Day 7: The Chatuchak day and a bit of khao san road

Day 7: 30th Dec 2012

Day: 7

 I am wondering what a lazy bones I should be not being able to write a blog in a continuous manner. I promised myself to update on a twice in a day basis which gradually has become once in a week.
Grumblings apart.

I will write a review about Mystic place rooms hotel, Bangkok in this post and share my experiences about my day in Chatuchak.

(Hotel Review)

I stayed in this hotel just one night as I had plans to visit Chatuchak. Hotel has different themed rooms. The room I stayed in was trash chic. The decor of the room was built out of waste. It was an excellent idea. 
Location wise I would say it is not bang-on. I would say Mo-chit is on one far end of the city.
I tried locating the hotel all by myself from the BTS station it was quite difficult. Not If you take a taxi I am sure you would definitely find it easily.
The hotel offers Tuk-tuk service to BTS and Chatuchak on an hourly basis.
The service is efficient. They have a cafe called as mystic cafe prices are very reasonable but the portion is less.
The hotel served breakfast too. But on the downside vegetarian choice was limited to toast.
For Non-Vegetarians I would say nothing is an issue.
No noise and my room had a small balcony facing the road good enough for a laid back morning tea.
I will surely recommend this hotel for a short stay.

View of the room

I also want to add how creatively they have turned trash into treasure.
This photo would be a good example.

Stand made of crushed cans

Now, that I have written enough (I think! ^_^) about the hotel. Let me write how the day at chatuchak went for me.

This blue blue tuk-tuk took me to the Chatuchak market for free!!

Tuk-Tuk @ Mystic place rooms 

k t As everybody says, I will also say Chatuchak is huuuuuuge. It is definitiely bigger than the biggest of markets you would have seen.
My God what is not there. You will be spoilt for choice for anything and everything.
And definitely do not even try to venture without traking in a map which you can get at the entrances or the BTS station.

And don't worry even if you forget to pick one you have maps attached like the below here and there

Chatuchak Market Map

I made the mistake of not picking up the map and I would have rounded the same area for about 3 to 4 times. hehe. Happens.!

There is nothing you can't find in this market, name it you will find it.
I went around a lot and I kept a few things in my mind so that I could compare with a few shops around the market and then find the best one to purchase at a good rate.
What did you think? I did not or was not able to find the shop again.

All  lanes looked the same, I didn't have a clue where I was. As I had read many blogs that Chatuchak clock tower can be a point that nobody can miss.
Went round and round and round could no find where it was..

Poor me :( !

I kept walking and decided not to do the comparison stunt that I pulled up on myself.
And purchased all the junk stuff I could take with home with me. Just to add up the baggage fees I would be paying the Air Asia guys. Phew phew

Some photos in Chatuchak, to get you all an idea of the whole chatuchak scene

Plaster of paris models of dogs

As crowded as our T. Nagar

Me standing in one of the chatuchak lanes

I also spent a good 45 minutes just waiting to get my potrait done from one of the stands in there.
And the result was

My mother was pretty unhappy about this and commented that it didn't look like me at all.
What do you have to say??

The artists I would say actually did a good job and the price was THB 100 per per person.
You even have the option of getting it framed.

After doing all this stuff I again walked around and this time I shopped whatever I liked the very moment I liked, did not want to compare things.
I purchased everything that my mother would call as waste of money.

And to top it all I was not able to carry all the junk back to my hotel. I easily would have had 20 ~ 30 carry covers with me along with my water bottle and camera.
Now for the last junk item I purchased was a big bag to carry all the junk I purchased which I bought for THB 70 after bargaining hard.
The irony of the bag was that, it tore even before I could reach the hotel.
Way to go!

And I forgot to talk about the famous coconut ice cream of chatuchak

Coconut Icecream @ Chatuchak

No you guessed it wrong.
I did not try it. It cost THB 30 which was fair enough for the quantity.
I would strongly recommend against trying this coz it is highly unhygienic you can see the largest of flies buzzing all over the ice cream stall.

