Our first full day in Bangkok began with phone calls to the family (Friday morning for us, Thanksgiving night with them - we video called in to join the festivities of each of our families - sad to miss one of our favorite holidays!) it was really wonderful to talk to you all. We headed downstairs to the guest house restaurant, where we had some delicious panang curry (yes, for breakfast). Little did we know what would be waiting for us on the streets. Wandering down the neighboring alleys and streets we found an overwhelming number of food stalls, little grocery stores, and every fresh and wonderful ingredient a cook could ever want. The snack situation was pretty incredible, too. We sampled a few items, like crunchy sweet crepes filled taco style, barbecued chicken street side with a tangy spicy sauce, and tiny donuts made to order. We sat down to people watch for a while a some steps outside of a bank, and when the sun got a little hot (about 2 minutes later) relocated in the shade next to a Thai woman smiling brightly at us.
We started up a conversation with her and learned that she had moved to Bangkok with her daughter a couple years before while most of her family lived in Phuket. Thankfully her family was unaffected by the flooding, but the water levels at her house in Bangkok across the river were still up to here, she said, gesturing to the visibly dry skin right below her knee. Upon hearing it was our first day in Bangkok, she immediately grabbed our map and starting planning our day. We were in luck, she said, it was a holiday where many of the historical and religious monuments were free admission, and the tuk tuks with the Thai yellow flags were significantly reduced in price. She plotted out a 3-4 hour mini tour for us, put us in the right tuk tuk, negotiated a very fair price for the full day with the driver (about $1.30 for the both of us), and wrote down a couple words to know in Thai (the standard hello, goodbye, thank you, etc). Honestly, one of the best people we've met this trip, and the timing of our meeting couldn't have been better.
We first went to the tourist center to buy our bus tickets to Chiang Mai the following evening (10 hour overnight bus). We then headed over to Wat Desanukaram, or the Lucky Buddha as our tuk tuk driver called it. It was a beautiful Buddha statue and we were encouraged to take a picture and then keep that picture in our wallet or under our pillow for good luck. We made a stop after this at what we understood to be a suit shop where our driver could pick up his government issued gas voucher if we just pretended to be interested in suits for about 15 minutes. It seemed (and we could be very wrong about this) that the government owned these shops as part an effort to increase tourism, and if tuk tuk drivers around the city brought tourists in, they would receive free gas. We then drove on to the Gold Mount, a giant dome shaped hill with a winding staircase around the side. At the top, a temple with windows on all sides overlooking a stunning view of the city. After, one more stop at a suit shop, felt a little bad just wasting their time... Last stop was the Wat Indrawihan, which our driver affectionately referred to as "big Buddha". We walked around a small parking lot area to see a huge golden statue, about 32 meters high and 10 meters wide.
We then parted ways with our tuk tuk driver, and walked back to our hotel. We had a delicious frozen mango shake along the way, probably the best we've had so far, and stopped for a quick snack at a noodle stall. We ordered what was descibed in english as yellow noodles, pork, and wonton and was turned out to be amazing. It was a deliciously balanced pork broth, rich and a little spicy, with fresh thin egg noodles, herbs, scallions, and tiny fresh ground pork wonton dumplings. On top was sliced pork, probably the leanest we've had, but barbecued in what I believe is the Chinese style Char Siu (spelled char siew in Thailand I think). Great lunch snack. We also picked up some fresh cut watermelon along the way, and some skewers of grilled pork (are we eating too much pork?) dipped in two different sauces, one sweet, and one spicy and sour. Delicious.
The rest of the day was spent wandering by foot around the small side street, enjoying the great people watching with some ginger tea at the end of the day. One more day in Bangkok tomorrow, then heading north to Chiang Mai in the evening!
Panang curry
Hanging out in the hotel lobby
Curry stall
Crunchy snack that tasted like frosted flakes
Rows of dried goods
Each bin has a different curry paste with an amazing aromas
Prepared lunches to go
Taco stand?
Sweet little shells filled with dried fruits and lemongrass
Chicken stand
Wings and dipping sauce? Yes please
Bag o' donuts
We started up a conversation with her and learned that she had moved to Bangkok with her daughter a couple years before while most of her family lived in Phuket. Thankfully her family was unaffected by the flooding, but the water levels at her house in Bangkok across the river were still up to here, she said, gesturing to the visibly dry skin right below her knee. Upon hearing it was our first day in Bangkok, she immediately grabbed our map and starting planning our day. We were in luck, she said, it was a holiday where many of the historical and religious monuments were free admission, and the tuk tuks with the Thai yellow flags were significantly reduced in price. She plotted out a 3-4 hour mini tour for us, put us in the right tuk tuk, negotiated a very fair price for the full day with the driver (about $1.30 for the both of us), and wrote down a couple words to know in Thai (the standard hello, goodbye, thank you, etc). Honestly, one of the best people we've met this trip, and the timing of our meeting couldn't have been better.
We first went to the tourist center to buy our bus tickets to Chiang Mai the following evening (10 hour overnight bus). We then headed over to Wat Desanukaram, or the Lucky Buddha as our tuk tuk driver called it. It was a beautiful Buddha statue and we were encouraged to take a picture and then keep that picture in our wallet or under our pillow for good luck. We made a stop after this at what we understood to be a suit shop where our driver could pick up his government issued gas voucher if we just pretended to be interested in suits for about 15 minutes. It seemed (and we could be very wrong about this) that the government owned these shops as part an effort to increase tourism, and if tuk tuk drivers around the city brought tourists in, they would receive free gas. We then drove on to the Gold Mount, a giant dome shaped hill with a winding staircase around the side. At the top, a temple with windows on all sides overlooking a stunning view of the city. After, one more stop at a suit shop, felt a little bad just wasting their time... Last stop was the Wat Indrawihan, which our driver affectionately referred to as "big Buddha". We walked around a small parking lot area to see a huge golden statue, about 32 meters high and 10 meters wide.
On the tuk tuk
The ones in Thailand are a little smaller.. also have fantastic stickers
Lucky Buddha
View from the top of Gold Mount
A huge gong outside the entrance.. it took a lot for Elliot to resist
BIG Buddha
We then parted ways with our tuk tuk driver, and walked back to our hotel. We had a delicious frozen mango shake along the way, probably the best we've had so far, and stopped for a quick snack at a noodle stall. We ordered what was descibed in english as yellow noodles, pork, and wonton and was turned out to be amazing. It was a deliciously balanced pork broth, rich and a little spicy, with fresh thin egg noodles, herbs, scallions, and tiny fresh ground pork wonton dumplings. On top was sliced pork, probably the leanest we've had, but barbecued in what I believe is the Chinese style Char Siu (spelled char siew in Thailand I think). Great lunch snack. We also picked up some fresh cut watermelon along the way, and some skewers of grilled pork (are we eating too much pork?) dipped in two different sauces, one sweet, and one spicy and sour. Delicious.
Awesome
The rest of the day was spent wandering by foot around the small side street, enjoying the great people watching with some ginger tea at the end of the day. One more day in Bangkok tomorrow, then heading north to Chiang Mai in the evening!
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