Bangkok: tips and tricks for a 3-day stay
First impressions - despite jet-lag...
I wanted to title this post “Bangkok and the art of chaos”, as it perfectly describes this huge city.
We landed at 5 am after a super comfortable 10-hour flight with Thai Airways. Outside it was still dark, but the air was already hot and sticky, it smelled bad and it was difficult to breathe. Only then I realized what my Asian friends meant when explaining to me about the weather here: you only want to be in an air-conditioned place to breathe, dry and cool down!
In the Skytrain from the airport to the city, I was super attracted by the advertisements on the screens: the Thai writing looks like a nice rounded drawing. The speaking… well, impossible to understand but very pleasant and musical to hear.
Here you are bombed with thousands of advertisements, screens everywhere, colours and sounds. I actually expected a greyer city, but I was wrong. Everything is colourful except buildings and the air!
The city is actually very chaotic: full of cars, motorbikes, tuc tuc, taxis and buses. Every road has 4 lanes per directions, so you can imagine the level of pollution.
TIP:
[su_note note_color="#f2f2f2" text_color=“#000000” radius="3" class="p_tip"] Bring a pro mask PM 2.5 as in peak situations they are out of stock. [/su_note]
In this period, the city’s air pollution reached a super high level (180 US AQI of the air quality index), which is kind of dangerous for your health.
You should not stay outside for too long, but it is a must to explore the neighbourhoods. You can really feel the difference in the air depending on where you are: among high building and under bridges it is really bad, in open spaces the air seems a bit less polluted.
We arrived in our hotel area around 7 am when the city was waking up. Most restaurants and bars were still closed so we could enjoy a street market before checking in at our hotel (Smile Society).
Tired and sleepy due to the jet-lag, we had a (supposed-to-be short) 5-hour nap. We felt rested but our body was 6 hours behind the schedule…
Ready to go, the plan was to walk around a bit and then have dinner in this chaotic Bangkok.
TIP:
[su_note note_color="#f2f2f2" text_color=“#000000” radius="3" class="p_tip"] Wear comfortable shoes and long clothes to repair from heat, pollution and mosquitos. [/su_note]
You don't need to look too up to see the thousands of cables running all around the city. It is unbelievable! During the night you can hear an electric noise coming from the cables, due to the electrical overload.
Along the street, you have all kind of street vendors: clothes, food, fake tattoos, jewellery, and so on. You can get a good currency exchange value (USD/EUR vs THB) in national banks or authorized offices with 0 commission.
[su_note note_color="#f2f2f2" text_color=“#000000” radius="3" class="p_tip"] If you need to exchange USD in THB, try to exchange 100 USD’s notes as you will get a better deal than exchanging smaller notes. This rule is not applied to other major currencies. [/su_note]
So, what did we do in this 3-day stay in Bangkok? See here below the "3 where", based on our experience :-)
Where to stay
We were at the Smile Society Hostel, in the modern centre of Bangkok, close to the BTS stop Sala Daeng. From here, you can go anywhere by public transportation.
We also found a nice hostel close by (offering a co-working space) which seems to be super good: Kinnon hostel.
This area is quiet if you aren't on the main road. Otherwise, it turns to be very chaotic, noisy and polluted. There are several restaurants (maybe too touristic, commercial and expansive), banks, exchange offices, stores (mainly 7-11), there is the hospital and it is super easy to get a taxi or tuc tuc.
If you look for a more alive and sparkling area, you can find your accommodation in the famous Khaosan Road, the so-called "backpacker ghetto". Here you have a range of accommodation: from cheap hostels to 3* hotels.
Where to eat
First of all, you absolutely need to taste the real street food. You can find vendors along almost every road at every time of the day till night. You have from 1 to 5 choices of traditional and quickly done meals. It can be shocking and not too hygienic, but it is much cheaper, authentic, tasty, and real Thai food.
You can find a big choice of street food in the Khaosan Road. In addition to traditional Thai food, there you can also taste barbequed insects (including scorpions), grilled crocodile meat and other exotic snacks.
Our favourites meals so far are:
Pad thai
Chinese carrot cakes
Vegetable balls
Coconut vegetable soup and coconut green/red/yellow curry.
Where to go
You can explore every area walking around, you can find skyscrapers, temples and local markets one next to each other.
For "intense" shopping, take at least half a day to go to MBK. It is a huge shopping centre where you can find everything: electronics, clothes, accessories, beauty shops and pharmacies, handcraft markets. There are expensive shops but also low budget shops and booths where you can bargain prices. There, you will find also a full floor of video games, a movie theatre, a full floor of restaurants, an escape room, relaxing area, and so on.
A funny thing: restaurants show all their dishes on the window, but we found out that they are plastic meals.
