Our arrival in
Bangkok could not be referred to as ‘smooth sailing’ by any remark. We got off
our flight, I estimated around 10/11pm. Dazed, hung over and as always with me;
generally confused about things and life in general, we were keen to get somewhere
to stay and hit the pillow.
Whilst waiting for
our backpacks to be birthed from the belly of the plane, it dawned on me that
although we had booked some accommodation, but we had no money, no energy and
very little will to do anything about it.
We were instantly bombarded
by locals; offering us tuk tuks, offering us souvenirs; scarves, beads, buddas…We
tried desperately to communicate with a Thai lady at the tourist office but the
language barrier proved too steep for both of us and with the aid of a measly
map, were left to sort things out for ourselves. We didn’t know how far away we
were from the town, how much the going rate was for a cab, or what the exchange
rate was.
Luckily this
typical, nuclear Australian family from Melbourne, spied us out and took us
under their wing. They had a mini van and it was heading to Khao San Road;
which was close enough to where we wanted to be. Dad was wearing board shorts
and a Hawaiian shirt, mum was wearing typical ‘mum’ clothes and the assortment
of pre-teen children had their hair in braids and flowers in their hair. Thank god
for the Australians. They had it all sorted; it wasn’t their first family trip
to Thailand, they knew where to go and chatted to us along the way. We were an
unlikely group, with me and Ann being around 8 years senior to their eldest
child, but they had it together; and a little bit of me wanted them to adopt us
and take us around with them. Sometimes being and adult is hard.
But nonetheless, we
tried to pay them for the ride and they pushed our money away, and soon we were
left standing on the side of the road, backpacks and a measly map. After a lot
of wrong turns, helpful strangers and a creepy guy shadowing us, offering the
help us and then stalking us for a good 10 minutes we finally made it to our
area. We were still being bombarded by locals trying to sell us things or talk
to us, and every sensory system was working overtime to accommodate them all.
After we arrived at
the ‘Swasadee Smile Inn’ we were confronted with a man of questionable
sexuality and gender, who was incredibly rude. Like, so rude. We laugh it now…I
don’t know, but we were tired and I was keenly aware of the friction and the
sweat between my backpack and my skin.
We checked in, only
to be confronted with a room that was in quite a state. Thailand hostels; ya
gotta love em. We opened to door to our room, and it hit the bed. The whole
place looked like a cheap brothel, satin pillows on stained sheets, holes in
the wall and wallpaper literally peeling off the walls. Holes had been plugged
with soggy toilet paper.
For $6 a night we
were confronted with leaky bathroom, visible mould and an air con that dripped
on our faces while we slept….I thought it was bugs crawling on my face and
jumped up multiple times throughout the night. Our nightly slumber was restless
and hot.
The signs on the
doors advised us to lock ourselves in every time we went to sleep for ‘safetly’.
The hostel staff also had to availability to lock guest inside their room by
using a bolt operated on the outside. The shower was cold and you had to sit on
the toilet to use it. I’m afraid to say though, it was by no means the worst
backpackers I’ve ever stayed in.
Stay classy,
Thailand.
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