I landed in Bangkok at about 11.30pm, exchanged my currency at the airport and with some trepidation, stepped outside to find some sort of transport to my hostel. This was rather easy and worked on a ticketing system, although I did walk the wrong way for a bit at first. I stepped in my cab, asked for it to be charged to the meter, to which the driver happily complied, and off I was. I was in Asia! I was very excited about this. A whole new angle to my journey. The driver was chatty and friendly, and although claiming not to know the whereabouts of my hostel, arrived at it straight away. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was the exact opposite of how taxi drivers in Thailand operate. It was about 1am when I checked in, and I quietely snuck in to bed.
I awoke the next morning not really wanting to face the outside. I knew Bangkok was a busy, busy place and I could hear it through the windows. My first concern after showering was what the people here had for breakfast. Surely not Pad Thai and green curry? This small fear was put to rest when I got downstairs and found that the in-house bar would make me a 'special continental breakfast' of toast, croissant and boiled egg for the equivalent of just a couple of quid. I finished this off, and as if taking a plunge in to cold water, stepped outside to greet the city.
A habit of mine when I get to somewhere new is to simply go out and walk. No plans, no itinerary, just getting a feel of the place by wandering around it. This course of action is not wise in somewhere like Bangkok, I soon discovered. You must stride with purpose. The people can sense aimlessness like sharks sense blood. Tuk tuk and taxi drivers were persistent but easy enough to shake off with a smile and a 'no thanks', but when an old lady began speaking to me in the street I wasn't even a bit cautious. I'd heard Thais were very friendly, and she was asking about what my plans were in the country, which seemed nice. She suggested I visit a tourist information office up the street behind us. I told her I might check it out, but this wasn't enough - she wanted to show me exactly where it was. And it wasn't a short walk. We arrived and she put me in a seat in front of a suited man, then cleared off. Slightly flummoxed, I began to explain to the man, who called himself Eddy, what I needed for the next couple of weeks. He sold me accommodation, a trek to do in Chiang Mai in the north of the country, train and bus tickets. He even offered to arrange my Indian Visa for me. He offered me a price, which seemed fair at the time, and I was happy that everything had been sorted for the next couple of weeks. I could relax.
In the evening, some hours later, yet another friendly Thai person who called himself Tom spotted me as I walked past a temple. He told me he recognised me from the tourist office, as he worked there. He offered to show me around, and seeing as I had no other plans, I accepted. He showed me some temples, then suggested we take a boat ride, which I again said yes to. Tom wanted to show me the 'real' Thailand, and actually it didn't disappoint. The boat went out of the city and in to the areas where the houses are built on the river and people live more simply. It was fascinating. "Back there" said Tom, "it's a London. It's a Tokyo. It's a New York. On this side is Thailand". I didn't like to tell him how unlike London is to Bangkok, so I just nodded. We got back to the city and we got a tuk tuk back to where we had met. He wanted me to come with him to see some sort of ping-pong show, but I'm not that interested in sport, so instead we agreed to meet the next evening.
Now I'm not so dim that I didn't realise that some of this stuff might not just be friendly hospitatility on the part of the people of Bangkok. The thing with the old lady - well it wasn't a scam I'd read about, but I was curious to know if other people had come across something similar. A quick search online revealed that it was exactly the sort of thing that that particular tour agency did regularly. I instantly felt like a mug. I worried about the legitmacy of it all. What if it were all fake? And Tom? Well I wasn't sure what to think about him. I'd paid him no money, and he even covered the cost of the tuk tuk afterall. Maybe he was just a nice guy. But maybe he was getting some commission from the boat people or something. I started the next day in a cloud of paranoia, and it was to be my last day in Bangkok before heading to Chiang Mai. That's if the train ticket was real.
