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.
