We knew Bangkok was going to be a big urban immersion. We didn’t know (or we were too stubborn to listen) we would be a bit done with it after a few days. Local’s eyebrows would shoot up when they learned we were here for a week. But cities are cities. They are tiring, noisy, dirty, smelly, chaotic, touristy, wealthy, poor, exciting, fascinating, angry, and kind, all in one breath. We have very little that compares with these sort of destinations with 11.2 million people in one place, so when presented with the opportunity we like going in for a good look. We were up for it! Bangkok has delivered on all fronts. It’s an assault on every fiber of your mind and body.

We learned ahead of time to get the GRAB app for taxi service as it is the Asian Uber and it is reliable. We had the eSIM organized to be ready for Thailand before we even got off the plane. We had about 400Thai Baht to pay for cab if need be.  Half of our 9-hour flight was crossing Australia! So, as we landed in Bangkok International Airport – “Suvarnabhumi” we were ready to wander! The airport greets you with very long people moving walkways that speed you to the necessary gates, checkpoints and information signs to successfully enter the country. Our 10kg baggage was 3kg too large so we had checked our carry-ons. Finding the carousel was easily managed. A large arrivals sign with all the flights coming in told the passengers which flight, gate, time, and which carousel. Good thing as we started looking at carousel #35 before we figured out the sign would send us to #9. It had to be a full football field away. Through the border check, bags assembled, we marched on towards the exit. The GRAB app showed us as the little blue dot, so we put in the name of the hotel to order the GRAB and went outside. But there were no taxis or grab assembly point at that door. We had 8 minutes before it would arrive. Where the fuck were we? A sinking feeling fueled by a long and cramped up flight began to well up in our midsections. And where were the cars? The app had a help find the meeting point click and up came the directions with pictures of what we should see as we chased through throngs of tired, fellow travelers from all corners of the world, to the floor below us. We arrived at the meeting point with 2 minutes to spare having elbowed and pushed our way forward. This would become a common theme on the network of transit venues we would use in the coming days. We watched our screen amid confused and panicky out bound travelers. Our driver arrived, we pushed through and jumped in. Whew!! Much relieved, we were whisked away to the designated destination. When we arrived at a huge mall that housed IKEA, we knew we messed up. The name of our hotel must have resembled something else on the search screen without my glasses!! Credit card charge of $12CAD (300THB) down the tube.  The driver stoically drove us to our destination without being on the GRAB app. Cash only. He had EVERY opportunity to rip us off, but he was awesome. Two hands on the steering wheel at all times through some harrowing traffic. We got to our hotel half an hour later, paid him cash – he asked for 250THB, and we gave 300. Whew!! Our hotel, Hyde Park Hotel, at $42/night was just fine and the rooftop pool was refreshing after each day of wandering. It was a bit rough with some wallpaper peeling or scuffed but clean and the bed was really comfy. No windows, hmm well that meant no mosquitoes too! The great shower was essential to wash away the particulate that remains on skin after a day of trekking around in the mid 30’s heat and smog. Our immediate area of town, Ratchathewi, has a lot of traffic and noise but our room was really quiet. 

Signs, signs, everywhere are signs. And once we figured them out we were golden.

 The staff were kind and had enough English for us to not have to bring out our Google Translate!! What would we do without our phones?? We also had close access to the MRT subway, BST line and airport rapid transit line. Our needs were met. Moving onward and outward would be easier with this as our base.

We dropped our stuff and headed out to find our first real meal of the day, 20 hours after waking up in Adelaide!! Pad Thai, dry ribs, a beer and a Coke.

Day one Bangkok was watching and learning the system of paying for public transit and getting around their rapid transit systems. The red line – Airport line – requires buying a token with cash that is used to tap in and is deposited into a slot in the turnstile when exiting. One stop away is the Metro train line where we found out we could tap in and out with our credit cards, avoiding ticket selling lineups. Using our google maps, we headed to Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan or Wat Po for short!

Hordes of people come for that photo of the reclining, 46-meter-long, gold Buddha. The staff watched carefully as thousands of tourists removed shoes, moved along, didn’t touch and were circulated out.

We meandered the rest of the temple and felt the heat of the day pushing us to the busy river. There was a pier ready for passengers and we got on. We weren’t sure where we were going so we gave the ticket seller the fare for going to the end, 17BHT each. With the wind in our faces, we jetted northbound along the Chao Phraya River past temples, riverboats, tour boats, tugboats, fishing boats, ferries, plastic garbage and lilies. Beauty and chaos defined in every direction. We passed the Thai Parliament building with her enormous golden temple top. 

We hopped off, checked the google, and found another train nearby. The BTS is a newer transit line that is not part of the MTS metro system. It operates on a few different pay systems. One is called the Rabbit card, a reloadable card that taps in and out. 100BHT buys the card and it can be reloaded in 100 BHT installments. Or pay cash for the ticket and jump on. We considered the BTS, but the Metro and train lines were closest to our destination so chose the latter as we didn’t know how often we would choose the MTS line. The BTS is about double the cost of the MTS metro and runs above ground. MTS is both above and below. Both provide life giving, cool, airconditioned cars. The BTS stopped about a 20-minute walk from our hotel so we jumped on to head home.

Along the way we found an ok restaurant and tried their dry ribs and green curry. Honestly, I am sure, with all the experience in my career, that what they served us as ribs was a cartilage bomb not resembling any rib cartilage (let alone an animal common to this dish) and the curry was very sweet! We lived, and have a stronger gut biome to move forward with. It looked better than it tasted.

