A Boat, a Train and a Bus

My journey began with a ferry ride

I've been sick and spent most of the weekend in bed, but I woke up late this morning and felt much better.  No more fever!

I arrived in Bangkok from Ayutthaya on Friday afternoon.  I wasn't really sure how to get here mostly because traveling within the city seems incredibly confusing and unnecessarily expensive and the bus stations are for outside of the city.  Khao San road, they 'backpacker area' and apparently the only place in the city where you can get a bed for less than a fortune, isn't near the sky train line.  Everything I read online suggested taking taxis that cost more that I would pay for a hotel room.  

It was a packed train, fortunately there were luggage
racks for my bags!

I ended up going for the train because it was supposed to be a beautiful ride and ended somewhere in the middle of the city where I hoped to be able to find a public bus to Khao San road.  

The ride was lovely, the train car had large open window that let in plenty of air and provided a great view of the passing scenery.

Bangkok in the distance

Just how an old train should look

The monks have reserved seating at the train station

I had written down the bus number of the bus google maps had suggested I take to Khao San road so when I got to Bangkok I tried asking a couple people for it.  They pointed me to another bus that also went to the area and I met a woman who spoke great English and told the bus attendant where I wanted to go.  Bus travel in Bangkok definitely isn't the fastest, although I have a feeling that with traffic no motor vehicle is.  It took at least half an hour but finally the attendant told me we had reached my stop and pointed down a small alley.

In the end transportation worked out very well and was really cheap too.  The ferry was supposed to be 4 baht but I never did see where to pay, maybe because I came over on a ferry full of Thai women, or because it was lunch time.  The train was only 15 baht, and the public bus was 6.50 baht (the first time I've seen a half baht outside of the grocery store!)

Accommodation on the other hand is really expensive.  I checked several guesthouses but few had hot water (a must for me, especially since I was sick), which I don't understand because the instant water heaters are cheap and easy to install, or they had dorm beds without lockers (another must since I don't want to be dragging my computer around, or leaving it unattended).  I finally found a guesthouse which costs much more than I'd like but I do have my own room, and the shared bathroom is clean and has hot water.  The only bad thing aside from the price is that there isn't wifi in the rooms.

Khao San in the daytime

I didn't even make it ti Kaoh San road the first night, I had dinner at an Indian restaurant right down the block.  I barely left my bed yesterday but did finally venture out in the evening, still in a bit of a haze, and was overwhelmed by the people and noise and smells.

Mized fruit, muesli and soy milk... yum!