CLOSING DOWN KHAO SAN ROAD

The hostel party

After finishing our Michelin star dumplings, we were invited by the Moroccan and American to their hostel¹. There was some big hostel party. Pretending like we had enough money to be staying there, we grabbed beers and socialised. Coincidentally, we met another South African². Somehow, we became best friends with her and her friend group. They had recently finished a month long Muay Thai course in the middle of Thailand and needed to let off some steam. Collectively, we decided to party. One thing you learn while backpacking is that the best stories happen when you are spontaneous. What happened next was one of those nights I will never forget³.

The tallest building in Thailand

There was now a rather large group of us, maybe 8⁴. We wanted to get into trouble. What better way to start the evening than having drinks on the tallest building in Thailand ⁵⁶. We drank and stumbled around an awesome glass walkway. It is quite strange being ~300m up and being able to look straight down. A few people around us were crying. Weak.

Racing to Khao san Road

Now it was time to party. We had had our pre-drinks, probably at one of the more expensive bars in Thailand. Totes worth it though. Everyone knows that the place to party was Khao San Road. We were now headed there. Now there is something you should know, Thailand has dirt-cheap taxi-bikes. Obviously it only fits one on the back⁷. We decided to have fun with it. Everyone hailed a taxi-bike each at the same time.

I got mine third, I immediately used the translator to tell him I was racing my friends. He passed the vibe check, nodded and we raced away. It was intense. I’m not sure how fast we were going but we caught up and made some places, weaving in and out of traffic. The route was only about ~10 km. They raced through the streets of Bangkok. Unfortunately, I came second and to rub salt in the wound, I lost my famous pink hat 🙁 ⁸ . The first guy and I got there a lot earlier than everyone else. We had to wait about 5 minutes before anyone else pitched up.

We like to party

Now, this was where I was introduced to what backpacking could be like. We headed to a bar partied the night away, closed it down. Headed to another bar, closed it down. Lastly, headed to another one, paid a $5 entrance fee and… 30 minutes later, closed it down.

We did not want to leave empty handed, so some of decided to try the famous Thai balloons⁹. Now I am not saying that I participated in such illegal activities but, it feels like a jolt of electricity and you sort of stiffen for 30 seconds. One feels so slow moving around afterwards. It is quite a peculiar sensation¹⁰.

Thereafter, that club closed down too. It was around 04:00. We still did not want to sleep. Somehow, we managed to find a random Thai guy on the street. He led us through some backstreets into a flat. I thought I was gonna lose a kidney. Unfortunately, I did not – he took as to a secret bar that could only be accessed through a basement of a residential building. We headed to the rooftop and could see over half of Bangkok.

Sun-uppers

We had found another bar. Although the route there was quite suspicious, the bar itself was quite upmarket¹¹. It was now around 04:30. We had sun-uppers and relaxed in lounge chairs. That sunrise was beautiful. We saw it over the rooftops of Bangkok. This was the life, good times with good friends. Eventually, everyone decided that it was time to go home. We packed up got some McDonald’s ¹² and headed back to our respective hostels. Overall, a truly great night. I was just a tad bit more deaf ¹³.

1. LPT: Always stay in the cheap hostels and then make friends that go to the expensive hostels. Then you can join them for all of their parties and meet all the pretty girls (or guys). ↩︎
2. Weird how I had met two South Africans in the space of two days halfway across the world. After this I think I met less than 10 throughout the rest of my 18 month trip. ↩︎
3. I’m writing it down, just in case I do though. ↩︎
4. I can’t remember 🙁 ↩︎
5. Thankfully, a recommendation from the American ↩︎
6. I’m not sure if it has changed but we went at night. It was firstly, cheaper, secondly, we got free drinks vouchers and lastly less busy. I would think that it is also better than going during the day as one can really see the scale of Bangkok through the city lights. ↩︎
7. At this stage I did not know that there were handle bars one could use to balance themselves at the back of a bike, so I used to grab the drivers waist. No one complained… ↩︎
8. The first of many cap fatalities ↩︎
9. These are full of NO₂ and are probably not considered the best idea as it can cause permanent brain damage. ↩︎
10. Or so I have heard… ↩︎
11. That’s how it seemed at the time ↩︎
12. Pls sponsor me… ↩︎
13. And did not get lucky 🙁 ↩︎