Truly Bangkok

Sitting in the taxi itself is such a change because for the past 2 days we have only been traveling as a group in the tour bus. Once we got into the taxi, the suffocation that I feel since the morning has disappeared, even though we were stuck in heavy traffic. Seriously, the traffic lights in Bangkok are insane. It’s like you have to wait forever for the light to turn green. The assistant tour guide told us if the traffic is not heavy, it will only take us 20 minutes to get to Khao San from the shopping complex. But instead it took us around 1 hour. Despite that, I feel great because for once no one is telling us what to do and where to go and and etc.

Got off the taxi, and this is what greeted us at the entrance of Khao San Road. 

Khao San Road is in many ways like Jonker Street in Melaka  – a street full of bars and restaurants and vendors selling food and souvenirs and etc on both sides of the streets. And from what I heard, things are really cheap there because it’s a backpackers’ hub. We met Mat and his girlfriend Ning at this restaurant called Khao San Center and when we got there, they were already drinking a jug of beer. And that jug of beer costs only 69 bhat, which is around RM6.90/2USD. I have no idea it’s THAT cheap. And according to Mat, that is already considered quite pricey.

After some short conversation about our trip and Bangkok in general and the upcoming US election (Mat is a UC Berklee student currently studying in University of Thammasat), we were told that we might not get the chance to try deep fried bugs because it is a Monday. Since the King is born on Monday so every Monday is his day and a lot of people choose not to work that day, and so, they weren’t a lot of vendors that night. No wonder the Khao San Road that night is rather quiet and it was nothing like what I heard.

Khao San on a Monday night.

Anyway, we decided to hit the street and hunt for some Thai street food because frankly, anything will be better than what we have had for the past 2 days. We came to this vendor selling spicy salad (sort of) called Som Tam. And boy, it is SPICY. 

After that, we walk to a road parallel to Khao San to have dinner at this stall. I read somewhere that in Bangkok, everything is about fun. Be it partying or working. To them, there is no point working if the work is no fun at all. There was some construction work going on in a shop opposite the one we were having dinner. The first thought that crossed my mind is that, “wow, they are still working this late at night.” And then we heard some shouting and cheering – much to our annoyance in the beginning because we would be talking and then interrupted by some sudden loud cheering. Turned out they were having a competition among 2 teams of workers to transfer buckets of “we have no idea what” from a truck into the shop. The shop was dimly lit so I can’t see the face of the workers but yes, they were having fun working late at night. So, this is the Bangkok I was reading about!

Anyway, the food(which names I can no longer remember) was marvelous...

 …and not to mention cheap. All those with a large bottle of Singha beer cost only 200 bhat.

After that, we make our way back to Khao San and by then, they are more vendors and there it was, the one selling deep fried bugs. It seems we are in luck! 

I got totally freaked out by the grasshopper and so when Ning told me that she dare not eat them as well, I am more than relieved because I wouldn’t have to worry about trying them. She bought a packet fried cricket and a packet of pre-caterpillar(pupa?). It was ok for me to eat the latter but not the crickets. I look at the eyes and legs and I feel like throwing up. So, when Mat and Ning put a spoonful of it into their mouth and started chewing and Chris did the same after them, I picked out 1 cricket and totally freaked out. After much of “just eat it, you’ll be fine” and “don’t think about it” from them, I finally pop it into my mouth. It tastes great actually! IF I don’t think about which body part of the cricket I am chewing. 

The 3 hours or so at Khao San, I experience Bangkok way more than I did in the past few days. I was finally able to experience the city the way I wanted to. The happiness in traveling to me is to be able to immerse myself in the local culture – speaking their language and seeing the surprise and appreciation in their eyes, eating like them, and be able to experience what I’ve read or saw from the TV and go – “this is how it feels”. These are true happiness, not clichéd happiness.

Before we left Khao San, Mat said, “this is not the real Bangkok yet!” And that alone, is enough reason for me to plan another trip back to the city!