As already mentioned, one of the "must" is to visit the Khaosan Road, during the day and during the night.
You can reach this location with a local boat (orange flag) leaving from the Sathorn Pier. You will be stuck in there with hundreds of people, not understanding where you are and where you have to get out. Interesting experience!
During the trip, you can admire the most important temples in Bangkok. You can get out there and discover that mystic area walking.
But the best experience is to go to Bang Kachao, a green lung in the centre of Bangkok. You need to reach a little pier called Khlong Toei Pier, take a little boat to reach the other side of the river. The boat trip is free, but then you need to rent a bike for 80 THB (full day).
In Bang Kachao you can bike everywhere, there are some attractions like a floating market, a natural park, temples, etc. Or you can just bike around, randomly.
Bangkok is huge and offers thousands of attractions, tours and entertainment. Just follow your desires and chose the best activities for your personality :-)
A couple of tips for the ones who never travelled to Asia:
- take off shoes and leave them at hotels or shops entrance. Walk bare feet in the rooms or common spaces.
- drinks without ice are more expansive, but better to avoid it (also, do not drink tap water and use bottled water to brush your teeth)
- service fee in restaurants is included in the price, if not differently mentioned. Therefore, tips are not mandatory.
- do not throw toilet paper in the toilet but in the basket next to it...
Have fun!
8 important reasons to travel [for girls]
There is always an explanation about why you do things, therefore there are also reasons to travel.
Life is short and the world is wide: you deserve to travel. Let's just do it without waiting.
We all know that if you keep postponing what you would like to do, at a certain point it will be too late and you will regret it. So, follow your dreams and live your life intensively!
This lifestyle is not suitable to everyone, but if you feel the urge to discover the world, go for it.
Before taking this decision, I read several blogs about backpackers, nomads, travel bloggers and travel lovers in general. Going through their reasons to travel, I found out that I also had my own reasons and a long trip was a great idea. You will understand why.
Initially, I was a bit hesitating about a 6-month period in unknown countries, with different cultures and languages, with maybe difficult situations to solve, and so on. Then I asked myself a few and targeted questions. Am I scared about it? No. Will I handle it? Yes. Am I willing to feel free and discover every day something new, with all its pros and cons? Yes. Then, I will go for it!
After hours of soul-searching, I am ready to hereby list the 8 main reasons why this trip is so important for me.
1. Realize a dream
I am dreaming about this trip since 2008. I had the chance to travel to Asia, but in the end, I let it go. Don't ask me why because I still regret it. But I finally found a great person who shares my same ideas and I am glad I can visit these wonderful countries with him now, which is also a very important birthday year for me.
2. Put myself out there
I feel I need to go out of my comfort zone, where the magic happens. I want to increase my self-esteem and to become more self-confident. When travelling, you face all kind of situations. You need to be rational and solve them without knowing exactly how. After all is over, it's cool to feel satisfied and happy about your performance. It's super empowering.
3. Meet new people
It is much easier to meet new people when travelling than staying in your own city. It can be a multi-cultural, openminded and welcoming city but still, everyone has his/her own life. That's it.
When backpacking, you have to interact with other individuals. Maybe you need information, or maybe you just feel a bit nostalgic and need a friendly talk with someone. You usually end up listening to wonderful stories and unbelievable adventures. People shares also useful information, tips and tricks and can join a part of your trip. Cool, eh?
4. Break the routine
As already mentioned, I need new stimuli to break the routine. I want to collect new memories and new emotions. A long trip is a perfect solution for that, isn't it?
5. Lose myself
Talking about itineraries, we didn't plan almost anything for this trip. It will be an adventure, without boundaries. We will be lost out there, but we will find ourselves when we will decide the next step based on our willingness and desires. It is about self-exploration and soul-searching: you will understand what is really important for you, and for your own life.
6. Feel free
I love to be free and spontaneous, without prejudices. I adore doing what I want when I want. I am looking for this feeling of freedom, relax, positivity, strength, passion, and so on. I strive for it even if I am aware that it will not only be positive, but I will also face difficult situations.
7. Gain life force
I will use this long period to reduce all the stress cumulated in the past years. The goal is to enhance my energy, my strength, my passion for life and to come back as a new revitalised person.
8. Collect new ideas
Last but not least, discovering new places and meeting new people allows you to grow your knowledge. You can learn new skills, a new language. Or collect new ideas, create new projects and develop passions. Everything is possible when you are ready for the "new".
These 8 reasons will be my motivational sparks and triggers during this trip, and will drive me in this wonderful and exciting adventure.
My (female) packing list… to be reconfirmed after the trip!
My longest trip was the one in Cost Rica which lasted 1 month. I could easily follow a general female packing list and prepare a light backpack without missing anything in particular.
