Throwback! Kyle's Travelogue Thailand: One Week in Bangkok (1/4)

This 4-part throwback post was originally published in 2014 on  http://michaeldesrosiers.blogspot.com/ during Kyle's visit to Bangkok, Thailand. I still think that this series is one of Kyle's bests pieces of writing! It's a long one, but definitely worth the read.
-Michael

Part 1: One Week In Bangkok

Special guest author: Kyle Desrosiers

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I just got home from visiting my brother Michael in Thailand and I'll be covering some of my adventures here. We spent just over two weeks in Thailand. The majority of the first week was spent in Bangkok with Michael. During the second week we went to the ancient Siamese capital Ayutthaya to participate in an elephant camp. After hanging out with elephants for a few days, we moved on to the royal resort town Hua Hin on the Gulf of Thailand before heading back to Bangkok.

                                           

July 8, 2014

Due to a 4-hour maintenance delay at DFW, we missed our flight from Tokyo and had to take a bus from Nartia Airport to Haneda Airport halfway across town to make our new flight. I would have been more interested in taking the bus across Tokyo if it were't 10pm and I wasn't so jet-lagged. At least I got my passport stamped, and got to compare the fascinating high-tech toilets at the different airports in Japan.

July 10

After a grueling 32+ hours spent in transit, my mom, my sister, and I finally arrived at Suvarnabhumi International Airport just as the sun was rising. We cleared customs and took a bright pink taxi-van to the hotel. The first things I noticed on the ride to the was how everything was so green and tropical and how many rooftops had golden spirit houses (shrines for the guardian spirits, very common in Thailand). We got to the Marriott, and crashed for several hours. That afternoon, we met Michael after he left work for a late som tam lunch downtown. The restaurant, Som Tam Nua, was recommended to Michael by his students, and that afternoon he took us there to try some famous papaya salad (som tam) and Thai fried chicken. The restaurant was crowded but cozy, and I noticed that both the stools and portion sizes were significantly smaller than in the US.

lunch at Som Tam Nua

Afterwards, we took the BTS Skytrain to the Jim Thompson house, an interesting museum about Thai culture and art in traditional Thai houses. There was cool Siamese and Burmese art and furniture; also some intricate Chinese spittoons. I heard an Islamic call-to-prayer from the Muslim district across the murky canal, blending with the traditional Thai music playing from the courtyard. Bangkok is a very diverse and also very crowded city. On the way back to the Skytrain, we stopped by the famous Erawan Shrine, a large outdoor Buddhist site at the Erawan Hotel downtown. The air was foggy with incense, and it was packed with people saying prayers and bringing donations for monks in preparation for Buddhist lent. We watched as Thai dancers sang and danced for people who had donated and wanted to be prayed over in a musical prayer. It was an awesome place.

Jim Thompson's House

Finally, we had Chinese for dinner at the International Food Loft in one of Bangkok's iconic luxury mega-malls, and then had dessert at a famous desert cafe After You, where we had cheese-pie and delicious honey toast. I was exhausted that day, and slept soundly.

After You Honey Toast

July 11

It was Vassa, an important Buddhist holiday, so Michael had school off. He was able to meet us bright and early at the hotel. We got on the Skytrain and rode to the khlong dock to board Bangkok's canal boat line. For about thirty cents we got to experience how many locals get around; there were no other foreigners besides us on board. We sped through the brown waters of the canal, as water splashed up, and we rocked back and forth.

We arrived at Wat Saket, the Golden Mount. The wat is a huge temple built on an ancient hill, and it was a sensory overload. 

Wat Saket

Arriving at the beautiful mount, I heard monks chanting prayers on the loudspeakers, the ringing of gongs and bells as people wound there way up the outside of the temple, and the clanging of coins as the faithful made merit.

 It was a holiday, so it was packed. We wound our way up the temple, ringing the bells, then at the top, we took off our shoes, bought incense to light and a gold leaf to place on a Buddha statue to make merit with the rest of the Thai visitors. 

There was an amazing view of the city at the top of the chedi, and the temple was an impressive display of Thai culture and faith. 

Michael mentioned that he had never seen this temple so crowded, but it was interesting for me to see it during a holiday celebration. Wat Saket was one of my favorite places in Bangkok.

Next, we walked to Loha Prasat, known as the Black Temple of Metallic Castle. It was a refuge within the loud city, and there were few people there. 

Loha Prasat

We climbed our way up as we read sayings of the Buddha, and looked out on various levels for great 360 degree views of the city. Afterwards, while my mom and sister rested, Michael took me to a giant amulet market on the property. It was crowded and packed with stalls, and smelled of incense. I didn't really understand what the many of the items for sale meant, but it was still fascinating to watch people bartering for amulets, prayer beads, statues, and other religious items.

Later, we headed boat to Central World, one of Bangkok's biggest malls, and ate lunch at a place called Omurice, a Japanese omelet restaurant (one of Michael's favorite places for lunch). The omelet on rice was delicious, and I had never had anything like it before.

We rode the Skytrain back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. At the train station, we payed 20 baht and received blessings from Buddhist nuns, where they prayed and tied string on our wrists. 

meeting some Buddhist nuns

That night we took a riverboat on the Chao Phraya river to Asiatique, an outdoor night-market built at an old river warehouse. It was a great first full day in Bangkok.

July 12

The next morning, we took the MRT subway to the end of the line to Bangkok Chinatown, one of the world's oldest Chinatown neighborhoods. My dad had flown in the night before, so finally the whole Desrosiers gang was reunited. 

We walked to Wat Traimit, home to the world's largest solid gold Buddha. 

