Back in 2013, The Wife and I had planned out a trip to Thailand in its entirety. We were just about to pull the trigger on purchasing airline tickets when we spontaneously decided to do something completely different and travel to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and go on safari.
Five years later, we still hadn't made it back to Thailand. After spending our winter break freezing in Spain, The Wife decided that she would rather spend our winter months in a warm locale. Hence, after a five year hiatus, our sights were turned back to Thailand.
A lot has changed with us and the country in those years. The island of Ko Phi Phi Leh (featured in the movie The Beach) was still The place to go in 2013. By the fall of 2018, it was closed indefinitely because of the ecological damage from the hordes of visitors who were overcrowding this beach.
Five years ago, it was just The Wife and I travelling. We had just gotten Scuba certified and had done our first real dives in the Red Sea. Unfortunately, that would be the last diving we would do as the The Kids would began adventuring with us. Since Thailand has some of the best diving spots in the world, it was only natural to consider renewing this activity.
We debated long and hard whether The Kids were ready to learn Scuba. The Girl was at the minimum age to get junior open water certified, and she has always been apprehensive in the past merely with snorkeling. However, she was eager to give it a try. So throughout the summer of 2018, The Kids took the open water classes and to their credit, they took it seriously. In September 2018, they passed their checkout dives in Mermet Springs,IL and Pelham, AL.
We decided to go all out and purchase our own scuba gear. We got a good deal on four Apex regulators and a Aqualung Zuma BCD for The Wife and I. For The Kids, we got them backplate and wing setups as we expected them to continue growing over the years. We also purchased some Oceanic dive computer watches off of Ebay. I was not satisfied with the underwater photo quality of just my GoPro, so I went a little nuts purchasing an underwater photography rig complete with strobes. Unfortunately, all of this gear takes up plenty of space, specifically more than two checked in bags full. Unlike Spain where we brought only four carry-on suitcases, we would need an additional four check-in bags to carry all of our gear.
I researched and planned much of the Scuba arrangements, whereas The Wife dealt with the logistics for our land travel. We also decided to squeeze in a couple days in Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, this wouldn't be enough to visit the infamous Cambodian shooting range in Phnom Penh, but I probably couldn't justify dropping $500 just to shoot a RPG...or a cow.
Late December rolled around and we were off to our journey to Thailand. Our Delta/Korean Airlines itinerary took us to airports in Atlanta, Inchon, and then Bangkok. We arrived in the city at midnight. The Wife had prearranged a van to take us to our airport. Unfortunately, she also got the date wrong. It really didn't matter as there was a plethora of inexpensive transportation options available even at that time of night.
We checked into the Centre Point Silom Hotel. We picked this location because of its close proximity to the historical and cultural sites near the Chao Phraya River and a MRT (subway) station that could transport us into the heart of the city. It also didn't hurt that our suite had a washer too.
*****
Saturday, December 22, 2018
*****
Despite the late arrival the previous night, we had no problems waking up early because of our time zone differences. We were able to appreciate the great view of the city and river from the balcony of our hotel. From the first deep breath I took, I knew I was in Asia. There's a certain smell to the Orient that the clean cities of North America and Europe lack. That familiar aroma composed of hot frying oil, fermented food that borders on rotten, and a small hint of raw sewage permeated my nostrils. I smiled as I relaxed on my balcony chair enjoying my instant coffee.
We headed downstairs for the complimentary breakfast buffet. Adjacent to the hotel's restaurant is their pool. Despite it being only 8 AM, guests were already swimming in the pool as it was already hot outside.
We've had some pretty lousy breakfast buffets during our travels, but this was not one of them. We were impressed by the variety of the spread available. The clientele at this hotel was very diverse, hence their offerings needed to reflect their needs. There were plenty of baked pastries for Americans and Europeans, classic Thai breakfast foods for locals, dim sum items for the Cantonese, and hearty dishes for those who wanted an early start on lunch.
My favorite breakfast item was the simple rice congee--mainly because of all the toppings that were available to add to it..
