Back to Bangkok

From Sukhothai I took the VIP bus to Bangkok at 10 am. I was lucky because my seat was right in the front row and therefore I had plenty of legroom. I didn’t have anyone sitting next to me for the first kilometers. It was only after 2 hours that the seat next to me was taken.

The bus ride took a total of 8 hours. In the meantime I also fell asleep. The bus arrived at the bus stop in Bangkok at 5 pm. The bus stop where the bus stopped was a bit outside the city center, which is why I had to take a taxi 10 kilometers to the hostel. Since it was rush hour, the taxi was stuck in traffic the whole time and it took an hour until I finally arrived at the hostel.

As soon as I checked in and got to my room, I was approached by a girl who was in the bed next to me. We chatted for a bit and were joined by other girls who had also just arrived. All of these girls were at the very beginning of their journey and some of them were traveling for the first time. Especially because of their uncertainty and their many questions, you could tell that they had just arrived. I knew exactly how they felt. I felt the same way at the beginning of my travels. But now with all my experiences and knowledge I felt a bit like a grandma next to them.

Night out on the Khao San Road

We then decided to go out for dinner together. We walked around a bit and finally found a restaurant on the Kao San Road where we all ordered Pad Thai. Afterwards we walked along the Kao San Road. Being back in the place where I had spent the first evenings of my trip was a strange feeling. An incredible amount has happened in the meantime.

We finally found a bar where we sat down. We all ordered a drink and then spent the rest of the evening there.

When we got back to the hostel just before midnight, we sat at the reception and talked about our respective plans for the next day. I had previously asked at the reception about the best way to get to the Floating Market and Railway Market, as both were a bit outside of Bangkok. But they couldn’t really help me there and I was told that I would have to take a taxi. Since it would have been far too expensive alone, I was already considering skipping both places.

Now there were four of us and I asked the others if they would like to visit the Railway Market and the Floating Market. They also wanted to and if you divided the cost by four, it wouldn’t be that expensive anymore. We then arranged to meet for breakfast at 10 am. the next morning.

A backery that feels like heaven for a German girl

The next morning we were all ready by 10 am. I then had to extend my hostel stay and thought it would be enough if I just paid the money for the next night. However, I had to change rooms. It was exactly the same room just one floor down and I even got the same bed. At first the lady at the reception wanted me to get all my things from my room. Then she wanted to give me the key to the other room so that I could put everything in there. But I was able to convince her that it would be easier if she gave me both keys and I moved things straight from one room to the next. It was also a bit of a shame that I couldn’t stay in the old room since I was there with the other girls.

When I had finally put everything into the next room, we went to have some breakfast. At the reception we were recommended a bakery. I didn’t have high expectations, but when we got there I was really surprised. There were lots of sweet things but also really good rolls and baguettes. We bought something there and had breakfast there too.

Floating over the market

Afterwards we ordered a Grab. The price for the Grab to the floating market, which was 80 kilometers outside of Bangkok, cost 1000 Bath (approx. 25€). Divided by four, it wasn’t that expensive. The journey took an hour and a half, during which we talked the whole time. At one o’clock the taxi driver let us out directly at the floating market. We wanted to look around a bit first, but we were immediately sold a boat tour for 1500 Bath. 1500 Bath was quite a lot, but we wanted to do the boat tour after we had already driven that far.

We then moved on and someone else offered us a tour for 1000 Bath. We then thought about it for a moment and decided to go on the tour. So we paid a total of 1000 Bath and then climbed into the boat. The journey throug the market should take an hour.

There were stalls on boats sailing across the water. But most of the stands were at the water’s edge and you could then stop by boat. We were taken to all the different stands by the woman who was paddling the boat. They were trying to sell us something there the whole time. As soon as we just pointed at something and made a comment, the lady drove straight to the stand and we couldn’t get away. We were also repeatedly driven to stands where you could hold snakes and take photos with them. None of us wanted that. For the simple reason that it was animal cruelty.

Touristy Pictures with a little child

After 40 minutes we were able to get off the boat and look at a market on foot. But this wasn’t big. We were able to try coconut juice there for free. I liked it very much, but the others didn’t. Then we were suddenly approached by an Asian mother who had a small child in her arms. She put the baby in one of us’s hands and then wanted a photo of us with her child. We thought that was pretty funny, in Europe no one would probably be so quick to have a stranger put their child in their hand.

