We get to our hotel and are once again greeted by this little Thai security guard. He's so hyper and nice. He drags the suitcase about twice his size, and drags it in the hotel. Were paying the taxi driver and start to head in the hotel. He and the security guard begin to bicker and argue. We have no clue whats happening. The security guard says 'no worries, be happy!' Weird.
We got settled and walked down the road a bit to a nice little shack that was definitely not a regular spot for tourists. There were almost no fluent English speakers, and all menus were in complete Thai. Almost everywhere I saw in the city prior to had Chinese, English, and Thai languages on menus and shops. A couple beers in, and were off to the city!
We plan our route to get to the sky top bar. By the time a taxi gets us to our intersection there it's around 11:00pm.
We take a stroll down the road trying to find this bar, and can't find it anywhere. We realize we walked the wrong way. Turning around, and eventually going the right way, there's a few tall buildings. This area seems super high class and really isolated. We walk to the entrance f where the bar is located, and it's actually on top of a hotel. We walk in, and it feels like were in the middle of somewhere so expensive and classy, that we should not be here. We ask one of the workers there where the bar is. They point us to the elevator and say '59'. They state there is a dress code but we can change there and borrow clothing free of charge. I guess my gym shorts and Mel's jeans don't cut it.
We feel wrong and awkward but we keep going.
We walk into a multi - glass pillar, water filled room with blue lights surrounding the walls around us. Not addressed about our clothing, we take a seat.
The large glass windows let you see over the city if Bangjok. Unfortunately the rooftop was closed off due to the weather. It down pour rained about an hour ago.
We got a drink, each coding bout 500 each. (That's like... $16.60 a drink)... Never again. But the view is great.
It feels like were in the middle of a James Bond movie up here. We decide were goin to try an check out a place called 'cheap Charlie's' where drinks are super cheap, and right in the mix up of Bangkok.
Getting to Cheap Charlie's was a failure. We walked up and down the streets asking multiple people and all they say so 'ohhh cheap Charlie's is right there.' After about 3 attempts we didn't find it. We saw another bar and just sat there. It was a lame bar, but hey, we got a drink.
Finally we head back to the hotel and get ready for the next day. We plan to drop of my luggage at storage, and go to the Grande Palace. Aleksey is supposed to meet us there, can tour the palace with us, and then pay me back. Checking out of the hotel with all our luggage (my three Mel's one, haha). We get to Bangkok Storage and are able to store my suitcase for a measles 200 baht for two weeks. Awesome!! That's like $7.00!
We continue by metered taxi to travel to the river. We arrive at the Grande Palace and pay 500 baht for each ticket. Aleksey is not here yet and is running late. He won't arrive until right before we need to leave. Mel and I go in the palace, and we both feel 'templed' out. All the palaces and temples are beginning to blur. This is still really pretty, has amazing buildings, statutes and gardens. Temples are everywhere; we pass by them on the way here, I just saw some yesterday, Mel saw a ton in Japan... We know they are all different, but were seeing similar architecture. We still take pics and walk around.
Here is another one for the books guys!
About a half hour to an hour in, we decide to leave and check out the area. We walk around and look at shops and street food. We find ourselves at our meeting location with Aleksey a bit early, so we get some crab and fish from the corner kart, and sit near te river. Yum!
Eventually it's time for us to leave because we will miss our flight. I tell Aleksey that we should leave since the traffic is bad. He agrees to send money via PayPal and sorry for not being able to catch up with us. It's no worries my friend, just have a good day yourself!!!
Money was sent via PayPal, confirmed, and Mel and I are on our way to Chiang Mai.
The traffic IS horrible, bumper to bumper, for a while. We still arrive with plenty of time. This time I'm able to not check my bag. Awesome. Makes it easier.
So Bangkok, it was short but sweet. Chiang Mai, for the next 3 nights, bring it on! Our plan is to get to the Night Baazar tonight and walk the streets. Should be fun!
We arrive at the airport, get a flat rate taxi for 150 baht, and arrive at our hotel. The Baan Thai Resort. This place is sweet! It has a pool, a bar, helpful receptionists, laundry right around the corner. Awesome. They also have a couple tiny kittens that are adorable. Makes me miss Lil' G. He was so playful, and wanted attention.