After breakfast, we walked a couple of blocks to the Sathorn pier to catch a water taxi. There were many people advertising private long tail boats that could take us on water cruises of the Chao Phraya River and take us wherever we wanted to go. These hawkers kept telling us that the main Express Boat taxis were too busy and that we would have to wait an hour to get on one of them. We ignored their sell, and spent about $2 purchasing four tickets for the Express Boat. Indeed we were on the tail end of a long queue, but five minutes later, a boat with an orange flag pulled up and everybody including us boarded. We were packed in pretty tightly as the boat's first mate kept blowing a whistle and yelling at people to move to the bow. Luckily, we all squeezed into a space along the edge of the taxi so that we could see the sights along the river. (Alternatively, for about $6, we could have taken a blue-flagged tourist Express Boat which makes fewer stops and is usually less crowded).
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| Despite the Bangkok heat and the crowded boat, the strong breeze kept us from feeling uncomfortably hot. |
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| Private rides on long tail boats can be a faster, but much more expensive option than an Express Boat. |
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| The Chao Phraya river is notoriously polluted. On our visit, it did not disappoint. |
After many stops, we finally disembarked at the Tha Chang dock. A few minutes walk later, we entered the Grand Palace. This large complex of buildings was formerly the official residence of the King of Thailand (formerly Siam) since the 18th century.
We first toured the Outer Court and made our way into the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The architecture was typical Thai with an abundance of gold and bright colors as well as Indian and Cham influences
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The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is dominated by two golden Chedi's. These stupas serve as shrines in the Buddhist's religion. The most important relic in the complex is a small Buddhist statue, ironically made out of jade rather than emeralds.
It was pretty difficult to appreciate this temple. The area was very crowded with tourists. The harsh sun was bearing down on us making it extremely hot. And we were still a little jet lagged. We ended up breezing through the complex without taking the time to understand its historical and cultural significance.
We continued on whereupon the buildings were more modern-designed, albeit with a Thai flair. These were mainly closed off to the public and consisted of throne rooms, halls for state functions, and residential areas.
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| These old cannons hark back to the Grand Palace's days as the king's fortress. |
Despite the obvious role of the Grand Palace as a tourist attraction, there is still a show of tight security. Guards armed with M-16 rifles still manned posts throughout the complex.
There was also a Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, but none of us were really interested in checking it out, especially since we couldn't go inside with our newly-bought ice cold beverages. We exited the complex and continued south until we reached the entrance of Wat Pho. Dating back to before the foundation of the Bangkok, this temple is considered one of the most important in the entire country. It has the largest collection of images of Buddha in the land.
However, it is probably best known for its 46 meter-long statue of the reclining Buddha. It's no small feet [sp] to be able to get the entire statue into the frame of a photograph.
Wat Pho was also the first public university in the country. A center for traditional medicine and Thai massage was established in the 20th century. Supposedly, visitors can get a massage at this temple, but we didn't explore it enough to inquire about any happy endings.
Afterwards, we took a short ferry ride across the Chao Phraya river to Wat Arun. It is known for it's white porcelain prang (tower) that reflects the light in the early morning sun. To us, the overcast afternoon sun was not very flattering. The Boy was starting to feel queasy, so we didn't linger too long at this temple.
We took the Express Boat water taxi back to the Sathorn pier. The Kids rested back at our hotel room, while The Wife and I did some shopping at the mall in the building connected to our hotel. We purchased some inexpensive sims cards for our phones at the True Move store next to our hotel. It's so much more reassuring having Internet access while traveling in a foreign land. The Wife also bought some Thailand mugs for her Starbucks collection. After our large breakfast, we weren't really hungry, but we couldn't resist trying the McDonald's version of Thai food. Surprisingly, the McKao Kaprao Pork (pork and holy basil stir-fry) wasn't bad at all. It even had a pretty good level of spiciness.
After a good rest back in our hotel room, we headed back out. We took the MRT into the heart of the city. Unlike the water taxis, this clean and modern subway system can be significantly more expensive depending on how far one is travelling. We walked several blocks from the MRT station until we reached a shop called Best Tailor Bangkok-Signature's Collection.
If you are in Bangkok for a couple of days, you have to be fitted for a bespoken suit. Sure it is not Saville Row, but the quality of clothing far outpaces the price. Many important people including U.S. Presidents, British royalty, and Snoop Dog have purchased suits from the infinite number of tailors found throughout the city. Since I wear a suit maybe once a year, it didn't make sense to go to the fanciest, most-expensive store. I was more interested in a good mix of quality and value. So I picked this shop based on online reviews. Besides, it's gotta be good since it IS the "Best Tailor Bangkok."
