Life as we don't know it

Bangkok Adventures (2013) - My first time at DMK and eating at Sukhumvit Soi 38

Thursday, August 29, 2013 @ 12:06 AM PERMALINK

My first taste of 'travel independence' occurred when I was 16 on my first trip to Bangkok.
(I just counted, that was 8 years ago. Man, I'm getting so old)

A group of 6 of us had tagged along on a friend's parent's trip. While we went along for amazing dinners and were brought to places we would have otherwise not been allowed in or been able to afford, we were largely left to our own devices.

Since that first trip, I've returned to Bangkok 5 more times (some trips longer than others) and I still don't intend to stop going back.

Bangkok is not the first place I've been to but it seems to have stolen a piece of my heart as the city that really sparked my interest in travel.

Perhaps it is just a matter of timing. It was, I suppose, a coming of age trip. All of us fresh out of adolescence and being held responsible for our own experience. It was truly invigorating.

I can't claim to know a whole lot about Bangkok, even after 6 trips there and making the effort to see different sights, I know that I have barely scratched the surface of the City of Angels. I often give in to the lure of shopping and often stay in the same area - Pratunam.

Trivia: The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit which translates to 'The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn'

Bangkok is also an easy city to hate. The income gap is sometimes so overwhelmingly obvious, streets aren't the cleanest, touts and scams are everywhere..But for me, the friendly people, the amazing food and the marvelous juxtaposition of old and new definitely overrides the negative.

I've really enjoyed all my trips to Bangkok and I hope the following few entries will give you a bit of insight of some of the things Bangkok has to offer.

***

This is the first time I've taken an Airasia flight to Bangkok. Airasia lands at Don Mueang Airport (DMK) instead of Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK).

I hadn't heard very good things about DMK airport so I was a little antsy to see how it would be like.

It is true that the arrival hall of DMK is quite basic as compared to BKK but that's not to say it isn't functional - it is. Getting through immigration is fuss-free, in fact I think it is a lot faster than it usually is at Suvarnabhumi and locating the taxi rank was not a problem at all.

I had also read online that DMK's taxi ranks are known to be notoriously overcrowded. When we made our way to the ranks, we did indeed find a huge crowd of people. However, the lines moved briskly and it wasn't long before we got allocated a taxi.

The taxi rank at DMK is run similarly to the one at Suvarnabhumi. There are more details at the bottom of this post, if you are new to how the airport taxi rank system works.

Unfortunately, our taxi driver still got the best of us by stopping at a road shoulder and requesting a fixed price. We weren't in the best position to argue and the price he asked for wasn't particularly exorbitant (I think) so we agreed to it and let it go.

We had booked a room at Budacco. Located at the end of a small lane and only accessible to pedestrians, the hotel isn't easy to find while you are in a moving vehicle.

Our driver got very lost and made a couple of calls to the front desk for directions but after he got caught in a swirl of human traffic and seemed to get increasingly annoyed with each passing second, we told him that we would find our own way and got out of the taxi.

Once out of the taxi, we followed the signs and were just about the enter a small lane when someone asked if we were looking for him. As it turns out, when our taxi driver called the hotel, they had sent out one of their staff to come look for us. How's that for good service?

You can check out some of their reviews (mine included) either on Tripadvisor or Agoda.

We were greeted with a welcome drink and warm face towels and were informed about the usual hotel procedures (Breakfast hours, wi-fi password, complimentary water...) before being brought up to our room.

Since we were squeezing 3 people into what is usually a 2 person room, I had expected the room to be a little cramped so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the room was still relatively spacious even with the additional bed.

After we put down our stuff and had a little rest - we were ready to get some dinner.

Sukumvit Soi 38 is supposedly the place to go for street food. It is said to be frequented by locals, tourists and expats and judging by the crowd we saw, this seems to be an accurate description. Soi 38 supposedly springs to life only after 6pm, so don't get there too early.

The Phad Thai stall here is supposed to be legendary but I didn't see the stall (maybe it wasn't set up yet or maybe I'm just blind) so we didn't get to try it. Instead, I had the chicken green curry with noodles from a stall at the end of the row. The green curry was fantastic. No creamy, mild westernised version found here.