All the shops here start closing by around 5:00PM. And this is the time when you can see people giving heavily discounted prices.
If you still have energy to go around the market for a quick look or any last minute grabs I would definitely say you should not miss the discounted prices.

I had the energy and I went around to dig a deeper hole in my pocket.
I would have spent around THB 4000 that day. :( :( :(

I walked back to one of the entrance to find a taxi and none were ready to take me back to my hotel.
I walked my way to the BTS station with the heavy torn bag I had purchased.
Reached my hotel and now I had to check-out and they helped me find a taxi to my next destination near Khao San road.

Surprisingly the taxi driver went by meter, I have heard from a lot of people that taxi drivers would never agree to go to Khao san road by meter.
Anyways It took around 45 minutes to reach my hotel after coping up with Bangkok's traffic and the check-in was smooth.

This time I stayed in a hotel called Boon Siri Place.
All the way to Khao san was beautifully decorated. Once in my hotel I dropped my bags and ventured outside in the aim of walking to the infamous khao san road.

If you had noticed I have not spoken anything about food today. It's just that I forgot.
Lunch adventure happened at Chatuchak I ate in one of the small restaurants in there who served me some Malaysian fried rice(Vegetarian one of course)!
Sorry though I forgot the name of the restaurant. The quantity of food was Indian and all that for Just       THB 60.
Yaaaaahooooooo.
I thought this was the chance and ate two full plates of fried rice which would have been enough for me even for my dinner.

Coming back to the Khao san road hunt, My hotel was situated at a 7 minutes walking distance to Khao san but it took a little  longer for me to find the road and what seemed to be like a clean area all of a sudden turned into our T. Nagar Ranganathan street.
Lot of people, so many petty shops hawkers yelling at the top of their voice and few uncles approaching you with a bit of paper written Pussy show on it.
And at least 5 people would pass your ears saying " Ping-Pong show" / the sex show.
Warning: Don't get lured into it until you do not want to waste all your money on nothing but cheap sex tricks and you would be contributing to a sad part of the sex industry in Thailand.

Anyways I am walking further to see why khao san is famous, I know why now

• The sex shows
• Accommodation as cheap as THB 150 per night
• and for the best pad Thai in Thailand

You could also find creepy fried insects that these people sell and charge THB 10 if you want to take a photo.

I keep walking to the end of the road and something caught my eye

Coutesy: talkbangkok.com

And that was an Indian restaurant.. Drool drool drool drool
I do not know If I was secretly longing for Indian food, I went in the restaurant the moment I saw it.

And to my pleasure I saw a singh cook working in the kitchen. Authentic Indian food yayyyyyyyyyy....

I ordered everything from soup, masala papad, garlic naan, 2 side side and jeera rice. And I happily ate everything and I loved it.
The time to dig my pockets now, I expected a bill around THB 350 ~ 400. And guess what I decided not eat for next two days after seeing the bill. It was THB 870
Very good, what now?! I put a sad face and walked back to my hotel.

And I saw something that I would never forget on my way back to hotel and that was a chor ( Thief)
I saw him cut a foreigners bag at a distance and run away, I was surprised how it was.
And with 2 shocks for the day I came back to my room to sleep.

Now I am going sleep, so I will tell you the rest of the story in my next post

~ Kei

Day 5: Day trip to phi phi islands

Date: 28th December 2012

Day: 5

Had a early start today but of course woke up very late and rushed to the restaurant next door to grab some breakfast.

