Bangkok, Thailand: Tips for Travelers

We had a great time wandering around Bangkok for a few days, eating and drinking our way around the city. If the food, drink and culture of Bangkok has captured your attention, then book a flight! But first, learn from our experience:

• Eat new things! We ate so much during our few days in Bangkok, and everything was delicious. We followed our gut and ate primarily at food stalls and restaurants that were filled with other people eating. We figured that crowds meant that places were popular, and that food would be fresh. 

Very busy food market. The food and drinks were delicious.



• Look both ways before you cross the street. Seriously. Thais drive on the left side of the road, and it's easy to forget that the cars aren't coming from where you think they should! You may also want to look behind you before you cross a road. We found that tuk-tuks and motorcycles weren't shy about hopping up on the sidewalk to get around traffic. 

• Bangkok is a pretty sprawling city, and it takes awhile to get from Point A to Point B. If you only have a few days in Bangkok, try to map out the places and neighborhoods you really want to see, and spend one day exploring each area. This might save you some time commuting back and forth.

• Take full advantage of Bangkok's public transportation. It's very modern, clean and easy to get around. We found the people at the information booths to be pretty helpful. You may have to switch modes of transportation (sky-train to metro to river ferry and so on) but transferring is fairly painless and all signs are in English as well as Thai. Cabs are also pretty reliable and cheap.  Drivers use a meter in central Bangkok. Take the advice we received from our good friend who lived in Bangkok for awhile: skip the cabs during rush hour! You'll pay big just to sit in traffic. Grab a drink or a snack until traffic cools down. We recommend the fruit smoothies.

• When riding the river ferry, keep an eye out for your stop. When the whistle blows, you have  approximately 3 seconds to get off of the boat. If you don't hop off quickly, you may get stuck on the boat, separated from your traveling partner. Not that we speak from experience or anything.

The river ferry

• If you have respiratory problems -- or even if you're just planning to be in Bangkok for more than a few days -- consider using an air mask. Between the humidity and air pollution, it was hard to breath at times. If we had remained in the city for a bit longer, we would've invested in some masks. And apparently, you can now find "fashionable" face masks. Very end-of-the-world chic.

• Don't take sightseeing advice from persistent strangers. Most of the people we met in Bangkok were incredibly friendly and went out of their way to help us find our way. Perhaps because of this, we fell for a harmless but annoying tuk-tuk "scam." (Here's one blogger's account of a similar situation. Thankfully, we figured out what was going on by the time our driver dropped us off at the tailor's shop and just walked away, so all we lost was a little bit of time.)  On the other hand, we did get a pretty cheap ride in a tuk-tuk for about a dollar.

• And one last tip: If you're one who normally prefers peace and quiet and small towns, ease yourself into chaotic Bangkok. Especially during our first day or two, we got burnt out after a few hours, and needed some time to retreat into our hotel room or a quiet restaurant. When we allowed ourselves breaks from all of the hubbub, we were able to take a step back and really appreciate the city just as it is.

If you have other tips on traveling to Bangkok, please leave them in the comments below!

-R

Sensory Overload in Bangkok, Thailand

Note: We'll be bouncing back and forth between Europe and Southeast Asia posts for the next few weeks while we get caught up. Don't be confused: we've left Europe, and are planning to stay put on the other side of the world for awhile!

We arrived in Bangkok a few days ago, and I'm still overwhelmed by all of the sights, smells and sounds of the city.

Market of dried fish.

Food stalls

 

Walking around town

Shopping!

In some ways, it's exciting to constantly see, hear, or eat things you've never experienced before. But on the other hand, my brain has been in a state of constant stimulation for the past few days... and that can be tiring, to say the least. It seems that I go from exhilarated to exhausted and back again every hour or two. Travel writers often like to describe cities or countries as having contrasting elements. Bangkok is the first city I've been to where I've thought the description to be fully accurate.

Take, for example, the city streets. They're chaotic and messy, and crossing one as a pedestrian is like playing a game of Frogger, except with motorcycles and tuk-tuks that weave in and out of lanes at random, all seemingly aiming for anything on two legs. Even the sidewalks aren't safe; you must constantly watch all around to make sure some vehicle isn't headed straight towards you.

Tuk-tuiks and motorcycles. This is very calm!