I negotiated what I thought was a fair price with a Tuk Tuk driver to take me to the river, then I was to take a boat up to the Grand Palace. I almost certainly paid too much for the boat. The Grand Palace, I suppose the Thai equivalent of Buckingham Palace, was very interesting and very beautiful. I spent a few hours there before stepping out for lunch. Outside, an old woman shoved some corn in my hand then made me feed it to some pigeons. She charged me 150 baht for the pleasure. We got in to an argument and I ended up paying 90 just to get rid of her. How could I be so stupid? I was so cross with myself for letting that happen, for going to that stupid agency and for getting taken for a ride with Tom. I'd read about all the scams and I was doing nothing about it. I walked around feeling grumpy for a bit. More people tried to sell me things, but I told them to clear off. To get back to the hostel I waved down a taxi, but the driver was honest enough to refuse on account that it was too far. The next taxi refused to use the meter so I refused his services, or anybody's in fact - I decided to walk back, a distance of about five miles. It gave me time to cool down a bit and actually I saw a great deal of Bangkok in that time. On my return I treated myself to a beer, and I decided that I wouldn't meet Tom. It all seemed too dodgy.
In my dorm at the hostel was an English girl called Debbie, who was relaxing on her bed. We got talking, and although neither of us were in the mood for socialising, we both took up the offer of going out with a group from the hostel, many of them Dutch or Australian. We went to the skytower, where you can have a very classy drink and you have no idea that the streets below are so polluted and foul smelling. We then went to Khao San road, which is at the opposite end of the class spectrum. Vibrant, sleezy, with bright lights, and cocktails served in plastic buckets. Me and Debbie went and had our feet nibbled by fish, which is a must-do in Asia in my opinion. Later we went clubbing at a place called 'The Club'. Wicked name for a club.
The next morning I left for Chiang Mai on what turned out to be a valid train ticket. This gave me some hope for the other things I'd bought from Eddy at the agency. Arriving in Chiang Mai, I was briefed about the next day's trek and shown to my regal quarters at what was clearly an upmarket establishment. What more can one ask for when one's bed linen is decorated with Disney's Alice in Wonderland and the shower appears to be attached to the toilet? Yeah, Eddy appeared to have let me down a little on this one. Nevermind, I slept and was collected the next day for my three day trek in to the jungle by the guide, named Book.
In the truck towards the start of the tour I got speaking to my fellow trekkers, and it seemed I wasn't the only one led astray by an old lady and fleeced by an agency. And these people seemed pretty bright. I started to feel a bit better about myself and my experiences in Bangkok. It seemed anyone of European ancestry was bound for the same treatment. Myself and a German man called Chris agreed that it wasn't even the money that was the issue - it was that it had been cheated out of you that was the most offending thing. I decided to treat the whole situation as a learning experience and to tread more carefully for the rest of my time in the east. Above all, I wasn't going to be hung up about it any more. Such concerns would surely ruin the trip.
So the first day was spent trekking through forest, stopping for a swim at a waterfall and having a look round a temple where monks seemed to reside. Hanging up to dry by the temple were some orange robes alongside a Manchester United towel. They really love football here. In the evening we were shown our accommodation - some pretty basic but comfortable huts - and then chilled out with some beers as Book made us all dinner. As night drew in we all sat around a camp fire talking, and I somehow got involved in a game where I got attached to a Swiss girl and we had to find a way of unattaching ourselves. Hilarity ensued. We were unsuccessful but the whole thing was pretty fun and everyone got involved.
The next day our group split up, which was sad, for some of us were only taking part for two days. The hardcore among us continued in to the jungle. We stopped at a swimming spot for lunch, where the water was cool and clear. The meal - some noodles with vegetables - was packaged in a big leaf and wrapped up like a present. We visited an elephant 'farm' on the way to where we were staying for the night, which was a novelty, but personally I didn't like to see them tied up with chains, and such short chains too. One of the elephants was apparently going 'crazy' and who could blame him? Truth is, he was probably just not so well behaved, or had simply had enough.
After dinner, our group socialised with another. More beer was had, and Book was passing around some of his locally made whisky, his favourite tipple. Book was a lovely guy and we got on pretty well - he invited me to a party the next night and to stay round his house with his family, which sounded like a really exciting opportunity. The night went on, and I'd made friends with a Kiwi called Petra (and her mum), a Swede named Emelie and a Dutch man named Emille. Things were much roudier than the night before, and a few too many drinks by the other group's guide - called Rambo - caused some tension before we decided to draw the evening to a close.
