SE Asia-Bangkok, Thailand

The road that leads from Saigon through Cambodia and on to Bangkok covers nothing but flat plains. As I gazed out the window on our way to Bangkok I felt like I was driving north on I-25 towards Ft. Collins, CO; nothing for miles except farm land. It was refreshing to be outside of the cities and in the open range again. There’s just something about open space that makes me feel at home.

Our ride to Bangkok would go a little different than I had anticipated. I was picked up from the guest house in an old Toyota car which I thought would take me to the bus station. Instead we picked up three Korean tourists and made the drive to the border in the car. I had no problem with it, just didn’t anticipate a personal driver. Once at the border, several other cars dropped off more tourists. We all huddled together with our pretty red stickers on our shirts indicating that we were headed to the same place. We walked across the border and then gathered with people who had the same color sticker. Our group from the car merged with another group to share a minibus into Bangkok. The minibus driver thought he was Mario Andredi and I swear we hit 100+ miles/hour several times on the main highway into town. But that’s how everybody was driving; we were even being passed! None the less, the high velocity put everybody on edge. After saying a few prayers I sat back and enjoyed the setting sun straight ahead.

We got into Bangkok during traffic hour but were still on time thanks to Jeff Gordon. We dropped a French couple and one other guy off at their hotel before proceeding to the main tourist area around Khaosan Road. When backpacking anywhere, you’re always cognizant of your belongings. I usually carry my pack in my lap for simply not trusting its security under or even on top of any bus, depending on its storage configuration. Since we had a minibus and small group, I had no problem just throwing my bag in the back with everybody else’s. But when we arrived at Khaosan Road I immediately noticed the French guys pack (who we had just dropped off several miles away). When I didn’t see my bag I knew just what had happened. Frenchy took my pack instead of his since they were similar in style. So here I was, stuck on some foreign street, now dark, with some other guy’s bag. A nice Canadian couple and Korean guy who were on our bus waited to help me troubleshoot what to do. Fortunately someone mentioned a police station close by and recommended I go there, if nothing else, to report what had happened. I kept thinking that it was going to be impossible to find this dude who now had my bag. The only info I had was his address in France; no cell phone number, knowledge of itinerary, or any way to get in contact with him other than to bump into him on the street. A nice police officer inside the station helped me try to call the bus service to possibly get some more details. While calling I looked up towards the heavens and asked God for a miracle (since that’s what it was going to take) when all of a sudden Frenchy busted through the doors. I knew since I had his bag that he would be looking for me, but what were the odds that he would think to go to the police station as well! I couldn’t believe it!! Bangkok is no small city. There are at least a hundred different guest houses around Khaosan Road and yet through some quick act of God we found each other and were able to exchange bags. He had been to Khaosan Road before and remembered the police station; what luck. We immediately embraced happy to have our proper possessions and had a beer over the minor incident. What a crazy way to start my Thailand adventure!

After shaking hands and wishing each other well, I set off to choose one of many GH for the next two nights. I visited at least a dozen that were all full before finding a really cheap but OK room a little ways away.

Khaosan Road is a cool strip about half a mile long where you can find an assortment of T-shirts and other goods. The T-shirts are unique, however, for the designs are unlike anything you’ve ever seen. They have some pretty cool retro shirts with Tony the Tiger and Toucan-Sam on them. I picked up a few over the next two days that I really like but the street vendors mostly sell a bunch of junk. There are several bars as well along the road and the place was teeming with tourists. My first night in Bangkok was great… it’s always fun to arrive in some place you’ve never been before and explore around. The following day I did just that.

I visited a cool temple which hosted a ginormous gold Buddha that was lying on its side. I was sick of temples though so I just walked around the city. I found the train station and booked my much anticipated ticket south to Koh Tao, a dive island in the Gulf of Thailand. On my way back I dropped by a hospital to have a doctor take a look at my ear. She probed in to have a look and said that my external canal was fine and that if I was having troubles then it had to be something internal. To further diagnose the problem required seeing a specialist who only came during the week. I asked her about diving and after playing charades to explain ‘diving’, about three nurses all at once said, “NO WAY!” I was crushed! Here I had planned my whole adventure around this dive trip to Koh Tao and these ladies were telling me no??! So I walked back to my GH pissed off but made no promises of not diving. I set out to try some local Thai food but was disappointed several times. Therefore I stuck to mostly western food; I laugh because I know people will ask me, “How was the Thai food?!!” All I’ll say is, “Ya, the burgers were great.” After receiving bad news about my ear and tasting some less than scrumptious Thai food, I was grateful to stumble upon a Swensen’s Ice Cream shop. I indulged and my worries about diving melted away like the ice cream in my tummy :) Having seen Bangkok, I really didn’t know what to do with my extra day that I had planned. For those who may travel this way, there’s really no need to come to Bangkok unless you want a cool T-shirt or are passing through. One day max!

It was cool to watch the movie ‘The Beach’ back in Kunming for the movie takes place in Thailand and was partially filmed on Kohsan Road. Having been there, I can now relate more to the movie and understand the perspective for it closely reflected my own experience. They filmed the beach scenes on the Phi Phi islands (Western shores of Thailand) which are suppose to be amazing. But since the movie made the place famous, it’s always crowded with tourists. I decided to skip it this time around and planned to stay a full 9 days on Koh Tao.

I left the next night on an all-night train south to a place called Chumpon. From Chumpon we would catch a short bus ride and then a three hour ferry to Koh Tao. It was there that I would discover a paradise that one would wish to never end…