The night train from Vientiane dropped us off at the main Bangkok train station at 7:30 am, and we made it to our hotel before 8:30. This was good news - despite the fact we desperately needed a nap, we had almost two full days to enjoy more of Bangkok's delights before our flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Thursday.
 |
| Chad enjoys a highly caffeinated, highly sweetened Thai coffee to kick the day off right |
The Lonely Planet highly touts the Jim Thompson House as a must see in Bangkok. We were skeptical, but it was literally around the corner from our guest house, so we checked it out. Jim Thompson was an American silk entrepreneur and art collector and apparently Bangkok's "best adapted foreigner". He disappeared in 1967 while out for an afternoon walk in Malaysia and was never found. Now for a small fee you can now go view his fancy house with its silk exhibits and art collections and typical Thai houses that he purchased and had moved onto his property. We didn't want to check all of our valuables in a dubiously secure locker, so we skipped the house tour (for now) and instead went to see the onsite art gallery.
 |
| A bit weird, but definitely interesting. |
The exhibit was nice, but the grounds of the house were the real stunner. I'm sure inside is even better!
 |
| Some of the many water lilies in the Jim Thompson gardens. |
Afterwards, hoping to escape the groups of other tourists who haven't gotten the memo that it's no longer high season, we wandered up towards a couple of the universities in the area to look at where the locals go. We stumbled upon this helpful sign from the tourist police along the way:
 |
| Probably good advice anywhere in the world... |
Near the university, we found a huge shrine to the king. The king is a big deal in Thailand; when we went to see a movie that night, before the show they played the King's Anthem accompanied by a cheesy king video montage and movie patrons were required to stand and look dutiful while it played.
 |
| Can you spot the street art? Hint: to the left of the stairs. |
 |
| Not part of the street art exhibition, but notable in its creepiness. The giant head is accompanied by a giant body in a grey bodysuit, and there's two of them! |
We also took a wander through Chinatown one evening for some sightseeing and street eats.
 |
| Doesn't this seem like the equivalent of putting a pink hoodie on your dog? |
Down a side street, Chad tried out a fish curry soup.
 |
| Just in case your soup isn't spicy enough... |
 |
| A super sweet off-brand cream soda helps the fish go down. |
 |
| Dinner time... |
Rather than take the metro and skytrain home, we hopped in a tuk-tuk and raced through the streets of Bangkok. The little three-wheelers are a surprisingly smooth ride given the rattle-y engine sound.
Sadly, traffic in this city never seems to sleep, and we spent a fair bit of time sitting among hundreds of stopped cars, breathing in the exhaust.
A lovely couple days in a city we have grown to find very comfortable. Bangkok, we will be back!
No comments:
Post a Comment