But, if you head to any one of the three train systems, you'll find a completely different world. The chaos is gone. Instead, there's serene music playing and everything is scrubbed clean. The citizens and tourists of Bangkok line up in straight rows to enter and exit trains, and while traveling, they sit quietly or talk in hushed voices. It's so different from the honking cars lining the streets.

This is a great system. People queue up along the sides and enter on a diagonal. People exit the train down the middle. 

Even more shocking, people seem to follow the arrows!

Tom riding the skytrain. Take note of the calm behind him.

On a more serious note, you can see vast differences in income and lifestyle from one block to the next. In many areas of the city, people live in crumbling homes and wash their pots and pans on the sidewalk. But right around the corner, there are brand new skyscrapers and gleaming malls filled with stores like Cartier, Valentino and more.

No matter what area of the city we were in, we felt completely safe, and we found friendly and helpful people in all parts of Bangkok. A nice young woman helped us order some delicious minced pork with basil from a street vendor. Three men who worked on the river ferries helped me reunite with Tom after I got stranded on a ferry while Tom was onshore. (Yeah, that was a fun half hour of worrying.) And many, many more people helped us navigate our way through public transportation, crazy intersections, and more.

The temples all around Bangkok are nothing I've ever seen before -- at least not in person! It seemed like every surface was covered in glittering gold or intricate tile-work. It was absolutely beautiful. While we saw some of the major "must-see" tourist stops, I preferred our time wandering around the streets of Bangkok, just taking in all parts of city life. Enjoy the rest of our photo tour after the break, and check back tomorrow for a few tips we've picked up for those traveling to Bangkok!

The Train to Bulgaria

We decided that from Istanbul we would travel to Bulgaria by train, but when we arrived at the train station we were politely informed that the tracks were undergoing maintenance. This was not a problem, they assured us. All we had to do was catch the B1 bus to another train station an hour north.

The problem was that everyone in this picture was in line for the same bus as us.

One bus went by. The line shortened fractionally. Another came and went. Then another. Finally, the fourth bus pulled in and our time was running short. We were supposed to make the 10:20 PM train out of Istanbul for Bulgaria, and we were antsy because of our experience in Santiago, Chile. And then, without asking or anything, the ten people in front of us beckoned for us to go ahead of them... we insisted on not doing so, but they were persistent and even helped us with our bags. The bus pulled away and the people that had let us go ahead remained on the curb to wait for the fifth bus to come.

We arrived at the train station with ten minutes to spare.

One thing to note from the above picture is that there is no ticket office. We were expecting a ticket office. One that preferably accepted credit cards. We looked in our wallets and found $70 US and the equivalent of $10 in Turkish lira. Unfortunately for us, the train tickets, combined, were supposed to cost the equivalent of $110 US from what we had read on the web.

So we asked an official-looking man on the platform. He indicated that we should  get on the train. We told him we didn't have enough money and asked if their was an ATM nearby. He again indicated that we should get on the train. Figuring the worst that could happen was that we got off wherever our $10 in Turkish lira would take us, we got on the train.

The train started and the ticket officer came by our cabin--the same man as the one on the platform. He asked for a ticket, or at least that's what we think--he didn't speak English. We told him, again, that we didn't have a ticket. He then asked for money. We opened our wallets, again, and showed him the $10 in Turkish lira. He indicated that this was a problem. He sat down with us, we scribbled on the back of a scrap of paper, and finally he offered to exchange our dollars for lira. This was good in that we now had money to pay for a ticket to get to the Bulgarian border, but not enough to take us further. He shorted us about $5 because he didn't have the cash, but assured us that we'd get a coffee as compensation. That was nice.

It was around 3 AM when we were roused for customs. Groggy, we were shepherded out of the train and across the train tracks in the dark.

Now we were in Bulgaria. We got back onto the train, laid down to sleep again as the train started moving, and no more than 10 minutes went by when a new ticket officer, this one Bulgarian, came by. The ticket officers had switched and the Turkish officials were on their way back to Turkey. 

We tried to explain our situation. No, we did not have Bugarian lev to pay for our tickets... no, we didn't even have any cash left... and yes, we were supposed to have a coffee coming. It was a great game of charades and the man seemed very nice. He talked and talked through the early morning, apparently having no other cabins to visit, until the train stopped and he shooed us off.