Now I am about to spend at least 5-6 months in South East Asia with hand-luggage only (7kg), so I had to think about a female packing checklist: what it's really necessary to pack, and what it's useless (or can be bought later, if needed).
Female packing list
Let's discover it, step-by-step.l
A long trip doesn’t imply big luggage. On the contrary!
Can I live for a half year without beauty products, a vast choice of clothes, multiple pairs of shoes, or all kind of comforts? Yes, I can. It has been hard, but I managed to find a balance and a compromise to reduce my belongings!
So far so good, but after the trip, I will let you know if my luggage was perfect or if there can be room for improvement.
One of the smartest advice I found is to think that you have to carry that luggage for the entire period, so consider taking only half of what you planned to bring with you. Travelling light will enhance your experience and make your trip more comfortable. This is what I did.
Of course, there might be little differences between a male and female packing list: usually, we need more fashionable and comfy items, and they may need more technological items. But in the end the backpack's weight has to be the same, namely, it does not have to exceed 7 kg!
I looked at several blogs and forums, read many backpacker's experiences, depicted the pros and cons, and finally styled my own checklist.
But, first things first. Let’s start with the bag.
As roads in SE Asia are often not paved, trolleys’ wheels would get stuck in the dirt so it is strongly advised to choose a comfortable large backpack. I personally have a 36L Osprey Sirrus. In addition to that, I also have a smaller and lighter backpack for daily use, in order to be able to always bring with me all my personal belongings.
I divided my items into plastic bags, as follows:
Clothes
Technology
Pharmacy
Toiletries
Various
Here below you will find my own detailed packing checklist:
Clothes and shoes (in addition to what I already wear)
To save weight, I will not bring many clothes. SE Asia is also known for its cheap prices, so I will buy some clothes and shoes once I will be there. Clothes should be in cotton and light coloured to avoid mosquitos.
- 2 t-shirts ( 1 short-sleeves and 1 long-sleeves)
- 1 tank top
- 2 pants (1 short and 1 long)
- 5 cotton underwear
- 3 pairs of socks (1 long and 2 short)
- 1 swimsuit
- rain jacket (better if it is also windbreaker and thermal)
- pair of running shoes (I will buy flip flop in Asia)
Accessories
No makeup nor jewellery. Humidity is not ideal for makeup, and it is not really advised to go around there with jewels or flashy stuff. In case I feel I miss them, I will buy them on spot.
- baseball hat (white and in cotton)
- sunglasses
- cotton scarf
- quick dry travel towel (it seems that not all accommodations provide towels)
- ear plugs + eye mask
- travel pillow (H shape is highly recommended)
- paper + pen
- laundry bag
- padlock (to lock your luggage, but also lockers)
Toiletries
Actually, you could buy everything on spot. To make it easier, I will bring a bit of what I could urgently need, and I will buy all the rest on spot. For instance, I read that it can be difficult to find tampons there, so I added them to my packing list.
- hanging toiletry bag (very handy in shared or not very clean bathrooms)
- toothbrush
- small soap
- razor
- tweezers
- nail clippers
- hairbrush + hair accessories
- tampons
Medical kit
It is better to bring every medicament from home, even if it seems not difficult to find all kind of them in SE Asia, too. Therefore, in case you need prescriptions, talk to your doctor well in advance.
- plasters (different sizes + some water resistant)
- bandages (self-adherent cohesive)
- sterilized gauzes
- paracetamol (do NOT take aspirin or ibuprofen, as they can be dangerous in case of dengue fever because are blood-thinning)
- disinfectant (due to the high humidity, it is easier to get wounds infected)
- anti-diarrhoea tablets
- cranberries pills for urinary infections
- anti-malaria tablets
- gastrointestinal disorders pills
- mosquito repellant (it should be very strong!!)
Technology
All items neatly concealed in one unique organizer.
- laptop + charger
- mobile phone + charger
- kindle + charger
- USB sticks (2 or 3 with different sizes)
- external storage disk (500 MB)
- headphones
- small torch
- various USB cables
Documents
All documents are neatly concealed in one unique organizer.
- passport
- passport copies (placed in different locations)
- credit, debit and pre-paid cards
- some cash (US$ should be better, as many visas need to be paid in that currency)
- copies of health and travel insurances (clear declaration that you are fully insured)
- international driving licence
- passport-size photos (useful for visa applications, or in case you loose passport or other documents)
- vaccination certification copy
- paper with emergency numbers (local police, but also personal health insurance, bank, etc.)
- flight ticket
All together, I have 7,5 kg in total, including the backpack.
I am really glad I will be able to travel light, and I am looking forward to exploring these wonderful places. So far, I only heard nice stories from people who went there but I want to have my own story to tell you!
I will keep you posted :-)