Wow, what a great day yesterday in Bangkok! I’d hoped to get this post up last night but I had so many photos to go through that I had to push writing to this morning. I’m fired up on two espressos, so this shouldn’t take long.
Because we had a pretty full itinerary planned for the day, we once again opted for a room service breakfast. We ordered the Tom Kha Gai (chicken coconut soup) that I’d been craving last night and Phad Ka Prao, a dish I make at home, but this version was with beef instead of chicken, with Thai basil and fried egg.
We set out at 10:30am. I negotiated with a taxi driver out front of our hotel to take us about 6km to Democracy Monument, which I’d picked as a central point to begin our adventure into the part of the city known as Old Bangkok. I agreed to his price of 500 Baht, about $19 CAD, and asked that he wear a mask. He tried valiantly to sell us some tour packages, to take us to a floating market, etc., not sure why I wanted to visit only Democracy Monument, but after a few “Mai ao, krab” he got my gist. But perhaps this was unsatisfactory to him. After a 25 minute ride, during which he never donned his mask, he stopped the car, gestured to his right and exclaimed, “Democracy Monument!” We hopped out and he drove off. I looked around and got an uneasy feeling. Democracy Monument was nowhere to be seen. When I originally asked for the destination, he didn’t seem to know where it was on the map and I had to show him, which was odd as he said he’s been driving a cab in Bangkok for 10 years. I figured that we were about 2km from Democracy Monument. I suggested that we start walking in the right direction and see if we could find a lift. About 1km into our walk, which was thankfully shaded by trees, I spotted some farang (tourists) hopping out of a tuk-tuk. I asked the driver if he could take us to Khaosan Road and agreed to his bargain price of 100 Baht ($4 CAD).
On Khaosan Road
Yippee! Our first tuk-tuk ride!! So fun! He dropped us off at the west end of Khaosan (if we’d come from Democracy Monument, we would have started at the east end.) Khaosan is a short road of 410 meters and a world-famous backpacker destination. It’s lined with open air bars and restaurants, budget accommodations and shops selling clothing, souvenirs and silver. At night, it transforms into a wild party of debauchery that in my youth I might have found exciting but now I’d find tiresome and annoying.
We headed east and browsed the shops on one side of the road, then crossed the road and headed back west. After some power shopping, we chose an open air restaurant for some refreshments: a delicious Thai iced tea with milk, Satay chicken skewers and deep fried tofu and taro with cashews. Aroy mak! (Very tasty!)
We said goodbye to Khaosan, as young backpackers started converging in anticipation of another Bangkok party night, and hopped in a tuk-tuk. Destination: The Grand Palace.
The Beautiful Grand Palace and Wat Pho
The Grand Palace is stunning. Historically, it’s the official residence of the Kings of Siam, although the current King of Thailand resides elsewhere. It’s now used mostly for ceremonial purposes and is probably Bangkok’s most popular tourist stop. There’s a dress code–shoulders and knees must be covered, no tight pants or leggings–and I saw a few people turned away because they hadn’t done their homework.
The grounds are extensive and there’s so much to see! But the most impressive sight is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. You must take your shoes off and leave them outside before entry and cannot speak or point your feet toward the shrine while inside the Temple. You enter, sit quietly, either cross-legged or with your feet tucked under you, and if you’re Buddhist, offer prayers to Buddha. All the walls and ceilings are covered in beautiful carvings, embellished with glass mosaics and it’s absolutely beautiful. I’d love to show you, but photos of the inside of the Temple aren’t allowed.
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We spent about 90 minutes at the Grand Palace, then hopped in another tuk-tuk and went to the nearby Wat Pho, the oldest temple in Bangkok and home to the incredible reclining Buddha statue that is 46 meters long and covered in gold leaf. It’s a very impressive sight!
We spent about 45 minutes at Wat Pho exploring the grounds, then walked 10 minutes down to the pier, which was bustling with people loading on to tour boats. I hired us a private longtail boat for 600 Baht ($24 CAD) to take us to Sawasdee – Wat Thong Thammachat pier and we set out with our captain on the Chao Phraya River which snakes through the western part of Bangkok before veering south. Our captain was very cool, probably in his 60s, with arms and legs–and presumably his whole body–covered in traditional Thai Sak Yant hand poked tattoos, which incorporate Buddhist blessings and are believed to be magical. He got a kick out of our exuberant whoops and hollers as we motored through the waves.
On the Chao Phraya River
I’d heard about a great riverside restaurant called Naam 1608 and was excited about enjoying a meal there, perched over the river. However, after we got off the boat and walked into the small village, I learned that Naam 1608 is closed on Mondays! Ooof! Trip Planner Fail on my part. I owned it. We went back to the pier and hired another longtail boat to take us to ICONSIAM on the other side of the river. ICONSIAM was on my itinerary anyway so the impact of my fail was minimal. I knew we’d be able to find great food there. There were two Chinese men on the pier, tourists who were also headed to ICONSIAM, so we split the cost of the boat, 250 Baht ($10 CAD) for each party, and they joined us.
ICONSIAM / Sook Siam: Foodie Heaven
ICONSIAM is the largest shopping centre in Bangkok, but it’s so much more than that. It features an indoor floating market and food bazaar called Sook Siam, as well as a huge fountain on the riverside with light shows at night that are extremely popular with locals, Instagrammers and tourists alike. The disappointment I’d felt about food hunting at Chatuchak yesterday was about to be smashed into oblivion!
We headed in and found Sook Siam in minutes. Talk about foodie heaven! Stall after stall of all kinds of awesome Thai food! My pre-trip YouTube research gave me enough knowledge of Thai that I can order food. There was only one stall where I couldn’t understand the vendor when she told me what was in the salad rolls, so I guessed. “Seafood?” She nodded yes. (It turned out to be crab.)
We bought meat on a stick–pork Isan sausage and bbq beef with veggies—deep fried chicken breast, roti with corn and cheese, coconut-pandan pancakes, a bunch of fresh longan, crab salad rolls, plus mango and sugar cane juice. We brought our own wooden travel cutlery so we could avoid the plastic spoons. “Mai ao mid, krab.” (I don’t want cutlery.) We took our culinary treasures outside and found a place to sit on the plaza by the water fountain and dug in! Everything was delicious. Aroy mak mak!!
The light show was scheduled to start at 6:30pm and the crowd was growing bigger. But I had only brought sunglasses and by 6:10pm it was getting dark and I thought that my decreasing ability to see clearly might impact navigation back to the hotel. We’d planned to take the BTS Skytrain back but after realizing it would take two changes of trains, I suggested we just take a cab. The cost of 332 Baht ($13.30 CAD) was well worth it after a day on our feet.
I was exhilarated when we got back to the hotel, high on a truly wonderful day in this great city, and decided to go down to the outdoor pool for a night swim before it closed at 8pm. This was a great idea! The infinity pool looks so cool all lit up at night with a great view of the city scape. I met a young man in the pool, Neil from Boulder CO, who was on a post-university graduation solo trip through Nepal, Bangkok and Hanoi and we had a nice conversation while cooling off in the pool.
I finished my night with some cold Chang beers while pouring over the hundreds of photos I took throughout the day. They can’t adequately capture the grandeur of the Grand Palace or Wat Pho but I’ll always carry some of that beauty in my heart.