While I still do not remember the name of the restaurant next door or have a photo of it. I still remember that I have not written a review about this hotel. So here is the review for Baan Taveesri

Hotel Review

This hotel is located about 1.5Kms from the ao nang beach. Owner charlie who is a danish is so kind and helpful. He can guide you thoroughly on how to go and where to go.
I stayed there only for 2 nights but it was over all a good experience.
Charlie even booked us a phi-phi islands day tour the rates they offered were genuine. Soft bed, decent air conditioner, TV and DVD facilities in room, hot shower. What more can you ask for?
There is a restaurant next door to the hotel which can serve breakfast. I was so happy when the owner charlie offered himself to drop me at the bus stand while I was checking-out. I would say this can be the best budget choice you could make.
I can highly recommend this hotel for budget travellers.

View from my room

View from my room

 Continuing with my tale, I literally dumped the pancakes in my mouth as the pickup van for the day tour had already arrived. I forgot to mention about the company with which the hotel owner Charlie had booked my trip with. The company name is "Jane & June".

As per what he said this was a small tour company but could handle the tour efficiently and so did the company handle our tour efficiently.

The pickup van guy was kind enough to wait for me for about 10 minutes and I was the first passenger to be picked up. On the way we picked up a few people from nearby resorts and left for the gathering point near Noppharat Thara beach.

We were shortly met by our guide who called himself Moo. We were separated into groups and taken to our speed boat. There were around 15 people along with me. And the boat was not crowded.

Also there was this incident where a Chinese pregnant woman was in our group, our guide Moo strongly advised her against going on the trip.

So A word of caution for all pregnant women not to go on speed boat trips as it might get all bumpy at some point.

Now coming back to our phi phi islands trip, Here is the agenda for the day

1) Bamboo Islands

2) Viking Cave

3) Maya Bay

4) Ko Phi phi Don

5) Hong Islands

We started the tour off at 9:00AM and were back 4:00PM.

We followed the exact order that I have mentioned.

On the way to Bamboo Islands

The first look of Bamboo Islands from my speed boat

Bamboo Islands

Only then I got to know Bamboo Islands was also called as

Bamboo Island aka Koh Mai Pai

We were allowed 30 minutes here and we had to get back to the speed boat.

Next stop the viking caves, where the swallow birds make their nest and it is believed that the soup made out of swallow bird's nest is healthy.

Though we weren't allowed to get of the boat we we moved very slowly to get a good look at the caves and the techniques how men take the  swallow birds nest out of there

Viking Cave

Moved out of there to the  next destination Maya Bay

En route to Ma ya Bay

One more 

And there we are

The stunning Ma Ya bay.

Maya Bay 

And lazing around in here for 30 minutes. Everybody got back to the boat and about to leave to our next stop which was Koh Phi Phi don and suddenly we realise we are missing one member from our group.
We thought that guy must have drowned somewhere after 30 minutes of searching we found him walking back towards our boat and he said that he had been out exploring Maya Bay. We were like WHAT?!

Off to our Lunch adda

Ko Phi phi Don

We were there for about 1 hours and I definitely got vegetarian food to eat.
But I was so hungry that I forgot to take a photo of my food ;). Happens

An inside view at Ko Phi Phi Don

As I was exploring KO Phi phi I forgot that I should be back by 2:00 at the speed boat, and I didn't have a watch to check the time. I rushed back to the place where we had git down and then I remembered that I forgot to note my speed boat's name or design.

Panic struck. I was imagining all weird things what if I was left alone, I didn't carry a single diem with me to get back to ao nang.
I walked half the stretch of the beach to see if I could identify the speed boat that I came in and no trace of it.
I heart was racing, thinking What now.
Then I felt a pat on my shoulder it was our  speed boat's captain who called himself Captain Jack Sparrow

Captain Jack Sparrow

And Just to be careful the next time, I took a picture of our speed boat.
I am being responsible now, remember my parents sent me alone to be careful not to get lost. hehe :)

Our Speed boat

Lats and final stop for the day was hong islands
This was basically the snorkeling stop and I did snorkel a bit but I was too afraid.

Random pic of people snorkeling

Our guide advised us about sea urchins and speed boat propellers which might be dangerous to us while snorkeling.
We snorkeled for about 45 minutes next we head back to Ao nang.

