Justin and I arrived at the Suvarnabhumi Airport (quite the mouthful) around 2am. We took a cab to Khao San Road, the main tourist area in Bangkok where we had a reservation at a place recommended to me by a fellow Gloria teacher. As Justin had just traveled for over 24 hours we promptly passed out.
In the morning, we woke up surprisingly early and set out for a day of Bangkok exploration. Khao San road is a tourist center, so the area is full of restaurants, food stands, and shops selling anything you can imagine, from t-shirts to brass knuckles and tasers. You can buy knock offs of almost any brand you love, especially northface camping backpacks and brand clothing. Everyone says even if they aren't real, they are probably made in the factory next door to the real thing so they are probably just as good quality. We wandered through the shops for a while, stopping at a stand to buy a pineapple. The woman took out a big knife, hacked it to pieces, and handed us our entire fruit for about 25 US cents. At this moment I knew I was going to love Thailand and all it had to offer.
We continued to wander down the street and found a temple very close to our hotel. Now I've seen persistent salespeople before, but it was nothing compared to the drive these people had to usher us into their tuk-tuks. People would approach us every two minutes, starting with a simple 'where are you from?' I find that I am often naive and hope that people are just being friendly, so I always responded, which in turn always got a round of 'ohhhh Barack Obama!' This seemed to me like a friendly exchange until each person would then proceed to talk FOREVER about what we should see, ending with 'I take you in my tuk-tuk. Cheap-cheap!' Pre Thailand I had read of the scams that people pull, one being they offer you a cheap tuk-tuk ride and then take you to a gem shop and refuse to leave until you buy something. So at that point we would walk away, just to be followed down the road. At this point we were a little reluctant to listen to any advice, and we were set on visiting the grand palace which was just about a 15 minute walk down the road, so we set on our way. At one point we stopped in a police station we saw (so Justin could feel at home), and the friendly man at the desk circled the protest spots on our maps and told us where to avoid. We continued walking in the right direction, only to be confronted by more and more drivers. We were told by a few that the grand palace was closed to foreigners until the afternoon, but chose not to believe any stories. Unfortunately, this little tidbit ended up being the truth, so after we eventually found the palace and were unable to enter in an act of desperation we allowed ourselves to be ushered into a tuk-tuk.
Signs like this were all over the country, warning you of potential scams
There are also tributes to the king found everywhere
Statue at the temple near our hotel
Our driver, a pretty young girl, was fierce on the road. A tuk-tuk a kind of scooter with a backseat attached, riding on three wheels but it often feels like you are swinging over on two as the drivers cut through traffic at the speed of light. She took us to a 100 foot tall standing Buddha, and then eventually to a travel agent so we could figure out the rest of our trip. On the way there we drove by some government buildings where we saw a few soldiers on the streets, the only sign of any protests apparent during our entire trip. I think the protests were really isolated to a specific area, and as long as those parts were avoided, it is still a really safe place.
We had come to Thailand with zero plan, only the dates we would arrive and the sad date we would have to leave. The city is speckled with travel agents, but we were repeatedly told to go to a special governmental one. At this point we had hit information overload from every person talking to us, so we resigned to listen to the advice and figure out our trip. The agent planned our entire trip as a package, figuring out every detail and delivering them to us in a packet of numbered envelopes that I could open one by one to determine where we should be and when. It was a very simple solution that then required no thought from us for the rest of the time in Thailand.
This was also my first experience with bargaining. In Thailand you can bargain for anything. The strategy seemed to be they offer a price, you feign non-interest and begin to walk away at which point they say 'well for you, special deal. what you pay?' You then offer a ridiculously low price which makes them laugh, and then you go back and forth until you reach the middle point where everyone is happy. I hated doing it at first, but by the end it became a fun game of how low can I go. This was effective when buying anything, from our tour package to clothes to a taxi ride.
We spent a long time negotiating the deal, and afterwards our tuk-tuk driver was still waiting patiently outside for us. We decided it was time to head back to the grand palace, but she asked if first we could stop at a shopping mall where they would give her a gas voucher. I had been a little freaked out all day that we were going to get scammed, but as she had been with us for over two hours we were hopeful and agreed. She dropped us off at a suit store, another common site in Bangkok. They are EVERYWHERE with men outside trying entice you in. We wandered around for a minute, and then left, and luckily she was happy. Back at the grand palace, we asked how much she wanted and she told us to pay whatever we felt like. Here is where we learned the next lesson - always negotiate the fare before getting in the car. It was our first ride so we had no standard of how much it should cost, so I handed over a few bills and she didn't complain so we headed on our way.
The grand palace is an impressive site (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palace ). It used to be the residence of the Kings of Thailand, and it is a big compound of temples and elaborate gold-plated buildings. To enter, you have to be properly attired, so Justin and I both had to borrow clothes to cover our legs. We wandered through from one gorgeous building to the next, memorized by the elaborate decorations.
Thailand has a monarchy, and although the king does not run the country he is thought to be a demi-god and is revered throughout the country. It is against the law to say bad things about him, and it's illegal to step on any money there because it all has pictures of his face.
After we were happy with our tour of the palace, we headed back to Khao San road for some dinner, and to get ready for our overnight train to Chiang Mai (envelope number one from travel agent Alex).
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