I went with Antonio from Romania back to Lumphini Park, then to Chatuchak Park. Being Sunday, the park was extremely crowded -- though we only saw the southeast corner of the park. We explored nearby Chatuchak Market, one of the world's largest outdoor markets. According to Lonely Planet, Chatuchack contains somewhere between 9000 and 15000 stalls and sees around 200,000 visitors a day. There we met up with a local friend I had met through Tinder, Tiki. Tiki, Antonio and I went to Jatujak Green for dinner -- a seperate night market embedded within Chatuchak Park that was noticeably absent of foreigners, having come from Chatuchak Market.
Tiki's friend, Eve, showed up near the end of our dinner and the four of us decided to go to Khao San Road (minus Antonio, who went back to the hostel upon arrival at Hua Lamphong MRT station).
Khao San Road is an absolutely bizarre place. Giant electric signs flash from every building, bars blast loud music and hundreds of people line the streets getting foot massages late at night. Khao San is renowned as a backpackers mecca, but it's obvious the kind of backpackers you find there are having a rather different backpacking experience than I have had so far on my trip. Parts of Khao San are similar to what you see around the rest of Bangkok -- cheap street food (with a heavier emphasis on "pad thai"), vendors selling counterfeit clothing and shoes -- but other aspects seem to be heavily accentuated to tailor to foreigners. Both sides of the street are stuffed with hostels, bars, massage parlors and flashy souvenir stores.
At the least, all these things make for great people watching. The three of us bought some beers and strolled both Khao San and its more chill cousin Rabuttri Alley. Rabuttri has more laid back bar restaurants and live music, which suited my tastes better. We ended the night in a 3rd floor balcony bar listening to the live performers playing well past midnight. Thanks Eve and Tiki for an incredible evening!
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| Me and Tiki |
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