Our journey and first few days in Thailand had been quite an unexpected hassle and frustration. In-between it all, we had some fun highlights,; but we were not quite prepared for the other parts.

On Sunday morning, we had to get up at dawn to hop onto a bus to the airport. Our first shock came when the airport breakfast cost about 21 USD, or more than R200. And there was no other alternative for two very tired and hungry travelers. Our flight was also delayed, and we sat on the runway for quite some time. To top this irritation off, a couple seated behind us had an incredible row, whilst a baby just ahead was screeching insistently. We made it through the flight alright, having had our first live sitting of "days of our lives" for the most part.

Moving through the immigration at the airport in Bangkok was easy; and then our hunt for the bus to Khao San road started. Now that was a confusing business. We hopped onto bus 59 proudly and relieved, only to be dropped off 20 meters down the road again because apparently this 59 was the wrong one, we needed to be on the other 59. This literally happened twice. Finally we were allowed to stay on the 59 bus all the way to our destination. It was a very long bus trip.

(It turns out that Thailand is after all not that cheap - one can expect South African prices throughout. It was a little bit of a disppointment, for our budgets depend on lower prices. But there are very reasonable places everywhere, one must just hunt for them.)

We got to our guesthouse, set down our goods, and then explored Khao San road. This road is famous amongst tourists and locals alike, for it is a street filled with bars and street stalls selling clothing and food and other oddities. It was quite a sight to behold and enjoy. We eventually found a less expensive place to have beers and share some dinner.

After that, we took to the street and bar hopped from place to place. It is amazing how transformed the street is by night: loud music from each bar, hoards of people moving about, street dancers showing off their moves, and random locals selling scorpions and what not for food. Very eventful! We finally had a chance to enjoy some night life again.

The next morning we woke up feeling rather ill - we still have no idea what was in those "incredibly strong" drinks at the bars. It was also not the best day to feel so hungover, for the day was hot and needed our full concentration as we would later find out. We set off to explore the city, and in the process discovered something about the locals: every single one wants to help you, giving you advice and catting to you about your country and life. This sounds amazing right? It becomes tiring and frustrating by the 6th or so person. After two hours of being on the streets, William and i had still not seen anything, because each advance we made was halted by some friendly local. It felt so wrong to get irritated!

Now this is how the day proceeded:
Every starnger informed us that today is a special Buddy holiday for tourists and that all temple entrances are for free, and that tuk-tuks are a base rate only. In favour of leaving out the great many times we were redirected, I'll continue to say that we eventually hopped on to a tuk-tuk and went sight-seeing. That also didn't go too well, for everyone had informed us that we had to go to the Thai tourist offices, because they provided incredibly cheap holiday options for tourists. Since we needed cheap train fares to the northern cities, this appealed to us. It turned out to be quite an ordeal, with three different offices selling us ideas, and us wearily accepting the last one's suggestions (they refused to sell only transportation, we had to accept accommodation packages too.)

We realized to our horror, after handing over the money, that we had completely blown our budget, based on some informed local agent's suggestions. Never have i or William been so upset, angry, and disappointed with ourselves.

The rest of the day was spent sight-seeing only somewhat, for the tuk-tuk kept taking us to local places where he would get free petrol for bringing customers. We were exhausted by the end of this day, having only mildly appreciated that which we had been able to see, and upset about our very poor financial position. The rest of it was spent reading our books at the hotel , hunting down cheap food stalls, and packing for the trip of the following day. It was a pity that our first experience of Bangkok was an unpleasant one, and forced into being so short.