Six Days in Bangkok

The first 3 days were spent alone staying near the Khao San Road area of Bangkok. Jet lag hit me fast and hard and I spent a majority of my time either sleeping or eating.

Day 1

After getting in from the airport, taking a 30 minute taxi to a bus stop, and then a 2+ hour bus ride to Bangkok, I didn’t last long before I crashed and slept for 13 hours.

Check out my blog Bangkok: Day One here: https://medium.com/leif-vs-the-pacific-rim/first-day-in-bangkok-9867ea1dfabd

Day 2

My second day consisted of exploring Khao San Road and trying to adjust to my new environment. At first I felt a little overwhelmed by the noise, stifling crowds and frenetic atmosphere, but I adapted and quickly came to appreciate the chaos and color of Bangkok.

I started the day out with some White Russians at Madame Masur across from my hotel and Panang curry.

As I was roaming around Khao San Road, the popular backpacker destination, I came to Pai Spa and decided to treat myself to an hour long Thai aromatherapy massage for a thousand baht ($30).

FYI, I highly recommend Pai Spa if you’re in Bangkok. I ended up going back for a second massage near the end of my stay.

Then a few hours lounging by the pool and some light coding.

Unfortunately, I forgot to re-apply my sun block and got scorched big time.

After a three hour nap, I walked over to the International Beer and Cider House where I nursed a beer and cider and watched some of the World Cup before returning back to my hotel to go back to sleep at 22:00 and slept for another eleven hours.

Day 3

The following day I spent a majority of the time reading, eating more Panang curry and drinking more White Russians. And sleeping of course.

However, that evening I was determined to go out and have some fun.

Since I only brought shorts and boat shoes that would fit in my 7 kg bag, I needed to get some night on the town clothes. I purchased my first ever pair of skinny jeans for 340 baht ($10) and a pair of leather shoes.

I pre-gamed by taking a nap in the early evening. Woke up and watched the season finale of the Expanse.

Chugged a red bull…time to hit the town.

Groovy.

Then I stepped outside of my hotel to a torrential downpour of rain.

God damn monsoon season…

I went back to my hotel room and located my umbrella. But alas, it was broke.

So I gave up and decided to go to bed early again at 22:00.

The biggest obstacle in my journey came in the removal of the skinny jeans from my fat American thighs. Thailand has a different idea of “skinny” than Americans. Also, I have fat American thighs.

So it goes.

Day 4

The following morning I met up with another traveller that I met and had a Thai vegetarian omelet at Number One Restaurant near Khao San Road.

After having multiple Tuk Tuk drivers try to hustle me on prices to leave Khao San Road, I eventually walked almost a mile out in 100 degree heat and located a taxi to take me to my next hotel...

My good friend Shirley and her flatmate Mona joined up with me on my remaining days in Bangkok.

Shirley and I were first day buddies at the DOJ and have worked together for 3–4 years. She’s now doing a Viticulture program in New Zealand and decided to meet up with me here in Thailand.

A few hours of catching up and then off to the Jim Thompson Museum which was located a 5–10 minute walk from our hotel.

(see my blog post “The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson” for more on this museum)

Next we wondered over to the very massive Siam Shopping Center in search of Thai food. Food was decent, but Mona couldn’t handle her spicy curry, so I ate it for her. After two dishes of curry and a few beers, I was pretty much done in for the night. We went back to the hotel and all went to bed pretty early that night.

Day 5

I woke up at 0630 and had a cappuccino in the hotel cafe.

After an hour or so of blogging, and failing at coding, I went for a quick dip in the pool before getting ready for a day of sightseeing.

We walked from our hotel to the first temple that we planned to see, Wat Traimit (aka the Temple of the Golden Buddha). It was supposed to be a 25 minute walk, but with my navigation skills it became more like 40 minute walk. In 95 degree heat. It was pretty clear after that walk that we would be taking taxi’s from then on.

Wat Traimit houses the world’s largest massive gold seated Buddha, weighing in at 5 ½ tons and measuring nearly five metres in height. It was discovered when it was accidentally dropped as it was being moved, and revealing under a casing of plaster a beautiful solid gold Buddha.

Next up was Wat Pho, which is one of the largest temple complexes in the city and famed for its giant reclining Buddha.

The Reclining Buddha measures 46 meters long and is covered in gold leaf.

Shirley, me and Mona. I’m going to do a separate blog post on Wat Pho as it’s probably my favorite part of Bangkok. Stay tuned!

Our last sightseeing stop of the day was the Grand Palace.

Construction of the complex began in 1782 when King Rama I decided to move the capital of Thailand.

It served as the official residence of Thai Kings until the end of the 19th century and contains the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Wat Phra Kaew, aka Temple of the Emerald Buddha, is regarded as the most sacred temple in the Kingdom of Thailand. A small, dark green stone Buddha sits in a meditative pose on an oversized golden throne. Thai people believe it is the oldest sculpture of Buddha. It is believed to have been crafted in the 14th century. People are not allowed to take photos from within the temple so this is as close of a shot I could get of the Emerald Buddha.

The three of us then took a taxi to Khao San Road. After a few mojitos, we all ended up getting massages. I splurged for another one hour aromatherapy massage at Pai Spa.

We ended the evening at Madam Masur for food and several cocktails.

If you’re ever at Madam Masur in Bangkok, I highly recommend the Chiang Mai, which consists of vodka and matcha green tea.

Day 6

We started out the day with the breakfast buffet at our hotel. If you ever have a chance to try Thai yogurt, do it. Best yogurt I’ve had in my life. Shirley can back me up on that.

After breakfast we decided to escape the chaos of Bangkok and headed out to Lumphuni Park.

We wondered around the park for an hour or so taking in the lush landscape.

At one point a gila monster attacked us but I used Mona as a human body shield, so I made it out safely. Mona lost an arm. So it goes.

Next up we walked north and stumbled upon a quaint little cafe called Little Sunshine.

I had an egg on craffle (croissant +waflle stuffed with spinach) with a drizzle of spicy mayo.

Next we decided to take it easy and lounge by the pool for a few hours before hitting up a rooftop bar for cocktails and a cheese platter.

Next up was the Rock Pub, an American cover band bar.

We made the tactical mistake of getting there right when it opened. The three of us sat in an empty bar for about an hour having drinks and watching 30 Seconds to Mars videos on the television before we had enough of Jared Leto.

We ended the night at The Chilling House with more cocktails and appetizers. and then ending our evening by all getting matching tattoos of Angela Merkel’s face, Mona’s all time favorite German chancellor.

The following afternoon Shirley and I continued on our journey to Phuket. We unfortunately lost Mona to Singapore. Damn you, Singapore!

Overall, I loved Bangkok. Prior to coming here I heard very polarizing views of the city. I totally understand why. It can be down right exhausting at times. The traffic is a nightmare. Obnoxious foreigners in full-on party mode. Aggressive motorcycle drivers that give zero fucks about yielding to pedestrians. The constant sales pitches and scams...

But you also have the very friendly Thai people who will go out of there way to give you directions, the phenomenal food, the affordable massages and cocktails, and the serene temples like Wat Pho or Lumphini Park which offers an escape from the sometimes stifling atmosphere of Bangkok.

Next up, the islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao!