When my friends and I were preparing our trip to Europe, we got guidebooks galore and spent hours plotting our course, reading through hostel reviews and making lists of the must-sees in every town and city.

Yet somehow we completely forgot to make any plans for or do any research for our 36-hour stopover in Bangkok. As a result we fell for several of the multitude of tourist traps the "Venice of the East" has to offer - but still had an amazing time.

The first night was fine - we exited the airport, found the hotel's shuttle driver with our names on a sign, and made it safely to our room, looking forward to sleeping off the flight and exploring the city the next day.

After a morning dip in the hotel pool we set off, with a vague plan of checking out the famous 'floating markets' and maybe some shopping. Taking our first lungfuls of Bangkok air was an experience in itself. It was hot and thick and wet. It had its own texture. And the smell - that rich conglomerate of garbage, sweat, fragrance and traffic fumes - will stay with me forever.

We managed to get about 50 metres out of the hotel before we were accosted by a herd of taxi drivers, all promising us best prices and special rates. We figured we were going to need transport anyway, so picked one at random and hopped in.

And that's how we met Manny. He was short and round and had a fabulously thick moustache. His cab was yellow and green and none too new, and the dashboard was decorated with all manner of trinkets, photos and other embellishments.

We outlined our plan to Manny, who agreed wholeheartedly and then set off - in the opposite direction from our planned first stop. When questioned he explained that the floating markets were closed that day, but no matter! He could take us to a tour boat operator so we could take a cruise along the Chao Phraya River. Disappointed, we agreed to the new plan. The next thing we knew though, the taxi was pulling up outside a large building advertising cheap gemstones.

(I'm sure some of you are already groaning in recognition here - a quick web search for "Thai gem scam" reveals a myriad of stories of touts at temples and elaborate schemes. But rest assured that while we were naïve, we weren't completely stupid.)

We told Manny we weren't interested in jewellery but he explained that if we went in and looked around, he would receive a petrol voucher from the company - a valuable addition to his meagre wage. We didn't want to fall for the classic "I have a wife and ten kids at home" story, but on the other hand he didn't look like he earned much and we would have felt horribly rude to deny him his voucher. So in we went, browsed for ten minutes (without being suckered into losing our savings) and were off again.

Thinking the next stop must be the river cruise, we were excited to be on our way. Then the taxi slowed again outside a tailor's. The tailor shop would give Manny a petrol voucher too... would we mind?

As it happened a trip to a Thai tailor was one of my friends' ambitions so we were happy to go in, order a custom-made silk top to be picked up the following day, and leave having guaranteed Manny his payoff.

At last we arrived at the river boat tour where we happily paid the tour fee (without thinking for a second that perhaps we should have tried our hands at bargaining) and boarded a boat.

We cruised around the waterways of Bangkok for the next hour or so, marveling at the juxtaposition between the splendour and wealth of the temples and upper-class mansions, and the absolute poverty of so many others. We saw families washing in the murky green water (that we'd been told not to touch) and shacks made of corrugated iron piled together.

During the river cruise we stopped off to visit Wat Arun, the "Temple of the Dawn". As we stepped off the boat and onto the pier a woman approached and immediately draped a large python around my neck.

I was understandably surprised by this but too slow to react in any way. Anyway, I love snakes. "Take a picture! Take a picture!" the woman cried to my friends and they dutifully snapped away as I grinned at my new, serpentine acquaintance. "Now you pay me 200 baht."

Of course I should have realised there was a price tag for my snake encounter. I also should have bargained. Instead, still jet-lagged and confused by our morning, I meekly handed over the asking price.

The rest of our day passed calmly enough. Manny dropped us off at a large shopping mall, we travelled on the sky and later headed to the famous night markets at Patpong (where we briefly considered buying a 'Louis Vuttion' (sic) bag each for the novelty factor, but stayed away from the Go-go bars).

We may have made some of the most obvious mistakes tourists can make in Thailand. But we emerged unscathed – and more importantly, experienced Bangkok in a way we'll never forget.

Thanks, Manny.

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