Disheartened, tired, not having any idea of where we were, we picked up our bags and got off. The ticket officer got off with us and guided us along the tracks. The sun was just starting to show and there were a few houses nearby. He took us to the nearest building and showed us the ATM. Grateful, we took out money. He then took us into a small cafeteria where three ladies were stirring enormous pots of stew. It was the best breakfast I'd had in days.

Our train left while we were inside. The man waved his hand which I thought meant not to worry about it. He kept talking in Bulgarian, laughing, gesturing, without a care that neither Rachel nor I understood even a word. He eventually lead us onto another train. We wanted to sleep, but we couldn't. The man talked to us in Bulgarian until we finally arrived in Plovdiv at 10 o'clock in the morning.

We said goodbye, detached ourselves from him, and searched out the nearest hotel to sleep for the remainder of the day.

We never did get our coffee.

- Tom

25 Hours on a Bus

5 minutes in: We meet a friendly fellow traveler--another American. We compare stories and towns and favorite books. It's nice to have someone new to talk to. Maybe this bus ride won't be so bad.

30 minutes in: The scenery is lovely. Mountains surround us, and the double-decker bus seems so small in comparison. We're in the front row, and it's like watching a movie on the big screen, with no tall heads blocking our view of  the moving pictures. Tom reminds me that while the front row seat has the best views, we're also the first ones out the window if we crash. Yikes.

1 hour in: We get trays with big lunches. Ham and cheese sandwiches, rice, dessert, and beef and potatoes. Looks good. Tastes terrible. I pick at mine and save the condiments and utensils. I feel thrifty and travel-smart-- it's like stealing little bottles of shampoo and pens from hotel rooms.

2 1/2 hours in: We make our first stop. It's a tiny little town, and it looks like life barely exists here. I wonder if the half hour we sit at the bus terminal counts towards the 22 1/5 hours we have left. I hope so.

3 hours in: Lovely. A Cameron Diaz movie. It looks terrible, so I bury myself in a book and try to tune out the stupid noises. It's hard to do when Ashton Kutcher keeps screaming "Vegas!"

4 hours in: The landscape has changed. Instead of mountains, we have flat, flat land. It's all barren, with little bushes and desert plants. Everything is the color of corn-silk or dusty brown. In the distance, we can see lightning striking and mountains, but the big screen is on a wild west loop.

6 hours in: I'm officially ready to get off of the bus. 19 hours to go. 

7 hours in: We're stopped in the middle of the desert, and our bus is boarded by some Argentinian military officials. They search the bus, but apparently they didn't find what they were looking for. We keep driving. This desert is eternal.

8 1/2 hours in: The plastic knife I "stole" this morning has already come in handy since we left our pocket knife in our luggage under the bus. Plastic knives aren't the best at cutting cheese and chorizo. The knife snapped in half, but still works.

10 hours in: We drive by a beautiful, long lake. It's a little eerie. I think it's the first time I've seen a lake this big without any development around it. I feel like we're explorers who've discovered something new. I hope it stays this way.

11 hours in: Who picked the movies for this bus ride? They're all dark and violent. The movies are hard to hear because of the Muzak playing downstairs, but it's kind of amusing to watch Taken with the song Girls Just Want to Have Fun playing in the background.

12 hours in: We make it to the ocean. The city is bustling, and there's a lot more energy here than in the languid mountain towns. It feels funny after such a long journey in the desert. We stop so the bus company can load dinner onto the bus. The look of the lasagna is... unpleasant. Tom devours his. I eat a plum and some bread and cheese instead. 

14 hours in: Trying to sleep. My neck is bent funny and the bus is freezing cold. 

18 hours in: I slept. Where's my blanket?

21 hours in: Our breakfast is delivered. Crackers and jam. For some reason, breakfast comes with a little chocolate cupcake. It's delicious, though not the best way to kick off the day. I supplement it with a banana and some cheese from our rations. 

22 hours in: Another nap, and chit chat with the girl next to us. We try to pick out animals in the desert. We've found a bunch of sheep, some llamas, and neat looking birds. I see a mini-ostrich, but no one else does. Maybe I'm dreaming again.

24 hours in: A glimmer of mountains in the distance. They still look small, though, so we must still have a ways to go.

25 hours in: We're driving through a tiny little village. Tom remarks that one day, this tiny little village may turn into a big town. I laugh, and then our bus slows. And then we notice the bus terminal. 

-R