Then we got back in the boat and drove on. We then stopped at a few stalls again because one of the girls wanted to buy elephant pants, but they were way too expensive so she didn’t end up buying any. Then the boat tour was over and we were brought back. From the Floating Market we wanted to continue to the Railway Market. We then looked for a Grab taxi, but we were too far outside of Bangkok so we couldn’t get one.

Exploring the railway market

We were then approached by a construction worker who wanted to organize a TukTuk for us. We negotiated a bit and then agreed on a total of 250 Bath for the 20 kilometer route. Shortly afterwards he flagged down a TukTuk driver who took us to the Railway Market. We discuss as we drive, then how we should even get back to Bangkok if we can’t get a Grab taxi. Buses and trains didn’t run either. When in doubt, we decided to just hitchhike. Since hitchhiking was on all of our travel bucket lists anyway, but no one dared to do it alone, it would have been the perfect opportunity for all of us. But first we visited the Railway Market.

We got there at three o’clock. During the TukTuk ride I saw online that the train even goes through the market at 3:30 pm. So we came at exactly the right time. We could already see the train at the station and how people were getting on. Since we still had some time before the train left, we looked at the market. As soon as it was announced that the train was coming, all the stands were packed up within a very short time so that the train could drive through. Of course, the train didn’t move quickly because it didn’t have much space and there were people everywhere.

As soon as the train passed, the stands were all rebuilt. We then walked to the end of the market and then turned back. We then sat down by a river and went to a small restaurant as soon as we got a few raindrops. As soon as we arrived at the restaurant it started pouring rain. Next we wanted to head back to Bangkok as it was already late in the afternoon. We still assumed we would have to hitchhike. That would probably have been more difficult in the rain.

Making our way back to Bangkok

We first looked for a Grab taxi, but there wasn’t one in our area. We then looked at the app Bolt, which works similarly to Grab, and there we actually found a driver who took us back to Bangkok. The drive back to Bangkok took two hours due to heavy traffic. In some places the water was quite high on the road from the heavy rains.

We returned to the hostel at seven o’clock. There we talked to someone at reception about our day. He asked why we hadn’t booked the 850 Bath tour offered by the hostel. If we had known this earlier, we wouldn’t have had to go through all the trouble with taxis. However, I had asked the evening before, but they didn’t offer me this tour. We then calculated whether it was at least cheaper that we hadn’t booked the tour. We paid a total of 812 Bath per person and that saved at least a little money. At first we even thought we had paid more than 850 Bath per person.

We then all went to our rooms and rested a bit. In the evening we drove to China Town and had dinner there. I had fried noodles that were way too spicy. After dinner we strolled through China Town for a while. I also tried dumblings there. I really liked them. Later it stopped raining, so we decided to walk the 3 kilometers back to the hostel.

Thailand City Life

The next morning we met again at reception to have breakfast together. First I extended again for another night and was then asked why I had changed the room. I then explained that I had no choice and was then told it wasn’t actually necessary for me to switch. I already thought that the day before.

We then went back to the bakery for breakfast. Afterwards we set off on foot to the Grand Palace. On the way there, we met a local who told us that the Grand Palace wouldn’t open until 1 pm today. But Google Maps said it was already open for a long time. I then googled it and it actually said that the Royal Palace opens later on some days due to ceremonies.

The local then gave us tips on what we could do instead. He then explained to us that the TukTuks with the yellow license plates should probably be cheaper. At the same moment a TukTuk with a yellow license plate drove past us and he pointed to it. Of course, the driver immediately stopped, got out and tried to give us a tour of the city. The local we were talking to then disappeared out of nowhere. It took a while until we got rid of the TukTuk driver.

Another day, Another temple

Since we still had two hours until we could get to the Grand Palace, we decided to go to the Golden Mount Temple first. This was 2 kilometers away and we decided to walk the route.

We did have to walk up a few steps to get to the Golden Mount Temple, but it wasn’t as strenuous as we previously expected. From the top we had a beautiful view of Bangkok. Inside the temple we could see a few Buddhas and high up we could admire a golden bell. We looked at the temple in peace and at 12.15 pm we decided to make our way to the Grand Palace as we still had 30 minutes to walk.

On the way a local spoke to us again. He told us that he didn’t want to sell us a TukTuk, that he was a teacher at a school here. He then told us that the Grand Palace would not open until 2 pm. Instead, we could go down to the river and take a boat tour there. We declined and decided to go to the Grand Palace anyway and just see if we could get in or not. If in doubt, we would go back to the hostel.

