I spent so much time fangirling over my Elephant Experience in Chiang Mai that I never posted anything about my other days in Thailand. Oops! So here are some long overdue pictures and tiny stories about my day and a half zipping around Bangkok over Golden Week!
But first: My first Black Thunder ICE CREAM from Narita Airport. I cannot get this on the islands so this was such a treat!
Also I slept in a spaceship for the first time (AKA a sleep capsule) in the airport before our early morning flight to Bangkok.
Air Asia, you might have tried to starve me out on my 7 hour, 45 minute flight from Tokyo, but at lease you got me there safely.
I`m a huge Brand New fan so I obviously needed this picture.
The first place we stayed was Once Again Hostel. It was the most hipster of hostels, looking like it belonged in Brooklyn and not Bangkok, but the staff was great and FREE breakfast. The Ron Swanson in me was so happy.
Friday night we went to Khao San Road–a very popular area in Bangkok for touristy nightlife. I didn`t take a lot of pictures because I was too busy dancing. And people kept asking us if we wanted to try laughing gas or fried scorpions though– no thank you to either!
On Saturday, I originally said I wanted to visit the Grand Palace, but our friend Bright suggested we check out Wat Pho instead because it would be less crowded. Despite being a 100% extrovert on every personality test I have ever taken, I am all for avoiding big crowds!
My fortune at Wat Pho! You are supposed to shake a cup full of numbered sticks and whatever stick falls out is the number of your fortune…of course I dumped the entire cup of sticks on the ground the first time.
The Recling Buddha is the big showstopper at Wat Pho.
But I was more amused by the murals on the wall opposite Reclining Buddha.
After Wat Pho, we got our first Thai massages. I`m not big into massages, but everyone kept telling me I needed to get at least one Thai massage while in Thailand. It was terrifying at first because we were led into a dark room with dozens of other tourists being pulled and twisted every which way from the masseuses, but once I laid down, closed my eyes, and let them pull and twist me, I was reborn. But my lady kept talking and laughing to Carson’s masseuse in Thai, and I hoped she was saying “wow, this American girl is so flexible!” but in reality she was probably saying “wow, this tourist is ridiculously sweaty.”
After our massages, we hopped on this boat and then began our unofficial food tour of Bangkok. (Where I tried durian fruit for the first time…and liked it!)
Some of the following pictures are from Wang Lung, a hidden Bangkok market our friends took us to. We were the only tourists in sight. We ate lunch at a literal hole in the wall and it was awesome. You know you`re in the real Bangkok when there is no English on the menu!
And then after eating all of the food, we went out dancing! Guy and Gifts took us to a giant, air-conditioned, three-stage dance club called Route 66…complete with a DJ in the girls’ bathroom, who was arguably playing better music than any of the three stages.
We had to be at the airport early Sunday morning for our flight to Chiang Mai, so we stayed at a place called Pridi Hostel on the outskirts of the city. The hostel was really nice, and the owner told us he decided to open his own hostel in Bangkok after he was inspired by a hostel he stayed at in Spain. He made us toast with a smiley face on it the next morning too, plus he had two really adorable kittens!
So if you’re still reading, I’ll share this with you: For a good five years, I have really wanted to take a trip to Thailand, but I originally wanted to go for really tourist-centric reasons because I didn’t know any better. But my time in Japan has really made me appreciate traveling where I am not just crossing off “The Must See” things in a new city, but experiencing life as a local.
I’m really happy I was able to get a taste of Bangkok with our local friends (Thanks Bright, Guy, and Gift!) and I really want to go back to Thailand some day and see and do more around Bangkok. My short time there was equal parts vibrant, magical, insane, and exhausting.
Next up, pictures from my time in Chiang Mai and Pai!
The Becca Jar 
Mango sticky rice is SO GOOD right?? Also did you try sour mango dipped in chilli salt?
I did NOT try that…I guess I need to go back now to try it :)