And thus the day day tour to phi phi comes to an end.
I came back to the hotel for a hot shower and this was the last day I would be in ao nang.
I had a flight back to Bangkok the next day. But I still repent for not having stayed in Ao nang a little while longer.

I ended the day with a vegetarian buffet dinner at Bernie's place it was good and worth for THB 150.

And this is the memory I carried back home.

Dec-2012

Rest in the Next

~Kei

Bangkok Day 2 . Exploration continues .... but slightly less

Date: 25th December 2012

Day2: Bangkok

Firstly let me wish all of you Merry Christmas! :)

I know how late and very slow I am in writing my blogs but please excuse me. I am a lazy bug.

I will tell you my day 2 experiences @ Bangkok in this post.

I reached hotel around midnight and you know I was tired so I woke up this day around 9:30 just to eat my breakfast, as I had mentioned the breakfast was fab. I ate heartily and went back to my room to sleep. It was the best sleep I could have got.

Guess What I had forgotten to do? Call my mother..
Woke up hitting against the walls as I got a panic call from home and as usual all the questions were asked by my mother and I answered them promptly.

Call was over and I realised the time was around 1:30Pm.

I saved some rice in the fridge that I had bought last night and that was my dinner with some random MTR ready to mix and eat paste.

Washed myself and checked out of this hotel Grand president as I did not like this hotel so very much.
I booked a different hotel thru asiawebdirect.com for 1700THB.

It was Bangkok Lotus sukhumvit. I moved to this hotel and got myself a room on 21st Floor hehe:)
I love heights.

The room was fab

(Hotel Review)

 This hotel is located in sukhumvit soi 33. Not as happening as soi 11 but definitely good. There is some upmarket shopping malls opposite the soi 33. Superb views, Clean rooms and excellent service. Definitely worth the money. Bit of a walk to BTS phrom phong. But definitely walkable. The area has quite a lot of Japanese restaurants, Japanese super markets and clubs. The road where the hotel is situated has a few bars around. Like the location.
Only pull down was the break fast. The choice was definitely there but it was mostly for non-vegetarian. my choice was limited too bread and mashed potato. 
Otherwise would never flaw this hotel.
Will surely return to the hotel if not for the breakfast.

I also wish to tell how a taxi driver tried to cheat me. When I took a taxi from soi 11 to soi 33 the taxi driver refused to turn on the meter instead he demanded THB 60. I was very firm and asked him to stop the taxi. You would get to hear swear words if you do what I did then. But that's okay. I walked a little further and flagged down a taxi who would take me to soi 33 using meter. It cost only THB 40.

On a general note I would say it is wise to note down the name and the registration number of driver along with the vehicle number in case you run into some kind of problem. You can find the details inside the car just near the front mirror or hanging behind the drivers seat.

Now I took a walk towards the Terminal 21 mall. This mall is near BTS Asok and quite a busy mall. It is actually a very interesting mall with themed floors cheap compared to central mall/ Siam paragon. Themed meaning each floor was designed based upon a country.  There were loose shops that were put up on each floor. As I had already read a lot about the mall and seen a lot of photographs on the net I know almost every corner of the mall.

Few photos from the mall.

Now my next stop in the mall was

Yummy it was. It cost THB 400. Too costly for an ice cream but yes I could afford that much for one time.

Walked around further and there is also a cinema hall in this mall too but not as good as the ones in Siam Paragon I guess.

It was around 6:00Pm now. So I thought It was wise of me to eat early dinner  and go back to hotel. found Fujii Restaurant (Japanese food) on the food court floor on terminal 21 mall and yes got vegetarian food to eat. The waitress understood my requirement.

This is a vegetable Tempura ( battered and deep fried vegetables). Cost around THB 160 way too cheap than what you get in Chennai, India. But simply loved it.
Next stop and the last stop for the day Soi cowboy. I was quite afraid to go in there but curiosity didn't let me hold back.