Our trip to Bangkok has rolled mostly like that. Get up, find some food, figure out where we are going while eating, walk around a bit, hop on a train to the destination, get lost a bit, see the sights, be hot and exhausted, crave a swim, crave a beer, return to hotel, have a nap, have a swim, head out for dinner somewhere, walk a new route, return to hotel, shower, sleep. We are averaging about 16,000-20,000 steps each day.

We had breakfast at and walked around the Chatuchak Weekend Market. This little market is the largest in Thailand and boasts 15,000 stalls and 200,000 visitors each weekend. 

During one of our morning walks looking for breakfast, we happened upon a canal boat and hopped on. Bangkok is known as the Venice of the East. Built on a wetland of former rice paddies, this city is riddled with water ways (called Khlongs). Some are used for drainage, some routing water systems, and many are used as transportation systems. We jumped on a boat, 14TBH ($.60) each, and thought we were heading for the new city. But we were off to the old city. When we disembarked a kind man explained the map of the area to us. He gently recommended we take a Tuk Tuk to the temple we found interesting and a few more stops. All for 100BHT ($4.20CAD) each. OK! You should take a Tuk Tuk at least once while your in Bangkok so we did.

By the end of the day, we had been to many Buddhas on the “Free Today” occasion, along with the many faithful Thai who were honouring their deceased and praying for the health and prosperity of their families.

We also were dropped at a few merchants who gave the Tuk Tuk driver the kickback to have the tourist delivered. We tired of this and asked to be delivered to the metro.  By the end of the ride, we were owners of a mass produced shirt from a tailor who offered up custom made and gorgeous clothing but poor us – no room in the suitcase (really!, we live in a small trailer so a suit is out of the question no matter what the pedigree!!) Additionally, we declined a jewelry store keeper a purchase of her gleaming wares (her eyes rolled when I steered us toward the silver earrings rather than gold). A lot of this was the result of caffeine depleted brains that we were intent on fixing before we bumped into the kind map informer. This was a must do task for the driver and he did deliver us to a delicious (and maybe a bit expensive) breakfast along a canal with excellent Thai coffee.

But the big win for him and in fact us, was going to the Tourist Information shop, which is a private travel agent company. We were looking for a little information and left after purchasing a 2-week plan for the rest of our Thailand trip! It touches most of the bases, includes hotel, all transfers and travel, cycling in a national park, swimming in a waterfall, a cooking class, guided temple tours and 5 cities. It is not an organized tour but designed around what we told her. All in for 2 weeks it came to $1200CAD (about $100 per day for both of us) and we don’t have to do anything but show up. We have lots of free time worked in and it’s the type of travel we were going to do anyway, trains etc. Now we don’t have to sweat the logistics minute to minute. Sit back and enjoy the ride for two weeks.

There are many parks to be seen and we wanted to fit in some visited to a few that contribute some peace and tranquility to an otherwise chaotic, noisy living environment. One of these side trips was spent on the Green Mile. A system of raised walkways leading through one park called Benchakitti and continuing on to another called Lumphini. It was great 12 KM meander on beautiful trails through well cared for gardens, water features and overhanging trees. An oasis for sure. After all the maddening crowd battles, we thoroughly enjoyed the fresher air and greenery.

Yesterday we headed to the Snake Farm. This attraction is well known for its research on vaccines for rabies, and other diseases. The snakes are used as venom donors in order to produce anti-venom. Upon arrival at the university that houses it, we realized that the Red Cross is involved in the research too.

But it was closed for Duck Day. I think maybe it meant Duhkha day, which when researched has many meanings but my takeaway was “unsatisfactory” day. This in turn allows one to recognize satisfaction. Alas, no Snake tour.  So we walked and found the flower market and the train station and its three headed elephant sculpture. Many people were just sitting there in the air conditioned hall. Us too.

We have stopped for a few tastes of street food. And we buy all our fruit peeled and ready to eat off the street vendors. The mangoes make you cry with delight. Many different street foods are ready to hit the grill or are prepared and packaged ready to eat. These foods often have no one purchasing from them and are little pop ups that have no refrigeration or any ice packs. In 35 degree heat the skewers of hotdogs, marinated chicken and fish balls are all sweating in the sun. So we walk on by. We have not had any serious stomach upsets as of yet. Water is all bottled for consumption and sold for cheap at the many 7/11s and the ice is from ice companies. If the beer is warm, we have it over ice. 7/11 will sell a small bag of ice for under $.50. When two big beer and a bag of ice come to 120 BHT ($5) from 7/11, we have that poolside on the roof of our building. Not a bad life.

Our favourite restaurant in our neighbourhood has been “Please Eat 69”. We have had one late lunch that doubled as dinner and two breakfasts there. The food is fresh and the people proud of their wares. When reading the comments, one contributor said it was equal or better than some of the Thai Michelin restaurants. We walked past one Michelin resto, “80/20” that was closed until dinner and required a reservation anyway, so on we marched! Below a couple of photos of yummy sauce and meals from “69” . Finishing up this blog, I had Pad Thai breakfast in bed!! The sauteed noodles were wrapped in a thin omelette. So lovely!! Sorry, that one had a picture I couldn’t make public!!

We skipped the wild side of Bangkok including Khaosan Road. Maybe in another life. Tomorrow we fly to Chiang Mai and our travel agent’s “brother” will greet us at the airport. Our Thailand Part 2 “Planned” adventure begins! We aren’t going to rule out the odd unscheduled surprise but hey, as we like to say, it’s the journey not the destination that counts. Stay tuned lots more to come from Thailand.