As the capital of Thailand, Bangkok is the most populous city holding over 14 million people. Now I don't know if you realize how many people this is, but I assure you that you'll have some sort of an idea when you notice that it will take you less time to walk those 10km than it would take for your taxi to move up to the next stoplight.
Arriving in Bangkok, my friend and lovely travel partner Maddie and I had our minds made up that we were only staying for one day. During that day we saw the Reclining Buddha, ran into a carnival for what we believe was the King's birthday, visited temples, and saw the daytime version of Khao San Road.
Flying a kite at the "King's birthday carnival"
We quickly packed our stuff and headed out the next morning, sleeping through our alarms for the real Khao San. Occupied with our departure for the beautiful island of Ko Chang, we halfway ran to see what paradise was like. And it was fabulous.
On our return, we decided to spend two days in Bangkok before we departed. We were determined to see what it was about this infamous road that we missed out on. This is when we experienced the real Khao San.
We were not prepared...FOR THE TIME OF OUR LIVES lol.
From women soliciting themselves to ping-pong shows that have nothing to do with sports to remarkably beautiful ladyboys (or transgenders as we call them in the states) that make you believe in magic, we were in shock. Streets are filled with vendors selling everything from crickets to personalized bracelets. (All of the pre-made bracelets had sayings I'm all but too embarrassed to share).
Bars crawled with everyone from 16 to 60 years old drinking until the wee hours. Many bars solicited the fact that they don't check ID. These places get wild guys, I'm not gonna lie. Bangkok is totally the place for all those sexually frustrated and curious. There is literally nothing that doesn't go down on these streets!
The best part of Khao San is definitely all the people that you meet! It's all filled with tourists, so expect a predominately touristy area with drunk Englishmen, German and many French (hhellloooo accents!) I swooned the whole time.
New friends we made in less than 1 hour
There is noone who can go to Khao San and not make at least one friend. We left after two nights knowing at least 35 more people. Drunk people are always the friendliest. Especially Shia LaBeouf's secret twin.
Shia LaBeouf's secret twin
Now for some Tips and Tricks for getting the best Bang for your...well, you get it.
1. Keep your personal items close to you. There are tons of people and pickpocketing is common.
2. When getting a hostel/hotel, make sure you get a room in the middle of the hotel, or at least with no window, or you will not sleep well (the music is on till the sun comes up, LITERALLY)
3. On the streets, people might come up to you and tell you they are a teacher, tourist police, etc. and tell you that they can get you transportation for cheap or that it's a holiday and the temples are free today only, then offer to fetch you a cheap tuktuk, ITS A SCAM. Politely decline and go about your way.
4. Make sure to cut the price at least 1/3 when haggling. You're going to get cheated regardless, but hopefully not by a huge margin.
5. When you get wifi, translate everything you think you'll need, especially your hotel address, into Thai. Your life will be alot easier.
Happy Wandering...