Bangkok – Khao San Road

Finally showered in my hostel and with a new change of clothes, I wandered out into the busy evening, the streets a lit with neon lights and the warm glow of street food vendor fires.

I was absolutely starving and the best way I thought to spend my evening recuperating was to grab some food and check out the sights of Khao San Road nearby.

Khao San Road

With a hop, skip and a jump, I found myself down this famous backpacker street, formerly a rice market street in the olden days. The last 25 years had seen a transformation of this street into a backpacker’s paradise full of bars, stalls of slogan t-shirts, pirated DVDs and cheap rooms to rent. It really wasn’t the true experience of Thailand but a must see on the backpacker’s trail.

I’m a deaf backpacker and I’m here to join the experience.

I read before that one Thai writer described Khao San Road as the shortest road with the longest dreams. I chuckled at the thought when a bar’s main selling point was ‘we don’t check ID!’

Really.

I had just got over my initial nervousness of travelling solo as a deaf traveller and I was ready to start embracing my first experience of my travels. The capital city that is Bangkok (cue the jokes, I’ve heard them all before).

See more: Starting my deaf travels in Thailand

So, what better way than to familiarise myself than the travel centre of Thailand that is Khao San Road, where you could see buses leaving to main Thai attractions.

First off, let’s get the food started.

I love food. I really do. Even to the point where friends and family joke that they should put a lock on their fridges.

So, what about the staple that is Pad Thai food?

Ordering a simple vegetarian Pad Thai off a street food vendor (it was 20p worth – what a steal!), I munched on this delicious concoction while smelling in the perfuming aromas whilst walking up and down the road. It was fairly carnival like and I knew that in my mind that I wouldn’t want to spend much of my time down here thanks to the aggressive street sellers for tailor made suits who kept grabbing my arm, or the tuk-tuk drivers who tried anything to get your attention to jump in with them. Don’t get me started on the ping-pong show ticket sellers and the ladyboys who wanted to give you ‘happy time’.

Feeling the tiredness start to creep in from my flight, I finished off my Pad Thai with a licking of lips and started walking back to my hostel ready for a good long sleep.

Until I felt a pull of my arm again.

It was another thai ladyboy who whipped round in front of me, flicking her long dark hair and pouting. But I couldn’t work out what she was saying.

Then she started gesticulating with a pumping of fist balled arms and a swaying of hips. Everyone walked around me stopped and stared at me almost sniggering, causing a flush of redness across my face.

Then I understood.

‘Me give you good time, bing bam boom!’

I walked off quickly, feeling the heat rise in my face, dying with embarrassment until I got to my hostel when I bumped into another backpacker coming out.

She clocked my face and laughingly asked,

‘Did you get propositioned too?’

I nodded and started laughing too.

‘I’m Laura.’ she held her hand out for me to shake, and I detected an American accent, ‘My dorm mates and I are going to have a chilled night in with some drinks, wanna come and get some and then hang out with us?’

I smiled.

This is going to be a good start of my backpacker experience.