We woke up fully 12 hours ahead of the US, putting us half-way around the globe for the first time. This is also the only time we will be in this time zone for the entire trip, so in some way, once we leave Thailand, we will be heading home - albeit slowly.
Our hotel room was very nice, but a bit deceptive. The windows are tinted, and the air conditioner works well. Therefore, when we walked outside directly into a brightly-lit furnace, it came as bit of a surprise. We first braved a gauntlet of makeshift sidewalk stalls as we walked through the "Tops" supermarket the staff had told us about at the hotel the night before. In Europe, we had used supermarkets for our "home base" - to stock up on food at reasonable prices, and to find where the central hub of local markets existed. The only real supermarkets since Europe were in Dubai, so we were pleasantly surprised to see very similar establishments here in Bangkok.
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| We do not recommend buying Viagra out of a makeshift briefcase on the street! |
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| The first of many "Tops" meals - this very-filling plate of pad thai cost 35 Baht, or about $1.15. |
After a quick bite to eat, and a purchase of a lot of water, we headed east towards Royal Benjasiri Park. Along the way, we saw quite a few "bespoke" or "made-to-order" tailor shops, which Bangkok is quite famous for. We even talked about getting suits or dresses made here, and shipping them home. This might have been the advertising talking through us, but we certainly did consider the exercise.
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| James and Tabitha pose in a small shrine on the eastern side of Bangkok. |
We made it a mile or two before turning back - we quickly realized that the majority of town center activity was west, down Sukhumvit road. When we finally made it into the central shopping district, we were not dissapointed. We observed that Bangkok's shopping experience is divided into three components: the very high-end shops in well appointed shopping malls (Gucci, etc.); the normal boutique and/or one-off shops; and the one-off shops that look like a garage sale, on outdoor makeshift stands. Those last stands make for some of the most interesting goods we saw offered on the street, from street pharmaceuticals (not those kind) to t-shirts, to very-open-air cafes.
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| One of the many, many, many pictures of the Thai King that adorn the city. |
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| Another picture of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has been ruling Thailand since 1946! |
While it's fun to observe, we were simply not in the mood to buy anything. Instead, we spotted the large Lumphini Park on the map and set out to explore. The park was quite large, with a dramatic jungle motif. There was a sizeable lagoon, with paddleboats, people relaxing, and some local fauna - birds and lizards. We sat for a bit and people-watched, and mostly tried to help our bodies come to some kind of equilibrium with the very hot weather.
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| Tabitha relaxes at lagoon's edge in the park. |
And that was it. We took a further stroll south, but soon headed back to Sukhumvit and slowly made our way back to the hotel, stopping off for a quick swim and use of the gym (which Erin was especially excited about). We went back to the Tops market for dinner. And we came to the hotel to discuss our plan for the rest of our time in Thailand. The original plan was either to go to Phuket (Thailand) or to Ankor Wat (Cambodia). Our problem was twofold - first, we were stuck with the date of our China trip, so we could not extend our time in Thailand. Second, there were thunderstorms predicted in both places and taking a long train sounded exhausting.
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| Erin enjoys a snack from the supermarket, comprised of seaweed and sesame seeds. |
In a decision born from hot weather and a very nice location in Bangkok, we opted to book more nights at our hotel so that we could have a few days to explore the city before heading to China, where we'll be on a very busy tour. Our plan in mind, we drifted off to sleep after our first full day.