The star of our meal really had to be the Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Niew Moon Mamuang)

I had read reviews online about the mango sticky rice from this stall and being someone that really loves mango, I thought to myself : "Mango sticky rice is mango sticky rice... It is always a good. How good can this one be?"

I was WRONG. The glutinous rice was really tasty, the coconut cream was not heavy at all and the mango was seriously out of this world. All three of us couldn't get enough.

This now leads me to want to track down some of the stalls on this list to find out how much more amazing mango sticky rice can be.

We also got these yummy banana pancakes from Soi 38. It was cold by the time we got back to the hotel after our impromptu shopping spree but still tasted great.

Sukhumivit Soi 38 is right next to Thonglor BTS station so it's actually really easy to get to.

After dinner we got into a taxi and had intended to head back to the hotel. However, we came across a night market in front of Plallidum Mall. If you are in the area, it's a pretty cool night market to check out. The prices are reasonable and some of the offerings are pretty unique.

We got a little lost trying to find our way back to our hotel -- my fault really..the area looks so different at night and I hadnt realised how late it was. Anyways, what's traveling without getting a little lost eh?

I shall leave you with this picture of Ale in her Leesang cap, enjoying some coconut ice-cream.

Practical (and sometimes a little dull) matters:

Getting a taxi from DMK airport:

Just like the taxi system at BKK, the counter staff will ask you where you are going, note the information down on a piece of paper and hand it to the next taxi driver in line. A coupon is then issued to you with the taxi driver's details, should you need to make a complaint. This is an attempt to reduce the amount of touting and cheating that goes on.

In regards to our taxi driver asking for a fixed fare, I suppose that in the interest of helping to reduce touting, I should have reported him. However, I misplaced the slip of paper with his details (So word of the wise, make sure you know where you keep yours. Just on case)

Also, it seemed at that time a little mean to report someone for charging us about $4.50/person for a one hr cab ride.

Cab rides going out of DMK also incur a 60 baht concession. Our driver demanded this from us on top of the fixed price he had set but if you do get a driver who goes by the meter, bear in mind you'll have to pay him that additional 60 baht plus any tolls you go through.

Also, to be fair, this is the first time I've been asked to pay a fixed fare. I'm not sure if it was just one of those unlucky moments, if fixed fares are more commonly charged from DMK or if I was just really lucky the past 5 times..Nonetheless, it still doesn't seem like that big a deal to me and I wouldn't let a little money get in the way of your holiday.

On getting a taxi from outside the hotel:

Getting a taxi from outside our hotel (and I imagine it to be the same at many areas with numerous hotels) was a bit of a hassle. Taxi drivers looking to make extra money from tourists know that in these areas tourists are ripe for the picking.

We tried unsuccessful to get a few taxis to use the meter and with each cab we passed, the quoted fare just got higher and higher. It also didn't help matters that it started to drizzle.

Eventually, we gave up and hopped into a cab after coming to a decision on how much we were willing to spend.

We no problems hailing a cab and getting him to go by the meter on our way back from Sukhumvit, so I guess that where there are many tourists, taxi touts are almost unavoidable.

From my past experience, when getting taxis from stands at malls like MBK, it is also easier to find one that is willing to go by meter, probably because they know you can just leave and get in the next cab.

Eating at Sukhumvit Soi 38:

Everything I read online pointed to the fact that you could sit anywhere and order from whichever stalls you wanted and the vendors would deliver the food to you.

It took us awhile to get used to because; Firstly, no one else seemed to be doing it and we didn't want to be offensive.

Secondly, some stalls actually did look more like little self contained eateries than just roadside stalls so it just didn't seem logical.

Thirdly, when we took our places at a table near a wonton mee stall, the owner seemed to look very grouchy when we hesitated to order anything - we did in the end (in case you were wondering) but it didn't seem to do anything to alleviate her bad mood.

Other stall owners were quick to ask where we were sitting and seemed very willing to bring the food we over to us, so perhaps we just had the misfortune of sitting at a stall with a not so friendly owner?

The ladies that ran the green curry noodle stall I bought my dinner from and the guy that sold Ale her food were both really sweet, so you may want to situate yourself there instead. There are also areas that look less like they 'belong' to certain stalls but all of them were taken.

Labels: bangkok, Thailand, travel