Bangkok
Trip Start
Nov 16, 2007
1
17
20
Trip End
Jan 14, 2008
Bangkok,
Thailand
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Bangkok is a very modern city of 10+ million with highrises, wide, divided highways, drivers who obey stoplights, motorcycle riders who wear helmets, etc. In other words,
boring! ;>) They have plenty of big city problems - rich/poor divide, traffic congestion, etc. However, on our visit it seemed to be a relatively clean, very modern place that ran pretty well. We´ve heard and read that traffic is horrendous, but our hotel was in the middle of the financial district, and we didn´t experience traffic nearly as bad as in Vietnam, for instance. They´ve also clearly done a good job over the years of reducing pollution. The flip-side of Thailand´s modernity and connectedness was that it was more global/generic and not quite as interesting/different to us as tourists. Everything is relative, of course, and it was nice to be back in the modern world as well.
Our hotel was very modern and comfortable. We especially enjoyed the easy, free, fast internet access and the broad choice of international TV stations.
Modern city
I also enjoyed the Starbucks down the street, where I could get a decaf. We caught up a bit with our e-mail and current events in the rest of the world. It worked nicely because we stayed in the same hotel three separate times and left extra luggage, e.g., our beach and diving stuff when we went to Bhutan, or our warm sweaters and boots/hiking sticks when we went down to the beaches of southern Thailand. We thoroughly enjoyed walking around, exploring Bangkok on foot and via river taxi as well as long-tail speed boat. We went to the flower market (amazing and colorful variety), the enormous weekend market with hundreds of stalls, numerous Buddhist temples, the rabbit warrens of Chinatown, street markets and street kitchens serving up wonderful smelling Thai curries, fresh fruit, and other delicious offerings.
The Thai food was fantastic nearly everywhere we went. It was my favorite before this trip (there are many wonderful Thai restaurants in Albuquerque - my theory is that this is because of our appreciation of spicy food), and our trip simply reinforced that opinion. Our favorite dish was a spicy duck salad at a little restaurant in Bangkok, called Ban Chiang - named after a district in NE Thailand. We went back to that same place 3-4 times.
Our guide took us to Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn), a Khmer-style set of stupas/ "chedis" and towers, then across the river to the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was all fascinating to see and crowded with tourists, a dramatic contrast to Bhutan! The whole compound of the Royal Palace is incredibly colorful, elaborate, and ornate....generally overwhelming and over the top. It is beautiful, but made us appreciate the understated Japanese aesthetic sensibilities.
Ayuthaya: We also made a day trip to Ayuthaya, 86 km north of Bangkok. We drove there in the morning and took a riverboat back in the afternoon. Ayuthaya was the old capital of Siam, from 1350 to 1767, when it was sacked by the Burmese and burned to the ground. It´s a fascinating place, surrounded by three major rivers, with remains of wats (temples), royal buildings, and ancient walls everywhere. I would like to spend a few days exploring the town sometime. We visited ancient wats built in the Khmer style - much of modern-day Thailand was part of the Khmer empire, and the Thais eventually overran and defeated the Khmer in 1630. There is still some remaining animosity between the Thais and the Cambodians. We also visited the current royal family´s summer palace, a beautiful set of buildings, ponds, fountains, and manicured grounds, built by King Rama V, Chulalongkorn, the prince in "The King and I." Interestingly, that musical and related films are banned in Thailand because they´re seen as compromising the dignity of the monarchy. King Rama IV is revered as the king who reunited, modernized, and strengthened the nation, and opened up ties to the rest of the world.
