Bangkok
Trip Start
May 29, 2008
1
45
102
Trip End
Dec 19, 2008
Bangkok, Thailand
Friday, August 22, 2008
We first made our way to a snake farm where they milk the cobras to remove the venom - a process that made all of our snake charming experiences possible. We then took a water taxi, which in itself is a great experience. When arriving at the dock there were tons of merchants and small stalls that served everything from chicken skewers to gelatinous noodles. We had pad thai with shrimp for $1 and it was fantastic food. Thereafter, we headed over to the Grand Palace where we saw the Emerald Buddha and then to Wat Pho to see the Reclining Buddha. Both of these sites were amazingly colorful and extremely ornate and decorative with jewels and crystals up and down the buildings in different patterns and on sculptures of mythical Thai animals
Grease Is Good For You
. Just getting to these places was a challenge as we had to deal with unscrupulous tuk tuk drivers. The drivers would "offer" their "help" by telling you that these places were closed to tourists for a special celebration until 3pm. He would, however, drive us around in his tuk tuk to other "tourist sites" - none of which we had heard of - and to places where we could shop for silk (trying to get his kickback) and would then drop us back off at 3pm - how nice. Luckily, we had done our research prior and had read about these scams. When we approached the Grand Palace, it was, of course, open. They close the site at 3:30pm everyday, so the tuk tuk guide would have made us miss the site all together.We also had a chance to visit the Siam Paragon mall which is massive and has every designer name you could think of and a huge grocery store inside - Rachel and I got on the iced tea kick while in Thailand and would travel with multiple bottles of the stuff as we first came across it in this grocery store.
That night we went to experience Bangkok's VIP movie theater in the Siam Paragon. While waiting for the movie, there's a special waiting lobby complete with massaging chairs, welcome drinks, and snacks. Upon entering the theater, there are only 6 seats to a row and maybe 5 rows
I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts
. When I say seats, I really mean reclining sofas with blankets and pillows. Waitresses come to take your food and drink order and can even bring you bottles of wine. We were so excited for this experience that we paid to watch Batman - for the second time on our trip. The movie was going great as we clinked our wine glasses enjoying a bottle of white wine and popcorn....the next thing we remember was the waitresses snickering as they nudged us to wake up. We looked up and the theater had cleared out as the credits were rolling. One great experience and one expensive nap.The next day was a Saturday, so we had to make our way over to the weekend market which is like an organized bazaar of food, clothes, trinkets, and animals. They sold fish, dogs, cats, bunnies, porcupines, squirrels, snakes, turtles, and more. They used to sell exotic animals like tigers and lions but was shut down by the Tourism Authority. Rachel and I both ate lunch for $1 total for both of us! We also got to try some exotic fruits like lychee and some other unidentified fruit. As if we weren't hauling enough stuff around already, we ended up buying some more clothes. They were cheap so we couldn't resist.
Right outside of the weekend market we crossed a woman selling crunchy insects for a mid-day snacks
Bug buffet
. Her spread was amazing as it was the best bug buffet since trips to Yosemite as a kid. Of course, we couldn't pass up some of Thailand's finest cuisine and had to munch on a few. She gave us the works kind of like an insect trail mix. I had grasshopper, some weird-looking fly, worms, and a bug that looked like a maggot. Delicious! Rachel wouldn't touch my lips for a week. After finishing up here we walked about a kilometer to the train station. On our walk, we crossed a really nice park called Chaturak Park with a lake and a monument of the king within it. It was a real nice, serene place.At night, we decided to make our assault on Khao San Road which is the hip backpacker area of Bangkok with street bars, food vendors, massages, fake-designer apparel, pirated DVDs, and nightclubs. The street bars were really cool as they were alcohol carts with wheels that held liquor and beer with illuminated lights, disco balls, and blaring hip-hop music. The operators of these carts would just be out on the street, setup chairs and create an instant party. The beer was cheap and the shots were priced well too. It was unique to Khao San. After walking around for a bit having a beer and haggling with some of the apparel vendors, we made our way to the massage parlor. We each got an hour massage for $6 plus tip. Yes, $6!!! Rachel got a Thai massage that she enjoyed very much and mine was somewhat uncomfortable as they had a guy give me a massage
Oh, wise grasshopper
. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic value. After that we made our way over to the DVD vendors. They had every movie under the sun including all of the movies that were just released. Before heading over to Khao San Road, Rachel really wanted to go to Chinatown. The streets in Chinatown were so vibrant and dynamic with fluorescent signage everywhere hanging from the roofs many of the buildings. The sign light up the night in yellow, red, and blue blocks going up and down the street. It made for a good Chinese impression of the area. The food was phenomenal as the vendors would sell everything from duck to sweet and sour soup, potstickers, and dumplings. Rachel and I went from vendor to vendor and really enjoyed the pork dumpling and duck which were both fantastic. I never really had tried dumpling before and Rachel was a fanatic so I had to see what it was all about. Rachel made a fan out of me and we now have high hopes for the dumplings in China.....stay tuned.
The night after returning from the Floating Market (next entry), Rachel and I decided to enjoy the nightlife, so we plotted out a few sky bars to experience. As to be expected, we had an unscrupulous guy trying to take us to a restaurant and said the Sky Bar was closed. We knew to ignore him and jumped into another a taxi and got lucky again as this taxi driver first wouldn't use the meter for our ride
Chinatown
. He insisted we pay a ridiculous amount. We insisted we use a meter or we would find another taxi. He got mad about it and then finally said ok. He kept on complaining that it was such a long drive (taxi drivers are incentivized to make multiple short trips because of the way the meter fee is structured). He tried twice to just let us off in dingy street corners. Rachel wrote down his taxi number as there was a sign from the taxi agency saying to report taxi drivers that try and screw with you. He saw her doing that and demanded that she give him the paper she wrote the information on. Rachel said we'd give it to him after he finally dropped us off where we need to go. Finally, he pulled over and demanded we give him the paper or he wouldn't drive any further. I told him stearnly that if he dropped us off here we wouldn't pay. He kept on complaining, so we just got out and walked in the opposite direction. Pretty intense experience but it made us appreciate the honest and fair taxi drivers and we tipped them accordingly. The next taxi driver was a really good man and transported us without any hesitation to where we needed to go. We first went to the Sky Bar at the Dome. This experience definitely turned the night around for us. It was on the 65th floor of a hotel overlooking all of Bangkok's night skyline. It was very elegant but very expensive by Thai standards. Although we went just to have a drink and then tour the other sky bars in the city, we ended up having a very nice dinner on the terrace on top of the roof. The service was excellent and the food was magnificent. They also brought us a honeymoon cake congratulating us on our marriage. Unfortunately, they didn't allow pictures in certain areas so our pictures really don't do the place justice but it was a very romantic and elegant location. We spent so much time there that we didn't have enough time to see any of the other sky bars and ended up heading home right after dinner. It was well worth the experience though.