Visiting the Grand Palace

On the way to the Grand Palace we met a few more locals who all told us exactly the same thing. The Grand Palace was still closed and we should take a boat tour instead. By now we were sure that it was all just a sales pitch, so we headed to the Grand Palace. In addition, everyone told us a different time at which the Grand Palace would open.

When we got there we first saw a few soldiers who were rehearsing. There were extremely many people there. We were then able to buy a ticket without any problem. We could probably have visited the Grand Palace this morning at 11 am already. The local who spoke to us just wanted to sell us something.

Entrance to the Grand Palace cost 500 Bath, which is quite expensive. Everything looked like a huge temple, but nothing really special. We did a loop and pretty quickly we got to the exit. We wondered if there wasn’t more to see, but none of us had seen another route.

So we went to the exit. On the way out we saw the actual palace. Admittedly, if the entrance fee had cost 100 Bath, I would have said it was really nice to see the Grand Palace. But since entry was so expensive, we all had high expectations and unfortunately these were not met.

On the way to my first Muay Thai Boxing Show

After visiting the Grand Palace, we didn’t have much time left as we were going to watch a real Muay Thai fight in the evening. We then took the TukTuk back to the hostel, rested a bit, changed and ate something.

The Muay Thai Fight Boxing Show was organized by the hostel and was therefore free for us. Normally such a show costs more than 2000 Bath (approx. 50€). At 4 pm everyone met at the hostel reception. At 4:30 pm the whole group made its way to the bus stop. A large VIP bus was organized especially for us and we took it to the stadium.

The bus fought its way through the heavy traffic of Bangkok for over 1.5 hours. During the journey I chatted with the girls and the time passed very quickly. We arrived at the Luminee Stadium in Bangkok just after six. We still had a little over an hour until the show started. First we looked around a bit and then had dinner at one of the many stalls. After dinner we went to the stadium. We were all given a bracelet that glowed blue.

Muay Thai Boxing Show

We were then shown to our seats and waited for the show. It didn’t take long before the first boxers came into the stadium. They were announced big and loudly as well as their nationality. Some of them also waved a flag of their country of origin. The first fight was a bit strange and definitely not what I expected Muay Thai to be. Two men were mostly rolling around on the floor and it looked more like you wanted to give them a little more privacy… But a few days later I was told that it was a different style of boxing.

The next rounds were also what I had imagined from Muay Thai. Two fighters always fought against each other in three rounds. One round lasted about 3-5 minutes. After the third round, the winner was announced. In fact, two women once also fought against each other.

The fights actually always went pretty much the same way. Actually, boxing isn’t something that interests me at all, but at that moment I found it all really exciting. Especially since it was live and I was able to watch a traditional Thai sport in Thailand.

However, the other girls didn’t find it that exciting. The show was supposed to go until midnight and around 10 am they started thinking about taking a taxi back to the hostel. I would have stayed until the end because I found the experience incredibly cool. I then asked the guy from the hostel if there would be a big awards ceremony at the end or if people would just pack up and leave after the last fight. Since he said there wouldn’t be anything exciting anymore, I decided to go back with the girls.

We left the stadium and ordered a Grab taxi. Since this wasn’t supposed to come for another 20 minutes, we decided to go back in and continue watching the show. After 20 minutes the taxi arrived and we were taken back to the hostel. However, the driver was sometimes driving quite quickly and was just shooting through Bangkok. When we arrived at the hostel, we went to bed.

Saying goodbye to my new friends

The next morning, two girls were already leaving. We met at the reception at half past ten and said goodbye. Then there it was just me and a Dutch girl, but she wanted to spend the day with a friend who was also in Bangkok. But we went to have breakfast together. We went to the bakery again. However, since it was Saturday, it was quite crowded and we took our bread to the hostel and ate there.

I then waited until the Dutch girl was picked up by her friend and then I was alone again. I had booked a bus to Koh Tao for the evening. That’s why I had to check out of the hostel at eleven o’clock.

I then set off on foot to Wat Benchamabophit at midday. The temple was 2 kilometers away from the hostel and since it was quite cloudy, I walked the route.

The temple was really beautiful and it consisted of a fairly large complex. After I had toured the temple in detail, I made my way back to the hostel. I also spent the afternoon there, after all I needed a little break after the last few days when I was always out and about from morning to evening and was in company.

In the afternoon I went to Kao Shan Road again and bought a new pair of sunglasses and bought myself something to eat for the bus ride. At 7:30 p.m. I made my way to the office where I had booked my bus.

If you would like to know what I experienced during my time in Koh Tao, please read my next blog post Postcard moments on Koh Tao – Thailand Travel Diary.