We were met by the shop's owners and told them that The Wife and I wanted to be fitted for a suit and some sports coats. We were shown samples of a dizzying array of fabrics of different colors, designs, and quality. Since we buy formal clothes less than once per decade, we both went with some higher end fabrics. We were both measured by their tailor. We then set up a second fitting which would usually occur in the next day or two (they can make these suits very quickly!). However, we wouldn't be able to return for almost another two weeks. They reassured us that it wouldn't be a problem.
After finishing on our clothing splurge, we walked another couple of blocks until we reached a large shopping mall called Terminal 21. This multi-tiered building is arranged so that each floor has theme destinations for different cities around the world including San Francisco, London, Istanbul, etc.
The mall was decked on in festive Christmas themes. I guess it made sense, since we were only a few days away from December 25. However, it felt very weird since we were in a predominately-Buddhist country with the air temperature hovering in the mid 80's Fahrenheit.
After perusing the many shops and offerings, we boringly settled on Bonchon Chicken, the Korean friend chicken. We can't help it. We love this stuff.
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| The Bonchon combo with kimchi coleslaw |
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| Salted egg fries. |
We did buy an assortment of Hokkaido Cheese Tarts. They come a variety of flavors including original, chocolate, blueberry, apple, cookies and cream, and durian.
*****
Sunday, December 23, 2018
*****
We had an early wake up time in order to make our 7 AM pickup time. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel, packed up our luggage, and checked out of our hotel. We were met by Arnon Aramnun, our tour guide for the day, whom we had found on Take Me Tour. He explained to us that he is a CPA for IKEA during the weekdays, but does tours for extra cash on the weekends. He wasn't a natural English speaker, but we had no difficulties understanding him at all. Since we would be flying out later that afternoon, we had arranged with him in advance to let us take our luggage with us for the day.
As my fatness evinces, I'm interested in trying exotic foods from different lands and cultures. What better way than to check out some of the unique markets on the outskirts of Bangkok. Our drive took us about an hour southwest of the city until we were out into the Asian boonies. We turned onto the streets of a quaint little town that is a far cry from downtown Bangkok.
We arrived at our destination, the Tha Kha floating market. Before Bangkok became a modern city with paved roads, merchants were best able to transport and sell their wares on small boats. This form of commerce has gradually disappeared, but there are still some floating markets around. Many of them are very crowded and touristy. Tha Kha is not.
When we arrived, still early in the morning, at this modest little locale, there was hardly anyone there. There were a couple of old ladies in sampans selling all sorts of vegetables and fruits. Many were still getting set up.
We tried a couple of inexpensive snacks that are prepared by the vendors right on their boats.
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| Hoy tod (mussel and bean sprout stir fry) |
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| Coconut pancakes |
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| An omelette stuffed with different nuts and vegetables |
The slow and relaxing ride took us by several of the houses owned by locals of the village. These abodes ranged from pretty beat up shacks, to very nice, well-kept homes. The waterway was pretty murky and polluted with occasional plastic bottles and detritus along the shoreline. Surprisingly, there was no stench.
We noticed several bright pink globs stuck to tree trunks and docks along the shoreline. Arnon explained that those were snail egg sacks. A few seconds later, the boat driver reached into the water and pulled out a monster-sized freshwater snail. He explained that the locals ate these snails. I told him that I wouldn't feel too comfortable eating stuff that came from these water. He then replied that the mussels that we ate earlier are found in these canals. Yum.
After we finished our boat ride, we noticed that the market had picked up in activity and tourists. By no means would I call it crowded, but there was some business being done. We decided to order some iced coffees and Thai teas from a riverside coffee shop. This hip little outdoor joint with live music seemed a bit out of place compared to the rest of the old-fashion market. While we sipped on our beverages, we were given complimentary bananas that we munched on. The Girl tried feeding one to a mangy, three-legged neighborhood dog, but it showed no interest.
As we left the market, The Wife purchased a coconut drink from a vendor along the road for just a couple of Baht. Arnon told us that one of these fresh coconuts would cost 4 or 5 times more back in the city.
We drove another twenty minutes until we reached the Mae Klong Railway Market. Our guide explained that a market had existed in this town for long time. Eventually, a railroad was built that bisected the market. Instead of moving the market, the vendors decided to keep their stalls in the same locations and just move them temporarily when the train comes every two hours.
