I’m tempted to just keep writing about Pai, but all good things must come to an end, no?
With Bangkok my next destination, I’d been considering heading back to Chiang Mai to take the famous sleeper train down to the capital. When I set out from England, I wanted to try as many different ways as I could of getting from A to B. So far I’d taken buses (a LOT of buses), planes, trains, 4×4’s, motorbikes, a donkey and even a cable car when we made our way through La Paz, and a sleeper train was something I had my mind set on to add to the list.
However, with my new mate Tali heading down to the capital a couple of days before me, she found a bus that would half our travel costs. Goodbye sweet sleeper train (for now)…
It wasn’t the loveliest journey of my life by a long stretch, but as the sun rose on another day in Thailand, I did get this snap…
With Tali staying with friends in the city, I was once again going it alone discovering a new place. I booked into a fantastic hostel, Jam Hostel.
Close to the Khaosan Road area, this hostel has a reputation for putting on events and activities that show you a different side of the city. These may be a bike tour, an urban adventure, or if you’re daring enough a journey to the Sathorn Unique ‘Ghost Tower’ – a haunting skyscraper abandoned for over 20 years, and now a huge climbing frame for the adventurous and the brave.
They don’t charge a penny more for these trips, and I couldn’t recommend this hostel enough – beyond their incredible activity program the staff are lovely, they include a self service breakfast, and the rooms are great too.
During my stay I joined the group heading out for a cultural exchange and meditation session – a restless soul, I wasn’t convinced meditation would be up my street but it was a brilliant experience.
Venturing out to Wat Arun, a Buddhist temple on the banks of the river Chao Praya, we sat down with a quite remarkable man. He spoke on his life story, how he’d once been the CEO of a huge corporation but left it for the monastery, spent years in isolation training to be a monk, and eventually found his calling working against the human trafficking that’s rife throughout this region. He’s sat down with Presidents, sits on the boards of security counsels and has stared down mafia bosses as he gives children opportunities to educate themselves away from the life of crime and exploitation that all too often is the victor.
I thought I was meeting a monk. This guy was a freakin badass!
I can speak for everyone in the room by saying we were blown away. Not quite the meditation I had pictured. We then got a chance to meet some of the kids in the program – an unforgettable experience. They taught us some Thai, we played a few games, and having been encouraged by our host from the hostel to bring my guitar with me, I played some music! Language barriers can be challenging in this part of the world despite a good level of spoken English, but travelling with a guitar for 3 months was great because you’re still able to connect with people from a completely different background and culture to your own. The kids kept requesting more songs, though eventually we moved on with the evening.
Taking in a spectacular night view of the temple, we walked to a local night market to try some of the city’s street food!
Definitely check out all the delights that Southeast Asia’s night markets have to offer. You’ll see some strange food, wacky souvenirs and experience the real life version of pop-up ads as people try to pull you into their shops, but it’s a lot of fun and a great part of experiencing a new town or city.
The next day I’d caught up with Tali again! Along with the friends she’d been staying with, we sets to the streets to find a nice rooftop bar to enjoy an afternoon at, and came upon this place…
A neat reminder that not every day backpacking has to be a crazy thrill ride extravaganza 😛 sometimes a nice drink or two with a good view is plenty enough. On the subject of good views though, I did have the chance to get perhaps the best view in the city during my short stay.
I’m talking of course about the famous Sky Bar! The highest rooftop bar in the world, and set location for The Hangover 2!
Gladly I didn’t have to lose a friend overnight to be granted passage up to the top!
Be warned that while the bar is impeccable and the staff massively accommodating and friendly, this place is a CASH COW and they will try and up-sell you constantly! If you don’t feel like a blowing a weeks backpacking budget, BE STRONG and resist 😛
I bought a mocktail, which was pretty much the cheapest thing they sell. It still cost me almost £20, but they don’t charge an entry fee and did throw in some tasty snacks at no extra cost! The drink was lovely, but you’re really paying for the view, and what a view it is!
The timing was great with the sun soon setting over the city skyline, and I got talking to a Malaysian film crew that were having drinks next to me. We left around the same time and they invited me to get some dinner with them.
Pad Thai served in a leaf? YES PLEASE!
After enjoying dinner with my new Malaysian pals I met back up with Tali and we started thinking about next steps. We’d talked a lot about heading to Koh Tao, most famous for its incredible scuba diving, and quickly found a bus and boat combo ticket to get us there.
If I haven’t mentioned already 12GO is a brilliant app/website for travel in this region. Reasonable prices, easy to use. What more do you need?
On our final day in this bustling, hectic, but exciting metropolis, we went completely against the backpacker code with a trip to see Joker at the cinema, and trying Bangkok’s Mexican food! Both impressive!
Fast forward 1 Grab ride and our time in Bangkok came to a close! I massively enjoyed my time in the city, and with most travellers in the region passing through here at one point or another, make the most of your stopover with some quirky activities and fantastic drinking spots!
See you on the next one! 🙂
A Pocketful of Postcards 