The next day was the highlight, where we took part in some activities. These were riding on a bamboo raft downriver and an elephant ride. The bamboo rafting was very relaxing and made a welcome change from all the walking. The elephant ride was certainly an experience, but again the animals appeared to be treated badly and I was pleased to get away from the place. Soon enough, we were all being dropped back at our respective hotels in Chiang Mai, and myself and Book arranged that he would meet me later to go to the party. By the time he arrived I noticed a slight pain in my stomach and a dizzy feeling. He explained, with apologies, that he had to work the next day and couldn't attend the party, so the night was off. I pretended to be disappointed, but secretly it was a blessing. To compensate he rode me around Chiang Mai on his motorbike for a bit before stopping for some street food and whisky. He then offered to take me to the Sunday Market, but I had to decline. I returned to my hotel and was sick.
I felt in a similar state the next morning, and laid in most of the day. I mustered enough energy to go out and buy some water, and to check e-mails. There was one from Petra. She said we should deffo meet up before the 29th. I agreed with this, but I was to leave on the 22nd, which was the next day. In spite of being ill, I told her meeting up was a good idea.
I met Petra and her mum at their hotel, which was much nicer than mine. We had a meal together - Italian, which was easier for me to stomach than Thai - and then me and Petra went for a few drinks on our own. I suggested she travel down to Ko Samui with me, and stupidly, she agreed. I met her at the train station the next day, and after stopping over in Bangkok, we went together to see if Eddy could get her on the same night bus as me to Ko Samui. "Yes there is space, Mr. Bennett, 950 baht".
"Right," I said "but we've already been offered 900, could you do it for that?"
Eddy laughed as if to suggest if I were going to start haggling, I should've started much lower.
"Of course Mr. Bennett, you're my best customer!" Too right I was. In fact what he really meant was "of course Mr. Bennett, you're an enourmous mug and I love it". I'm an honest Englishman, and haggling is not something I'm well practised at. I must improve.
We caught the bus later, but sadly it was now Petra's turn to feel unwell. The bus journey was over 12 hours long, and it wasn't the most comfortable ride. Petra found solice sleeping, or trying to, on the floor of the bus, in between instances of being sick. I tried to be comforting towards her, but probably was just patronising.
Eventually the bus ride finished, we got a ferry over to Samui and we checked in to our accommodation, which was a hut right on the beach. It was good enough, but Eddy could've done better I reckon. Palm trees, blue sea, sandy beach. Pretty much heaven. In fact the sea, the gulf of Thailand, is the warmest I've swum in ever. Petra was keen to do a scuba diving course before New Years, so we shopped about for a good deal to get her over to Ko Tao, where most of the diving takes place. A man at one of the offices, who I decided was from somewhere like Bolton (although Petra thought he was Irish - I'll never apologise again for muddling Kiwi and Aussie accents), had clearly found that the best way to speak to the locals was in their version of English. "Heylo. I have client here, want to do course, can you make cheaper little bit?" It was funny at the time.
We went to a really chilled out restaurant for dinner that night. It hardly felt like Christmas Eve at all, which was good because we'd both decided we were going to pretend that it wasn't Christmas. In the morning I waited outside with her until she left for her course, then I went back inside. I won't lie, I felt lonely and miserable. I went back to sleep until I decided that it wasn't going to make me feel any better. I went out to check out the beach and relaxed in a hammock for a bit. After wishing the folks back home a Merry Christmas, I wandered in to Fisherman's Village for food then called it a night early. Bo Phut, the beach where I'm situated, doesn't exactly seem thriving with backpackers. It's lined with hotels and bars that are mostly occupied by holidaying families and couples. Making friends here is more difficult than what I've been used to so far, and as a lone traveller I feel out of place. Nevermind, in a few days it's the Full Moon Party on Ko Pha Ngnan - and that's the whole reason for me being here anyway. We'll see how things pan out until then.
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