Bangkok, Thailand: Days 49, 50, 51

Day 49: Arrival to Oldtown Hostel and Credit Card Fraud

I arrived this evening, walking from the train station, to a hostel recommended to me by a guy I met in Ho Chi Minh, who was also going to be staying there! This hostel is awesome - wide open, clean common area and rooms and bathrooms, you can't ask for much more.



I planned on having a quiet evening, but little did I know that I'd be stuck trying to deal with credit card fraud for several hours. Someone in Brazil tried two times on two separate days to charge roughly $770 at a restaurant!  Having issues back and forth with the Internet and Skype, I kept having to redial my credit card company, gob through the security questions repeatedly, to attempt to get my card cancelled. When I thought I finally suceeded, I went to bed. I'll deal with the rest tomorrow. (Turns out they didn't understand, so didn't cancel my card. I ended up finally getting through the next day or so and having a new card shipped to my next hostel at my next desination...maybe I'll go ahead and get a SIM card next time)

Day 50: Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Khaosan Road, Max's Magical Thai

Today is the day before the King's birthday, so reception is unsure whether the Grand Palace will be open. May as well try!

Traffic us terrible in Bangkok, so the best, most enjoyable (and cheap) way to get around is by the river! Only 14 Baht to take you however many stops you need to go. Armed with my iced mocha (this is becoming a problem...) I hopped on the boat for my morning of tourism.

The Grand Palace has a strict dress code, so even though I had dressed conservatively, my Capri pants were unacceptable. They loan you clothing for a deposit, so I wrapped my sarong around and headed into the Palace.

It's very impressive and also very crowded. I didn't get an audio tour, so I mostly just admired the colorful architecture. You're ticket also includes a coin and jewel museum, which is the near the entrance, and another museum, which I didn't look for.

About 10 minutes walk from the Palace is Wat Pho, which contains the famous huge, golden Reclining Buddha. The rest of the grounds are worth a look, as they are not nearly as crowded, but still very beautiful. A worthwhile wind-down from the craziness at the Palace.

Water taxi back to the hostel to meet a familiar face! It's crazy how seeing someone you met weeks before for about 24 hours can feel like meeting a good friend. England and I went to grab some food around the corner from the hostel (cheap and delicious, as everything seems to be in Thailand).

A quiet afternoon built up to a fun filled night on Khaosan Road. Basically, a street full of bars and people getting drunk, as well as random trinkets for you to buy. Before getting caught up in that whirl wind or beer towers and dancing, we sought out Max's Magical Thai - a restaurant recommended to me by a guy in Ayutthaya. The food is fine, but the main attraction is Max, the owner I assume. He performs crazy magic tricks - sending two burning cigarette butts through a guest's T shirt, without a hole or even a mark. Then making a coin disappear and reappear on someone's shoulder, 2 tables away.

Day 51: Chatuchak Weekend Market

Sometimes I wish I wasn't a morning person. After a late night, it would be nice to sleep in; however, it was not to be. I packed and checked out, storing my back and made my way by taxi to the Chatuchak Weekend Market.

It is impossible to see everything that this market has to offer. They sell everything you can imagine: from furniture to kitchenware, fake plants and real plants, tourist clothes and designer clothes, and even puppies. Apparently there are monkies as well, but didn't see them. I bought a swim suit and some food, walked around for two hours, then returned to the hostel to finish dealing with credit card issues.

Then, England and I headed to the airport. McDonald's makes great hang over food in any country, especially at the airport. Then it was off to our separate gates and onto the next adventure.