I walked to Soi cowboy. It is about 10 minutes walking distance from Terminal 21 across the road from MRT.
There was a flash of lights all of a sudden in a small lane and know that you are in soi cowboy. You wouldn't even know if such a street exits as every soi around soi cowboy is dimly lit and creepy.

I took a stroll in the soi a very quick one. Being an Indian I  am not used to seeing girls wearing small provocative dresses here. It was a shock to me and I did dare not take a photo.
I was approached at least by two people in that soi asking me to see ping pong show. This was the climax. I walked out of the soi as fast as I could and came back to the BTS station to get my hotel. This was more than enough for me to get scared.

But then I thought this is how the country is and I should accept it and not be scared of this culture.

I also went around soi 33/1 and few other neighbouring soi's it was like a place for Japanese entertainment.

There are shops around if you want to buy Japanese grocery. There is a super market called fujii supermarket dedicated for japanese grocery. Also a Convenience stire called Neo( produce from Japan). It has branches in the lowest level of terminal 21, Sukhumvit soi 33, and in silom.

I thought I had walked enough for the day and headed back to my hotel

I skimmed through all the photos in my camera that day before going to sleep. Loved the day.
Love Bangkok! Felt safer than ever.

Will post further and try to make it interesting

~ Kei

Day 0 to 1 Chennai to Bangkok

Date: 23rd December

Day 0

I had booked a AIRASIA from MAS to DMK(Don Muang International Airport). AIRASIA doesn't fly to Suvarnabhumi on both domestic and international sectors.

My flight was FD 2654 scheduled 10:30PM on 23rd December 2012.

Due to anxiety I reached airport 4 hours prior to the scheduled time and waited for the bag drop counter to open.
The counter opens ......
Dropped my bags as I had already done a web check-in, finished my immigration and was waiting to board my flight.

Tummy grumbled and yes there was one restaurant inside the passenger hold area called " The Golden Chariot".
-(Restaurant review) 
The restaurant was not very big it had about ten 4 seater tables. The menu was very limited and only 2 service staff. I ordered a vegetarian biryani priced @ INR 180. Taste was ok~ok, quantity was little. I would say this is on a bit pricey side.

There is also a shop by the side of the restaurant called
 "Cafe Lounge" which sells cup noodles, pizza, chips and other things which are very pricey as well. Say  for example you could buy a cup noodle for INR 120, wedge of pizza for INR 75.

I finished my food just in time to queue for the boarding. Boarded the flight and I had done a stupid thing which I realized only then.
I had opted for the last seat no leg room and no reclining facility *_*.

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I was not able sleep or even sit properly throughout the journey. Luckily it was only 3hr and 20 min flight.

Forgot to tell you that I ordered an in-flight service. Korean cup noodle. It was priced at THB 80.

                          It was cooking.......

                       Yes it cooked.... and I ate it :)

Slurped it all and somehow I managed to sit for about 3 hours! and yes we landed 20 minutes before scheduled arrival time at DMK.

Rest in the next

~Kei
                       

Prepping for Kei's first trip abroad!!

I am Kei, trying out my hand in Travel blogging while I am prepping for my first trip abroad to " The Land of Smiles".

                                                         Courtesy : TG :)
I wanted to write a travel blog because
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I got Inspired.. I GOT INSPIRED by a few people whom I have met and a few blogs which I have read.
Nevertheless Nomadic Life is great but its own difficulties tag along.
But I am sure I cannot be a nomadic, but I am trying to enjoy the pleasure of travelling " Here and There ~ Now and Then"


I promise myself not to be lazy and blog whatever I see, I smell, I enjoy, I do @ The land of Simles and all the side trips which I have planned now and then

Currently in her comfort zone @ MAS, India.


-Kei

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Getting my wings

Journey from Chennai to Bangkok!

Day1 : Part 1 Bangkok