on a mission to get a yogurt parfait. There are random things I miss from home and yogurt parfaits are way high on that list. We found Eatdustry that is known for their coffee and said to have yogurt parfaits so we dragged ourselves out of bed and took a 40 min cab there. One thing we hadn't yet realized is how incredibly huge Bangkok is. On a map something appears close but with traffic it takes forever to get anywhere. We made it to find that we were the only people who seemed to want a yogurt parfait that day but the restaurant was sooo cute.

The rest of that day we wondered around Bangkok taking more 30-40 minute cabs in search of a Sony store to get Christina's camera fixed. That afternoon we felt we should do one more thing to see Bangkok and decided to hop on one of the ferries and take it towards where we were planning to have dinner that night. Well...the first ferry we got on only went from either side of the river. The second one we got on went in the wrong direction. A little grossed out by the state of the river and ferry, we decided to hop in a cab and head to dinner.

We dined at a well known restaurant called Krua Apsorn that apparently the royal family likes to eat. Once again the food was amazing. A very casual setting and packed with locals is always a good sign anywhere. We had another curry crab that night that was amazing and actually very different from the one we had the night before. Along with that we had a soup with the most melt in your mouth shrimp and pad Thai. We really have been blown away by the food in Bangkok - it definitely is my favorite part of the city.

We made it back to our hostel early that night ready to get a good night sleep and wake up early for our 6 am bus/ferry to Koh Tao. Our room was quiet and dark until 11 PM when 3 girls came in and decided to just turn the lights on and keep them on until I passive aggressively turned them off 2 hours later. Oh the joys of back packing. Thankfully waiting for us in Koh Tao would be a little romantic villa just for the 2 of us. 

We woke up bright and early and started our 8 hour journey to Koh Tao where we would fall in love with one of the most beautiful places we had ever been. Stay tuned for a Koh Tao post....we are on a ferry headed to Koh Phangnan for the Full Moon Party right now. Wish us luck! We are little worried we might be too old for all this partying. And don't worry Meme we have made a promise to stick to each other even when we have to go to the bathroom.

KISSES!!

CB

Post written on 6.1.15