Bangkok, Thailand
Hong Kong river cruise, Chatachak weekend market and Thai massages, April 22, 2005
After another great Cathay Pacific flight, we arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. It was sad to see the signs still up at the airport for tsunami
relief workers and victims. There was a long line outside for taxis and we headed for the hotel.
While Hong Kong seemed easy and familiar to us, Thailand is different. This is hot, steamy raw Siam. Traffic is slow and there are smells of
curry, fish sauce, jungle and trash. However, the city has lots of contrasts. There are roosters in the median of the highway, while brand new
Mercedes are driving past 3-wheeled bicycles called "tuk tuks". The people are more laid back, seem to be smiling all the time and always greet
us with a short bow. There is also a warm energy in the city. With the tropical environment, there are plants and flowers everywhere. We really
enjoy the orchids, which were what we had at our wedding in Jamaica.
We check in to the 5 star Westin hotel here and feel like we are kings and queens. Thanks to Priceline.com, we are staying at 4 and 5 star hotels
for $100 a night during our Asia trip. However, we can't get used to this, since the same $100 is only buying us a hostel for our Europe trip in
a month.
After being on the go so much during our trip, we take a break and spend the whole afternoon in the spa here. It was wonderful, we may do this
every day here...
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After the massage and a 4 hour nap (our sleep schedules are completely off), we headed out for the night. Even at night, it is hot and steamy
here (Stacy loves it!). Our first stop is a dinner of authentic Thai cuisine. The red curry and our garlic pork were several steps above any Thai
we've had in the states, and only cost $2 a dish!
We jumped into a cab for a popular bar we had read about, but the cab driver took us to the latest popular club instead, with new, shiny black
Mercedes and Range Rovers lined up outside. After our cheap cover fee that included two free drinks, we started to dance. The DJ was great and
played some funky beats. The crowd appeared to be some wealthy young locals, along with some European and Australian tourists. Stacy is still
pretty much the only blonde though.
April 25, 2005
On Saturday, we figured out the elevated train and the subway system here, so we took the train to Siam Square which is a shopping and
basically hang-out area for the local youth. Most of the stores are small, independent shops and many are even temporary stalls, but there was
also a Hard Rock Cafe and things like that. We noticed in Hong Kong, but even more so here, Asians love to shop! We had a great lunch at a
restaurant by the American embassy. It was our hottest meal yet, but I think we say that every meal we have here!
The heat and steam outside are a little tiring, so we take our walks in shifts, and try to stop at air-conditioned restaurants and shops every
little bit. After the shops, we took the train back to the hotel (the elevated train is also a great way to see the city, which is very spread
out, and traffic is extremely slow). We went to the hotel pool, which is on an 8th floor terrace and is beautiful.
That evening, we went to a Korean barbecque for dinner. We've never had it before, and no one in the restaurant spoke English, so it was a little
challenging. We were trying to order, and our first waitress, a young girl, ran away from the table laughing before we could finish. Another
waitress had to take over, and proceeded to bring dozens of unidentifiable dishes to our table. We figured out what was the barbecque pork that
we ordered, but not much else.
After dinner, we headed to the Silom area in Patpong which has night market stalls along the street, and lots of go-go bars. It was early in the
evening, and we went into one little, almost empty, bar playing good music for a few drinks. After a while, it became obvious we were in a gay
bar. I think the old American army guy smoking a cigar at the bar was as surprised as us. When the drag queens walked in, we walked out....
We thought we would call it an evening, but it wasn't as easy as that. Very few Thai speak English, so the hotel gives us cards that say "Hello,
I am staying at the Westin Sukumvhit, please take me to this address..." written in Thai. We got into a cab, handed the card to the driver, and
started down the street. Although the driver was Thai, he was unfortunately illiterate, which we figured out when he held the card upside down
and looked confused. We made him stop the cab and we got out, trying a second cab. This driver was illiterate AND had a glass eye! Still laughing
and wondering if we were actually going to make it home that night (the train had stopped running by then), we finally found a third cab driver
who could read the directions and spoke a little English. However, we only made it a block in the cab before there was a huge traffic jam. Of
course! An elephant was crossing the highway!
On Sunday morning, we succombed to getting pizza for breakfast to calm our stomachs after all the spicy food we've eaten so far. We ordered a
plain pizza with tomatos, onions, and ham. After half an hour, we were wondering if our food would be out soon, when we saw the owner walk back
into the restaurant with tomatos, onions, and ham. Looked like this was going to take a while, but it was good when it finally came!
