I learned immediately that the experience you will have in Bangkok is highly dependent on where you stay. Choose wisely my friends. The traffic in this city is world class, rivaling DC or LA. Therefore, having a homebase on the river makes things infinitely easier. The hotel shuttle and hop on/off boat are a gift! Plus, we loved our hotel, everything about it was perfect.
We woke the day after the food tour ready to see more sites. Wat Pho, the reclining buddha was no. 1 on Dayne’s list. We got on the boat and headed to see him in all his glory. We had gone to the complex the night before during the food tour, but were not allowed inside to see the buddha since it was technically closed. A speedy 5 minutes on the boat and we were there! We high-tailed it to the main attraction. Which was massive, but we were disappointed to see this tired guy was housed behind pillars that prevented full on viewing. Forcing angled photo ops. Not sure why this is, but we felt it was less impressive and unfortunate.
Side note: As you can see from the photo, I’ve completely given up on hair and makeup, sorry Bangkok. The humidity immediately wreaks havoc on any semblance of style. Makeup simply melts off. So I looked mighty pretty most of the time!
After Buddha, we mulled another attempt at the imperial Palace. It was hot and crowds were less than appealing. We decided to visit a temple nearby, via tuk tuk. We selected an old guy and immediately discerned his tuk tuk was on its last legs. It huffed and puffed through the city as though the transmission would surrender at any point. We made it to the temple and he smiled and said “where u go next?” We said we weren’t sure. Wanting to make sure we secured a more hearty tuk tuk for the trip back.
The temple was much less grand than the photos and we stayed all of 20 minutes.
Back outside, there was the decrepit tuk tuk driver! He had waited. Sigh. He smiled and waved, saying “Where you go next???” Since he was the only game in town, Dayne bartered a cheap price to Khao San Road. The theoretical backpackers district and Bangkok hub. The Tuk Tuk puffed its was to the area, all the while the driver saying “where you go next.” Hopefully somewhere free from the smell of exhaust. We said we didnt know, and parted ways, halfway expecting to see him pop up on the other end. Thankfully he didn’t.
Khao San Road is a dump. Full of dive bars, crappy food and tattoo shops. We saw a young, grungy american couple waiting for tattoos and questioned their intelligence. Dirty street in Thailand does not scream get a permanent mark on yourself. But hey, its edgy.
After a beer and some fries we headed to the Michelin Star winning Jai Fai, the first street food vendor to earn such a distinction. We had seen the location the night before on our food tour and were excited to try her famous crab omelet. We ordered up a Grab (Thai Uber) and were on our way. We hopped out, surprised to see no line. There was also no Jai Fai. Turns out she was closed on Sunday and Monday. Ugh. After a stint around China Town we went back to the hotel for lunch and a swim. We loved our hotel, fortunately the food was great, pool was too!
That night we embarked upon a pub crawl I had laid out. Using Grab, we went from place to place, trying different craft beers.
At one point, Dayne suggested that we could walk from one spot to the next as it was only half a mile. So we did. However, our friend Google took us down some alleyways of Thailand that I will call “not as safe as preferred.” Dayne pretended it was fine. The area seemed to be where tuk tuk drivers lived, as there were many parked outside homes. If you could call them that. Picture industrial park buildings with garage bay type openings. Well, the people lived in the bays with most of them leaving the doors up! You could see in their living quarters. Some sat out on the street, likely questioning these two Americans wandering their neighborhood. Me too, Tao, me too. The shrill of a baby crying permeated the air. I soon realized that was no baby, it was the sound of a feline mating ritual. Further adding to the macabre setting. Finally we saw street lights and our destination ironically called, “Let the boy die.” We breathed a sigh of relief and entered the thai hipster brewpub, complete with 90s grunge music blaring. It was good.
We called it a night after grabbing a bite to eat.
Our last day in Bangkok started out with a morning visit to a great market. After perusing the options, we chose to share a shrimp omelet, possible hoping to sooth our Jai Fai disappointment. It was awesome! It had some super thin batter mixed in that made it crispy. Seriously delicious. We tried a few more dishes and then walked around the market.
After wandering the surrounding area, we went back to the hotel to hang at the pool one last time, pack and make plans to hit some rooftop bars, which was how we spent our final night.
Bangkok far exceeded everything I expected. I absolutely loved every second. It is one on a shortlist of places I hope to see again one day. Farewell Bangkok, Phuket next.
Drink and Go Places 