Tales Of Adventure

The Cabaret/ Banyan Tree (Bangkok)

talesofadventure — Fri, 1 Jul 2011 11:49:00 GMT

Day 2

Whilst sharing his wisdom, Midge had told us about this posh hotel around the corner from our hostel (WE Bangkok - downtown Bangkok on Silom 9) which he had been using for the past week. He told us if we just walked in and went straight up to the third floor we could use their infinity pool and no one would ask any questions. So on our second day we decided to risk it for a biscuit. Just as Midge had said, the hotel staff assumed we westerners were guests and left us to relax by the pool and soak up some Bangkok sunshine.

That night we had booked to go to Calypso, the ladyboy Cabaret. But first we wanted to grab a drink at Banyan Tree, which is supposedly the highest hotel in Asia and offers a spectacular view of Bangkok from its open-air rooftop bar. Getting a TukTuk to the Banyan Tree was difficult at 6 o’clock in the evening as traffic in Bangkok at that time is just gridlocked! There is no point trying to get anywhere! It took us an hour to do a 15 minute journey and even then we had to hop out short of our destination. Unluckily for us as soon as we hopped out of our TukTuk the heavens opened and within seconds we were soaked to the bone. So we ran with hair plastered to our faces, maxi dresses hitched up high, flip flops in hand and howling with laughter to one of the most reputable hotels in Bangkok! Unfortunately when we got there the rooftop bar was closed because of the rain and there was no way of getting anywhere as traffic was at a standstill! Thankfully the staff at the Banyan Tree are extremely kind and gave us towels to mop ourselves up with whilst we waited for a taxi to the Cabaret.

The taxi ride to the Asia Hotel where the Cabaret is held should only have taken 15 minutes (we knew this because we had meticulously pre-planned our journey before nature intervened) but our taxi driver had other ideas. After 40 minutes and some extremely dodgy looking back streets, myself and Bex were getting pretty worried. However when I tried to speak to the driver he simply refused to respond. Definitely thought we were going to be sold to a brothel or something else equally dramatic. Thankfully we were dropped off at the Cabaret safe and sound. It was a metered taxi and the guy just wanted to scam more money out of us. Honestly, I’ve never been so relieved to be scammed in my entire life.

The Calypso Cabaret was, frankly, dire. The ladyboys were impressively beautiful but unfortunately they could not sing, dance or act if their life depended on it. And the tickets aren’t exactly cheap either. I suppose it’s one of those things you have to do whilst you’re there but I would definitely advise shopping around for your ticket (not getting it from your hostel) to make it more worth your while. You do get the chance to meet the performers after the show and get your pictures taken with them, which gives you the chance to cross "meet ladyboy" off your Thai to-do-list.

On the plus side, when we came out of the Cabaret the weather had cleared up so we decided to try the Banyan Tree again. This time the rooftop bar was open. However, before I was allowed to go up I had my shoes confiscated from me (FYI flip flops are not suitable attire). A little man gave me some granny slippers and used long tongs, the sort you might use for turning meat over on a BBQ, to carry my flip flops away.

The rooftop bar itself was gorgeous, although not very welcoming. There was no price list or even menu for drinks and service was hard work. We ordered one round of drinks and sat and enjoyed the view, surrounded by American toffs. When we went to pay I nearly had a heart attack. My one glass of wine set me back £11! (And on the way past the restaurant we spied a steak for £120 which is just ridiculous by English standards, never mind Thai standards where food is normally dirt cheap!) This is definitely not a place for a backpacker's budget.

Photos: Thailand

talesofadventure — Fri, 1 Jul 2011 11:33:00 GMT

My personal highlights of the Thai adventure

The Grand Palace (Bangkok)

talesofadventure — Fri, 1 Jul 2011 04:13:00 GMT

On the first day of our first ever pack-backing adventure, we decided to visit the Grand Palace with a guy called Midge who we had met in our hostel the night before. We lost Midge at the Grand Palace, never to be seen again. But I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for passing on some of his travel wisdom, as, if it were not for him, we might not have made it to the Palace.

Getting to the Grand Palace: this can only be described as a nightmare. The best way to do it is to get a ferry along the river. However you have to get a TukTuk to the right pier which can prove problematic to say the least. The ferry should only cost 14 baht (from Silom) but TukTuk drivers get commission for where they drop you off so they will take you round the houses, taking you to all the expensive piers where they want to charge you 1000 baht for an hour and a half boat ride (it should only take 10/15 mins on the ferry). So long story short, you have to know where you want to go and be very firm with your driver.

Also, when you do eventually get to the palace, you will most likely come across TukTuk drivers telling you that it is closed today and offering to take you somewhere else. Do not pay any attention! Often it looks like the palace is actually closed because all the big gates are locked and you can’t get in - we spent a good hour walking round the walls trying to find our way in. But eventually we stumbled upon the right gate and went to explore.

Inside the palace grounds you are required to wear respectable clothing. No vests, V-neck tops, trousers above the ankle, skin tight trousers or flip flops. But if you don’t want to walk around sweltering Bangkok in full length clothes, and trust me you don’t, then you can borrow some at the Palace. There is no charge but you have to leave a deposit. The down side to this is that many perspiring tourists have worn the clothes before you. My travel companion, Bex, had to borrow a shirt to cover up her arms which came complete with man sweat, in a very fetching mustard colour.

Conclusion: the Palace itself is beautiful and well worth the trip.