Wat Traimit

The story goes, that it was covered in plaster to protect from thieves as it traveled to Thailand, and it was forgotten. One day it was dropped as it was being moved. The clay cracked open, revealing the extremely valuable golden statue.

It was a massive temple and the Buddha seemed confident and peaceful as dozens made their prayers and donations.

 I lost my ticket that foreiners have to buy to enter the wat, but the caretaker let me in anyway. I saw it as a display of Thai friendliness and trusting character. 

receiving a blessing from a monk

We explored a small Buddhist chapel at the enterance of a Chinese hospital, and walked through the quiet early-morning neighborhood to Hua Lampon National Train Station.

Chinatown

We ate a Thai lunch at Siam Paragon, Bangkok's most famous upscale mall, and then went to another dessert cafe, White Flower, where we had rich tiarmasu and cheesecake. Next we took a cab to the Marble Temple, the royal temple associated with Michael's school. We explored the grounds and got a chance to feed massive catfish in the river that ran through the property. There was a beautiful sanctuary, and a chapel sponsored by Pepsi-Cola (not really sure how that works...).

The Marble Temple

Then, we walked around Dusit neighborhood, where Michael's school is, and got to look at Chitralada Palace School from a distance. We couldn't go in to the school, but it was interesting to finally see where he works and spends time.

feeding the fish at Wat Benchamabophit

Later, we took a free city bus to catch the Skytrain at Victoy Monument station, where there is a round-a-bout where brightly colorful taxis rushed through a major intersection. I couldn't help but thinking that Bangkok reminded me of photos I've seen of the hodge-podge of old and new, the crowdedness, and the colorfulness of India, only a little cleaner and better-organized.

Bus #8

July 13

Michael came to our hotel early the next morning, and we hired a cab to take us to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on the Chao Phraya for Sunday Dim Sum brunch. The Oriental, once owned by Jim Thompson, is a world famous five-star hotel.

tea at the Oriental

We arrived too early, so we had tea and cookies in the lobby as we waited. We walked out to the hotel terrace overlooking the Chao Phraya, and had a great view of all the action going on up and down the river. It was a cloudy day, and also a bit windy, but we were able to see lots of fish swimming in the river. 

Michael had made a reservation for the 11 o'clock brunch, and I got to try all kinds of Cantonese clssics, like the beef stew, dumplings, century eggs (eggs buried in lime to build flavor), and even caviar and noodles (caviar doesn't really taste like anything). For dessert, there were moon cakes, all kinds of fresh fruit- mango, pinapple, leychee (my favorite- kind of a cross between berries and an orange), and ramboutan (small citrus fruits covered in a hairy, hard shell). There was also really good green tea. The China House restaurant is said to serve the best dim sum outside of Canton.

It was delicious

Next, we crammed all five of us into a taxi (which meant 4 in the back seat), and rode a harrowing ride to the Grand Palace complex. I notice that in Bangkok, red lights don't really apply, and neither does the side of the street you're supposed to drive on. We made it there in one piece and in record time. At least metered taxis are pretty cheap in Bangkok.

Wat Phra Kaew

We made it to the Grand Palace, where Michael was able to flash his palace ID and get in free; the rest of us had to pay 500 baht each. Michael was very smug that he got to enter the palace as a Thai rather than wait in the long farang line. 

not a farang

My mom and sister had sleeveless dresses on, and had to go buy baggy t-shirts to cover up in order to be let inside this most holy and important site in all of Thailand.

It was crowded, as the palace one of the most famous tourist attractions in the city, and I saw people of many faiths and nationalities all crowded together to see the palace and the famous Wat Phra Kaew, home of the Emerald Buddha. Pictures aren't allowed in the temple, so we had to just observe.

We took off our shoes, and went inside. The Emerald Buddha was a lot smaller than I expected, but was sitting at the top of a tall and ornate shrine of gold. It was an impressive site, as it's the most famous in all of Thai Buddhism. It's a site so holy, that only the King of Thailand is allowed to approach the Emerald Buddha.

We walked by the massive Grand Palace, used for ceremony but where no royals currently live. I got my picture made with the stoic and stone-still guard. It was built in the 1700's and an interesting cross between European Victorian style and traditional Thai architecture.

Next, we walked to Wat Pho, The Temple of The Reclining Buddha. It was also packed with tourists, but it was something I had really been wanting to see. We walked around the chapel, where the giant Budhha lay in his nirvana position. Even his feet were massive and intricate.

Leaving Wat Pho, we walked to the Chao Phraya river, where we boarded the river ferry. There we were amazed with views from the rocking boat. We arrived at the colossal Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn. 

Wat Arun - the Temple of the Dawn

We climbed up the steep steps on the outside of the shrine, and saw amazing views of the city and the river. It's strange that the massive stone temple that looks so ancient is only a few hundred years old. We bought some smoothies and headed back to the boat, just as lightning struck and dark clouds rolled over. We hopped the Chao Phraya Express Orange-Flag Line boat and cruised back past the Oriental Hotel to the BTS Skytrain station.

But, it didn't start raining until much later that night, when we were back at the hotel. We were very lucky to barely get sprinkled on the whole time we were in Bangkok, as it was the beginning of the rainy season. We ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant, where I had a tasty cashew pad Thai. 

July 14

It was time to leave Bangkok and see some other parts of the country. We woke up very early to meet our hired van to Ayutthaya, where we were going to spend a few days at an elephant reserve. I overslept and had to pack hastily. We pulled out just as the sun was rising, and made it quickly through Bangkok's traffic. More on that later...