"The first I heard of the beach was in Bangkok, on the Kao-San Road..." read the opening page of Alex Garland's "The Beach". I first read the book about five years prior, and I saw the movie immediately following it. Since then, I had always been fascinated with Khao San Road. A few people I knew had been there, reporting back how it had lost its charm, while some still perceived it as a place to really kick-start one's backpacking trip across Asia. Romanticism aside, Khao San was nothing but a stretch of short road circling toward another street that housed hostels, hotels, restaurants, souvenir and tattoo shops, food carts, and almost everything that catered to a backpacker's needs.
Backpacker Beginnings at Khao San Road | Bangkok
A Piece of the World
It was like a piece of the world on that lowdown street. People from all over walked around like we were all citizens of one country, and if you were friendly enough, you would surely find yourself drinking later on with some of them. Of course, there were the overzealous ones, trying hard to be those crazy guys from "Hangover 2" who would get drunk and be rowdy, but most were just chilling and relaxed. It was always better that way if you did not mind the backpacking novel's reference or its pop-culture impact.
My friend Ariadne and I settled into our lovely guesthouse, the Shambara, just beside an alleyway located along Khao San Road. Her friends went to Krabi Island while we opted to stay in the city and instead visit Ayutthaya. After settling our things, we took a walk along Khao San Road and had a feast of Pad Thai, enjoying one bottle of beer each (Ariadne had Singha while I had Chang).
You could find a lot of things to do along Khao San Road. I hung out at one of the bookstores there and was surprised to find some amazing reads, like the earliest works of Paul Theroux and Graham Greene. Running out of Baht, I resisted buying a copy. Later, I regretted not snagging myself Theroux's "The Great Railway Bazaar", which, if I had had the smarts to compute it right then, would have only cost me 300 Philippine Pesos.
Ariadne had a piece of her hair braided and later on got a massage, which cost 100 Baht for an hour of foot massage, 150 Baht for the whole body, and other types of massages. Around sundown, the street was bustling with some bars providing live music, and we passed by one where the performer was belting out a mad but decent-sounding Creedence Clearwater Revival song.
The street was filled with t-shirts with cool designs, and I ended up buying four pieces at around 200 Baht (270 pesos), leaving no room for books and other souvenir items. You could also get yourself fake IDs from the many fake ID stalls, which reminded me of our very own University Belt area. I would have loved to get myself a University of Munich ID, but I did not ask how much.
A Meeting of Kindred Souls
I also met up again with Alexandra at Khao San; she was on her way home to Slovakia after spending the previous year traveling around the world. She was going to stay there for the holiday, and the last I heard, she was back on the road again, that time heading to South America. We met there at our pre-agreed time in front of Burger King at Khao San Road. I had met Alexa for the first time when she visited Manila in the latter part of 2011, but at that time we hardly talked as I was shy and she spoke in English. But that time, I came prepared with a pocketful of 'English' words, so we ended up talking more.
I introduced Alexa to Ariadne and her friends, and like me, they were fascinated with what she had been doing, which was traveling. Did we not all want to do that? Alexa had been doing it, and being surrounded by people who were doing the same thing at Khao San Road, my travel lusting reached an all-time high. I kept looking at the groups of people passing by and going around Khao San, wondering to myself about the places they had been to or were just about to head out for.
On our last day, Joe, Joy, and Jackie returned from their trip to Krabi Island and joined me and Ariadne for our final day in Bangkok. We only had the night to enjoy Khao San Road, and we spent it by having dinner along with another kindred soul, Ayan, who was also concluding a solo trip that took him from Malaysia, Laos, and Thailand.
I saw no map of a secret beach, and guess what? I was not Leonardo DiCaprio either (but I could have passed as Benicio Del Toro, haha), but I was so blessed to have experienced Khao San Road. To be able to feel what it was like being in a place where travelers started their epic journeys while some ended theirs. I was just a passerby who calmly took a mental note of what it was like on a maiden trip of long-term backpacking across Asia, and I was thrilled and gutted with inspiration to plot my own in the coming months.
My friend Alexa had experienced it; a few other people I knew had done it. The individuals who came from all over the world and who walked the street of Khao San with me—most of them had done it, while some were just about to. I knew deep in my ragtag heart that someday I would pack my backpack with the intent of threading Asia, and there was a great chance I would start my own epic journey on that seemingly short stretch of road, which just so happened to be the place where a thousand other kindred souls kick-started their own journeys.