We took the train to the Chatachak weekend market which was enormous (over 40 acres). It was all tiny stalls, selling everything you can imagine,
and would take several days to see each stall. Although very hot, as it was all outside, it was fun seeing all the local families coming to the
market to shop and eat. Too bad we don't have room to bring more things home, as we especially like some of the furniture, vases, and small
Buddhas we've seen here and in Hong Kong.
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After a rough day, another $10 massage was in order. Mel tried the traditional Thai massage, which involves a lot of stretching and pressure
points. After another nap, we did a famous Chao Phraya River cruise, seeing the Temple of Dawn, the King and Queen's Grand Palace, the Rama VIII
bridge and some other sights. The temples look as good as the pictures suggest, very ornate and architectually detailed. The cruise was two
hours, with a great Thai buffet and some wine, which is somewhat rare here, since it is so hot and many restaurants don't have air conditioning.
Stacy and I both danced with our waitress on the boat, and one of the other workers asked if we were movie stars. After dinner (and another
elephant on the highway sighting), we headed to a bar at the new Metropolitan hotel, which looked very South Beach-ish and trendy. It was a
private party; we had gotten invited by the promoter of the DJ we had seen at the club we went to our first night here. It was a lot of fun, and
we got a great night's sleep back at the hotel.
Now it's Monday afternoon, and we've had an amazing Indian lunch, with tender Tandoori chicken and a vindaloo different from any other we've had.
Off to China town this afternoon, maybe another massage, and then our last night in Bangkok!
 April 27, 2005
An afternoon in Bangkok's Chinatown felt more like being in China than Hong Kong did. We pass through a couple streets and we are suddenly in
a maze of small allies filled with stalls full of everything you can imagine. Actually, most of it was things you can't even imagine, as we
couldn't identify most of it in the food stalls. There were stalls of curries, tea leaves, fruits, fried somethings, and raw fish. By now, we are
experts at identifying which stalls to hold our breathes as we pass, as the fish stores in Hong Kong, elsewhere in Bangkok and here in the China
town are very pungent. We were the only white people here, but most people acted like we weren't there. Chinatown was also clearly a major trade
area, as we passed wholesale storefronts, where Indian businessmen were bargaining with Chinese salespeople who were selling Thai-made shoes,
belts, bathroom fixtures, diesel motors, etc. We saw small storefront factories where workers were twisting strands of steel cables by hand.
Before leaving Chinatown, we stopped at a dim sum restaurant for a bite to eat. We ordered, and accidentally got a custard bun (which we would
never have tried normally), but it was sweet and amazing.
We took the train back to the Sukumvhit area where our hotel was and stopped for another massage. This was a two hour one and was a workout! We
both got a Thai massage which beat up our muscles and left us feeling sore and a little tired for the next day.
For dinner, we broke two of our eating rules: 1. Never eat at any place recommended in the guidebook, and 2. Never eat at any place that's not
crowded with locals. However, we wanted some authentic Vietnamese food to compare to back home, and there was a place recommended which was close
to our hotel. It was a nice restaurant, however, the food was just okay. The kick in the ass was when the bill came and we figured out that they
had charged us for our napkins and glasses of water, in addition to the usual 10% "service charge" which is common at restaurants here. We have
to expect that this will happen once in a while, especially when we are in Europe in a month, but we would feel a lot more comfortable arguing
about it there than getting thrown into a Thai jail.
Overall, it was a good night though, as we had three elephant sightings! We also walked back to the hotel through the Soi Cowboy "Cowboy Street"
which gained fame for the women who service GI's during and after the Vietnam war. It's still common today as many of the tourists here in
Bangkok are single guys who came here. Even our dinner cruise on a nice yacht had older English men with their "dates". We ended the night at an
outdoor cafe with a nearly full moon above.
Thoughts on Bangkok- We would love to come back to Thailand, but would like to hit the islands and beaches where we could enjoy the Thai food,
friendliness, and weather. It's hard to describe the contrasts in Bangkok. The people are friendly, but the hawkers trying to sell you knock-off
clothing, the taxi drivers, and the restaurant and bar touts are annoying- probably due to how poor most of the people are. The city seems modern
at times, but then you realize an elephant is standing next to you on the sidewalk. It would appear that there is a lot of construction, but
actually many of the half-built skyscrapers are abandoned projects, many of them left after the 1997 Asian crisis. It was fun though, and we
enjoyed it as definitely the most different place we've seen. We are very excited to try cooking even more Thai dishes at home!
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