We book a guide for tomorrow to go to the Highest Point in Thailand. We then ask if we can get to the city easily, and they show us a picture of a red truck. This red truck is the new taxi. There are almost no metered taxis in the city, if none at all.
We walk around a bit, hit up 7-eleven, and grab a red truck taxi to te Night Bazaar. The city is basically mapped out according to 'Old City'. Old City is the center of Chian Mai that has a square of streets and water. Almost like a moat. The outside of the square (Old City) has tons of bars and little shops.
We arrive at the night bazaar, welcomed by tons of street food, crafts, and random shops. There are knock off bags, shoes, and clothing. They all feel somewhat decently made though.
We walk around for a little bit but then we are set with a goal to find food. Our stomachs are growling and were extremely hungry. We your around some street food, and find some small sit down areas. We order two meals about 65 baht each. That's about $2.00 each. Mel got glass noodles and I got some form of garlic noodle with seafood. I scarf mine down and then finish Mel's. Soo good!
We continue through the Bazaar and find ourselves at a 'European bar' with live music, that looks like it's a mix of a biker bar and 80s rock. Yeah, why not?! So we take a seat, grab a drink, and listen to the music.
We are hoping it's half decent music, and were blown away by this Thai cover band. They played covers by Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Creedence, and more. The band and thier vocals sounded frighteningly similar to these popular covers. We were in shock, and thought maybe they weren't singing. They definitely were though. They weren't perfect at mimicking the vocals but it was amazing of how close they got, and without an accent.
I have video so if I have a chance to upload that I will link it. We tipped them and went through to the end of the Bazaar, looking at bags, jewelry, food, and more. Getting turned around by the dark alleys at the end, we was back to the bar we just came from. The band was cool. Haha!
We have another beer or two, and head back to our hotel after everyone starts to close up.
We barter for a red truck taxi, 20 baht each, and say 'Baan Thai Resort'. He agrees and were off!
We get to our resort, and the gate is closed, and locked. Were confused because te receptionists stated we could come back 24/7. There is a door with a lock on it and a sign that reads, 'please lock behind you.' Sweet. We try our key on the lock and it doesn't work. Not sweet. I see a small gap/window in the wall of te driveway gates. I think we can fit. But we look around in the dark alley we were dropped off in, and think it looks a bit different. We look up and see a sign that says 'Paahn Thai Resort'. Well that makes sense, but crap! We look aroun and there is no vehicle or sign of life around. We walk down the streets and look left and right until we see a busy road. We take a turn, get to the busy road, and this time we get a tuktuk. We show the name and location of the resort on a business card to avoid mispronunciation. This tuk tuk had some crazy light show going on and some fun music. He was zooming around everywhere because there were almost no cars out. It was a fun time.
We get to our resort and the gates are open! Home sweet home. I still have to do laundry so we gather my clothes and head off to the washing machines outside. 20baht per load. Much better then 20 baht per item in the hotel at bangkok. I guess they hand wash it there?
I hope three nights is enough to hang dry my clothes!
We stay up and wait for my clothes I finish, go collect them, and come back to the hotel. Mel asks if I have the key, I shake my pants to feel around and all I felt was my wallet with coins. We locked ourselves out!!! We go to the desk and the sign says to go knock on the door to the righ if we need anything. We have to wake someone up to help us. We felt bad. Standing there with wet clothes in my arms, I knock on the door and ask for the key because we locked ourselves out, and te guy comes out with large bags for my laundry. Poor guy thought I was waking him up at 3am to help me with my laundry!
We re explained that we needed our key. He then smiled and gladly helped us. We apologized and thanked him. How nice was that, that he got bags for me?? So kind!
We go back to the room, I hang up my clothes to dry, and we prep for the next big day to the highest point in Thailand.
Here we go! First night was fun! Next day in Chiang Mai is going to be great!
I lay in my bed, set my alarm and fall asleep around the jungle of Clean laundry. Man. It's been a while! (I was on my last pair of socks. Ew.)
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