Bangkok, Thailand
After the 9 hour flight from Barcelona/Dusseldorf and maybe 2 hours of sleep Bangkok slapped the **** out of me. Between what is going on with the floods, the overstimulation of smells, sights and sounds I was in a suddenly in a state of wonderment about this foreign land. Needing much rest we asked our taxi to take us to the hotel we had found online. Problem was, he was telling us “No, can’t go… BOOM BOOM” repeatedly for about 5 minutes until Lisa and I figured out that “BOOM BOOM” meant that the area where our hotel is was flooded. This is when it sank in. Maybe we should just turn around and get a flight somewhere else. The taxi said most of the city was fine and he would show us the area where it wasn’t flooded. Lisa quickly whipped out the map and located a hotel and a 20% off coupon and our taxi took us there. It was a 5 star hotel/serviced apartment and they gave us a suite for about $80. As cheap as that sounds, it was too pricy for us but we figured we’d splurge one night and get some sleep. We slept and woke up in time for dinner and a massage.
The next day we switched over to this place we found on airbnb.com called mestyle hotel. The place was designed really cool(out of car parts and other eclectic objects), had all of the amenities you could need including a pool and a fitness center and it only cost 1100 BHT which is about $35. I would recommend this place to anyone visiting Bangkok. The only part that isn’t great about it is the location. It’s a little outside the main city but once you understand the train, it’s an easy ride in.
Bangkok is a bustling city with plenty of temples, markets, nightlife and of course shopping malls to explore. We went to a few temples before getting OG’ed (Overgold – I’m gonna git you sucka). They were amazing to explore. The two that stuck out the most were Wat Pho and Wat Saket or the Golden Mount. Wat Pho has the largest lying down buddha as well as tons of others spread across multiple temples. It seemed like the Vatican of Thai temples to me. Wat Saket sits on top a hilltop which doubled as a burial ground and was once the highest peak in Bangkok which offer up some great views of the city. There are gongs that you can hit and bells to ring on your climb up. I met a monk that was practicing his english so we chatted for a while. I met another monk inside and he was very open about all my questions around Buddhism. I asked him to buy one of the books and he just gave it to me as long as I promised to read it. I’m halfway through. Buddhism intrigues me and I know I’ll take some things away from his present.
We went out one night to see a muay thai boxing match at Lumpini Stadium. The prices were a bit high but the seats were ringside. Servers come around with drinks and snacks for you to purchase as you watch 10 fights back to back. There are 5 rounds and winners are decided by knockout or decision based mostly on the amount of hits. All fights start with both fighters performing traditional Wai Kru pre-fight dance, to pay his respects to his teachers and ancestors, as well as the spectators. Matches also have a band that plays traditional thai music during the fights which is sometimes a dizzying experience. It feels like they get louder and stronger as the fight gets more intense. The fights themselves were great. These guys are in top shape and put everything on the line.
Lisa needed some new sneakers so we set out for the malls to see what we could find. These malls are gigantic. seven stories tall with a plethora of stores to choose from. I don’t love malls but this was a sight to see in itself. Lisa got some kicks and I got a haircut and we had some lunch. My favorite shopping in thailand is on the street including our saturday afternoon stint at Chatuchak market real close to our hotel. Chatuchak is in a park and the 8,000+ vendors cover a huge area of alleyways selling anything you can imagine. From clothing, food, knock off items(same same but different), artwork, crafts, pets, furniture, antiques, plants, the market has it all and it is all negotiable as far as the price. It’s like a walking e-bay.
The food is amazing here and you can eat cheap. The restaurants are cheap enough but if you want eat for nothing go to the street vendors. At the market, Lisa and I ate pad thai and green curry with a spring roll each as well as a coke and a water for $4. You can also eat pretty much anything including deep fried insects (I tried one – salty), jellied fruit candies, sushi and crab flavored chips, century eggs(black eggs), durian, duck mouths, tadpoles, etc etc. Some of our favorite dishes were the traditional flavors of massaman curry, green curry, tom kha goong, and of course pad thai.
from: http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jamesrobert/1/1318927382/tpod.html
