Five people in a tuk-tuk

Spent the morning at the Grand Palace  (more to come) and that evening was the first meeting of the group I will be traveling with for the next month.

Most of the group are doing the entire circuit, ending back in Bangkok. A few will be leaving us in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Majority are female, teachers and from the UK.

After a chat about the trip, some paperwork and logistical info, we all went to dinner together at a local Thai restaurant.

Est comes in several colors...not flavors, but colors

A group of us wanted to go out, so we took tuk-tuks to Khao San Road.

Khao San Road is basically spring break with no beaches. The street is jam packed with bars offering outdoor seating, loud music and cheap, strong drinks. The upper floors and nearly streets contain hostels and cheap accommodation favored by backpackers. The rest of the space is filled with vendors selling souvenirs, clothes, jewelry, henna, food including scorpions and spiders, and touts soliciting attendance at their bar, massage parlor or ping pong show. It's crazy, loud, crowded and can be a little overwhelming.

We found a bar that was down a little alcove and slightly removed from the center of it all, and had a few drinks.

Yes, those are massage chairs next door

Then we crammed all five of us into a tuk-tuk. The driver was cool and agreed to take all of us, and even drove by the Grand Palace when we asked, so we could see it lot up at night.