We had about an hour to wait until the next train would arrive, so we browsed the offerings at the various stalls. With the town's proximity to multiple waterways and the ocean, seafood options were plentiful.
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| How much does ten pounds of cat cost? |
Eventually, we heard the train's whistle in the distance. The previously-lounging shopkeepers hopped into action. They dismantled their canopies that were hanging over the rails, and they pulled their wares back from the edges of the tracks. The train very slowly came into view. Everybody jumped in front to get a selfie of themselves in front of the train. Inexplicably, some people waited until the train was practically on top of them before they jumped back to the side in safety. Luckily none of these idiots were run over. The train passed within a foot or two of us, but it wasn't scary at all because it was traveling so slowly. A couple of vegetables that weren't stowed away well enough became casualties of the locomotive. Once the train had safely passed, the vendors sprang back up and reassembled their stalls.
We got back into the van and traveled for a few more minutes until we arrived at a coconut palm sugar factory. Sap from several coconut trees is collected in containers. Swarms of bees are drawn to the mix. We noticed several of these dead insects in the container.
The coconut palm sap is strained and boiled in a wok for about two hours, reducing it to a liquidy brown paste.
The mixture is then stirred for about half an hour to allow it to cool down and thicken.
The cooled paste is then scooped into little banana leaf cups, creating a sweet and caramel-like candy. Overall, it's a lot of hard work slaving over a hot stove in the Thailand heat.
There were several coconut palm sugar products that can be purchased there. Since we would be at the airport in just a few hours and didn't want to hassle with any liquids, we just bought a bag of the candies.
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| The coconut killing fields. |
The coconut palm sugar factory was okay. I wouldn't have lost any sleep if we had skipped it. We then walked across the main road past several shops until we arrived at the Amphawa Floating Market. Unlike the quaint Tha Kha earlier this morning, this place was larger and bustling. As the second most popular floating market around Bangkok, it draws in much more tourist and weekend visitors from the big city.
There were several large boats parked along the canal that sold fresh seafood. However, there were also small stalls and full blown brick and mortar shops lining the waterway. Very little produce or raw proteins being sold. Most of the offerings were cooked foods, snacks, massage parlors, and even a hotel or two.
I was really tempted to try some of the seafood options, especially the giant freshwater prawns. However we had done a lousy job of pacing ourselves in terms of eating. We were all pretty stuffed from the constant nibbling throughout the day. All we had room for were a couple of snacks.
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| Miang kham is a popular bite-sized Thai street food. It is a pepper leaf filled with an assortment of nuts, shallots, ginger, etc. It was definitely not my favorite dish. |
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| The eye-popping colors, rather than the taste, compelled us to buy some look choop (mung bean candies). |
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| At 10 cents a crepe, it was a no-brainer to try one of these sweet snacks. |
After completing our tour of the floating and railroad markets, we just assumed that Arnon would drop us back at our hotel so that we could call for a taxi to take us to the Suvarnabhumi Airport. However, he graciously offered to drive us there himself. It was a good 40 minutes out of his way! He was such a nice and friendly guy. It's clear why he gets so many 5 star reviews.
We arrived at the airport with plenty of time before our flights. After spending some time browsing some of the shops, we decided to eat dinner at one of the over-priced restaurants at our terminal.
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| California rolls |
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| Maki rolls |
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| Crispy prawn springrolls |
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| Pork and cashew stir fry |
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| Omelette with pork and basil stir fry |
A large sculpture within the airport depicts the Hindu myth of the "Churning of the Ocean of Milk." According to the tale, the gods and demons work together to try and recover the elixir of immortality from the cosmic ocean. They use the tail of a large Naga (half human-half snake) with the god Vishnu on top steadying the churning stick.
Our short flight to Siem Reap on Thai Smile was uneventful. We breezed through customs and were met by a van from our hotel, the Khmer Mansion Boutique. On the drive from the airport to Siem Reap, it was evident that despite the 2.5 million annual visitors to Angkor Wat, Cambodia is still a very poor country with a developing infrastructure.
The check in process at the hotel was reminiscent of the five star hotels that we had been to in India. We were given snacks, drinks, and hot scented towels while the staff processed our paperwork.
We were then shown to our rooms. The small welcoming details were a wonderful touch that highlighted the incredible customer service at this hotel. We didn't have much time to enjoy it, as we had to quickly unpack and prepare for an extremely early start to the following morning.
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