Misadventures in Bangkok
So I arrived in Bangkok early this morning. I took the same China Airlines flight that I did when I first came here 8 years ago in '02. I arrived at 1am, which really is an inconvenient time to arrive. Knowing this I decided to book a hotel via hostelworld.com ahead of time. And I am not a big fan of doing advanced bookings.
Anyways, my flight went smoothly and I arrived on time, albeit extremely beat after 18 hours of flying and about 24hrs of traveling. The hotel I booked was near the airport. I did this on purpose because Bangkok is a really spread out city and taxis and tuk tuks are notorious for ripping you off. But of course, the hotel still required me to take a taxi which is where the drama started. I knew how much I was supposed to pay because the hotel's website made a suggestion. Of course, this did not matter when it came time to take the taxi. I got the taxi from the airport from the queue and when I was inside I had to immediately ask the guy about the meter because he was not going to turn it on. He then told me the price was 300bht and I went ballistic because that is about 13 bucks and this hotel was near the airport. So I was arguing with him in his broken English and he then turned on the meter. He was also trying to convince me to stay somewhere else, which is a common practice because he would get a cut. And I had to keep on telling him that I already paid. So we are driving on the road where the hotel's address is on and we start getting further away from the airport with numbers not matching. I say something as this is really starting to upset me because I know we are not going in the right direction and he is just trying to run the meter up. I am also exhuasted and want to get to my hotel. I started begging him to take me back to the airport if he can't find it and I was pretty much in tears because I felt really vulnerable being such early hours of the morning and driving around a pretty vacant area. I have also heard horror stories about taxi driver robberies. Anyways, he of course finds my hotel and I still paid about 7 dollars more than what it should have been. I expect to get ripped off while traveling, but in this situation I just felt way too vulnerable.
I have to say, looking for accomodation and arriving in a new place is not exactly my favorite thing about traveling. Right now I am relocated in Bangkok in the Khaosan backpacker ghetto, which feels very comfortable and convenient. I need to stay here as I take care of my visa for India and it is good for shopping and spa treatments. I had a kick ass facial at this spa for like 16 bucks, which would have cost about 100 in the states. I got it last time I was here and returned for another. And the street padtai for a dollar is amazing. I need to enjoy it before I get sick of it. Anyways, hoping to only be here for a few days and then head up north. I am supposed to reunite with a friend from college who is from here and who I found off facebook. So that should be good. In the mean time I am fighting off jet lag, which is pretty bad given the 15hr time difference. Oy vey!
Anyways, my flight went smoothly and I arrived on time, albeit extremely beat after 18 hours of flying and about 24hrs of traveling. The hotel I booked was near the airport. I did this on purpose because Bangkok is a really spread out city and taxis and tuk tuks are notorious for ripping you off. But of course, the hotel still required me to take a taxi which is where the drama started. I knew how much I was supposed to pay because the hotel's website made a suggestion. Of course, this did not matter when it came time to take the taxi. I got the taxi from the airport from the queue and when I was inside I had to immediately ask the guy about the meter because he was not going to turn it on. He then told me the price was 300bht and I went ballistic because that is about 13 bucks and this hotel was near the airport. So I was arguing with him in his broken English and he then turned on the meter. He was also trying to convince me to stay somewhere else, which is a common practice because he would get a cut. And I had to keep on telling him that I already paid. So we are driving on the road where the hotel's address is on and we start getting further away from the airport with numbers not matching. I say something as this is really starting to upset me because I know we are not going in the right direction and he is just trying to run the meter up. I am also exhuasted and want to get to my hotel. I started begging him to take me back to the airport if he can't find it and I was pretty much in tears because I felt really vulnerable being such early hours of the morning and driving around a pretty vacant area. I have also heard horror stories about taxi driver robberies. Anyways, he of course finds my hotel and I still paid about 7 dollars more than what it should have been. I expect to get ripped off while traveling, but in this situation I just felt way too vulnerable.
I have to say, looking for accomodation and arriving in a new place is not exactly my favorite thing about traveling. Right now I am relocated in Bangkok in the Khaosan backpacker ghetto, which feels very comfortable and convenient. I need to stay here as I take care of my visa for India and it is good for shopping and spa treatments. I had a kick ass facial at this spa for like 16 bucks, which would have cost about 100 in the states. I got it last time I was here and returned for another. And the street padtai for a dollar is amazing. I need to enjoy it before I get sick of it. Anyways, hoping to only be here for a few days and then head up north. I am supposed to reunite with a friend from college who is from here and who I found off facebook. So that should be good. In the mean time I am fighting off jet lag, which is pretty bad given the 15hr time difference. Oy vey!