Backpacker's adventures - Grasshoppers, Fish Spa, Boat Trips, Japanese costumes and stuff

There are days, like many days that you spent holed up in class where you have nothing to report. And when there is action you do not have time to write. Kind of a vicious circle but I'll make that work anyway.
So after three rather unexciting days in class, one day spent with massage and relaxing I went all out on what you could call a Backpackers day.
Let's see how that started out. Sleeping in late and then be lucky enough to catch Hester, who I met on Koh Samet, online. We scheduled to meet at Siam Paragon.
What I didn't know than was that there'd be thousands of people crowding the place. A Japanese Fest was going on at the square outside Siam Paragon and there were hundreds of kids dressed up in crazy cartoon style outfits. Thinking of my friend St.A. who will be spending the next months in Japan and may end up looking like that at some point. Can't wait for pictures. So sifting through the crowds for half an hour we end up finally finding us. The foodcourt is so overcrowded its nearly impossible to find a seat. The rest of the Mall, where all the expensive shops are is comparatively quiet and peaceful.

My Bruck ;-)

Bad thing for my wallet.. I find an English bookstore that's got a great selection. I only buy the bare minimum... a book on Thai streetfood and the latest edition of the Shopaholic series, of which I devoured all the previous ones. Just out of curiosity I pick up the Lonely Planet Austria Edition. And which page does it automatically open to. Three pages of recommendations on what to see, do and eat in my very hometown. I didn't even know we had so much there ;-) That makes me think a lot about my folks back home and all the events I am going to miss (once again) while I am away. You can put your tissues away now, it's not gonna be a sad story about homesickness.
Up next is an interesting stroll up and down Siam Square. Thousands of little shops, every cm of space filled with people, street vendors, hawkers and other stuff. It's amazing. A touristy sightseeing spot nearby is Jim Thompson's House, on the way there we pass by a half a dozen more giant shopping malls. Just wondering... who buys all this stuff? Consumerism is really trendy here.

Jim Thompson's House

Jim Thompson's house is solid wood, dark red. He was an American who settled down in Bangkok and established the Thai silk trade. Lots of small woodden houses with a distinct charme and a garden in between them. Quite cozy here if it weren't for the mosquitoes. And... my student ID gets me discount for the ticket, gotta love that even more. Jim Thompson is apparently loved throughout Thailand, although there's few of the silk weaver families from back in the day left, apparently just living across the river. To see the house there's a compulsory tour included in the ticket, but it's arranged very nicely and worth a visit if you have some extra time.

Klorng Boat

We don't make it across the river, but we do make it ON the river. A few minutes walk from the house is a Klorng boat stop that takes you on a little waterway through town (think Venice), the fastest and cheapest way to travel through Bangkok. There's too few Klorngs left though, I guess only this one that has regular boat service, so unfortunately won't get to use that too often. It's lot of fun. You actually have to jump on the boat at the 'stop' where they merely slow down but don't really stop. It's an adventure anyway and for 9 B each we get within walking distance of our next destination... Khao San. The Klorng boats final stop is close to one of the old forts and the Golden Mount, which are both closed for the day. By some magnificent temples and along the grand boulevard we head to Khao San Road, the backpacker haven.

Democracy Monument

Walking along the Klorng

Whenever you are starving there's some great street food to be had and on Khao San there's many 'safe' options for you. The ubiquitous Pad Thai stalls cater to cash strapped backpackers, and for today us too. Yummyyyy. What do we need now? Right, a foot massage would be in order after all the walking today. The streets close by are also jampacked with tourists and a friendly lady and a gentleman (first male masseur I've seen) tend to our tired feet for the next 30 minutes.
There's more shopping to be done and I am looking for a backpack for my upcoming travels. After hard bargaining one lady calls me stupid for not buying it at the price, saying that 100 B is nothing for me and I should just be paying more. Some insults later I leave her standing there, I am definitely not going to buy anything from someone that calls me stupid just because I want a fair price. Helloooo! Where did we end up here? After more unsuccesful shopping for me, but succesful shopping for Hester there's a challenge ahead of me.

Fish Spa

I almost fell of the chair at the foot massage coz it tickled so bad. And now... special offer for the Fish Spa. The fish look hungry and the offer is cheaper than in other places. So what to do... go for the dreadful experience to have little fish nibble some skin of my feet or just keep walking?
I guess you all know the answer. Of course I tried but only after getting the minimum amount of time spent in there from 15 min down to 10 minutes. Makes me feel better. It takes me a few seconds to get the courage to put my feet in the water... I am waiting for Hester's reaction first. Once I finally get myself to do that it's not as bas as I expected. It's somehow inconvenient, though it doesn't hurt but luckily it's not really ticklish. Otherwise I would have quit after 30 seconds or so. There's so many of the tiny fish and after a short moment you can literally only see black swarms surrounding our legs nibbling away. Good thing is, the moment you move they swerve away but only to return a few seconds later. Under great personal effort I manage to stay in there for the full 10 minutes while Hester is truly enjoying it, even a while longer and daring to stick her hands in there too. My feet don't feel any different afterwards but it was worth it for the experience. Would I too it again? Hmmm... maybe, maybe not. For the 10 minutes in the Fish Spa I can get a half hour foot massage, so go figure what I'd rather do with my money.

Eating a grasshopper

There's succesful shopping for me ahead as one vendor decides to give me my desired backpack for my desired price. Sweet. All prepared for Midterm break in October now. Let's just hope the original copy bag doesn't fall apart once it's full with my stuff.
One Chang beer later it's bag to Khao San Road. Now did I say before there's safe food to be had? Well there's also the other kind. And since some friends tried themselves through all the stuff from frogs to cockroaches and everything else and passed the info to me that grasshoppers taste the best, I am brave and grab one. The new saying for the night... You survived the Fish Spa, you can survive anything. And guess what. It doesn't taste that bad. Well it doesn't have much taste at all. It's mainly just crunchy. So go for it, I dare you to try grasshoppers too. It was a bit more difficult to convince Hester - and several bystanders - to try one, but one by one they all did. Not telling you how many spit it out again, but none of them said that it was really bad. Do we have the problem of lack of protein for the 7 billion population solved now? Guess not, but it's one small step closer.
This needs to be washed down by another Chang for sure. And on a whim we decide to dance those beers off at a nearby club. Carrying a giant backpack full with shopping. No problem. Being sweaty and sticky from a full day of walking around. No problem. Dancing the night away. No problem.