Before I get into my vacation in Thailand, a special Matt in
Indonesia shout-out to fellow international teacher Ashleigh Meyer. She has given me credit
for pushing her into blogging and her blog is definitely
worth checking out: http://ashleightravels.tumblr.com/
She is living in Brazzaville, Congo and teaching English there.
Day 1 — I started my trip to Thailand by sharing a cab with
my Canadian friend Nava. Nava was off to Bali, but we both had early flights so
we split a cab. My flight was scheduled to leave at 7:20am. Obviously, we
left at 10:30am. Indonesia, mane. I’m getting used to things of this sort. I
flew Air Asia which is viewed as the safe, discount airline. The planes were
fine and there were no problems with the airline company other than the delay
to start the trip. The flight to Bangkok was a little rocky for about 20
minutes. It turns out that your first time traveling internationally by
yourself on a budget airline experiencing significant turbulence can be a little
frightening. Who would have thought?
Walk off the plane like, what up, I’m in Bangkok !!
I took the A1 public bus from the airport to Chatuchak
Weekend Market (pictured below: A1 bus).
The market is massive. It is the world’s largest weekend market. I have dubbed it the, “Sell Anything and Everything Capital of the World.” There are over 15,000 stalls and it is estimated that 200,000 people visit every day. The place is divided into sections (I believe the highest I saw was Section 36). The stalls are more-or-less organized based on what they sell. If I lived in Thailand, this place would be great for decorating my home. Tons of artwork, antiques, and everything else you can think of (pictured below: Chatuchak Weekend Market).
I bought 3 things at the market: lunch (pad thai with seafood – delicious; pictured below), snack (some corn fritter – delicious; pictured below), and a pair of knock-off Beats headphones. The Beats were only 120B (Baht is the Thailand currency: 31B for every $1), so I had too.
The market is massive. It is the world’s largest weekend market. I have dubbed it the, “Sell Anything and Everything Capital of the World.” There are over 15,000 stalls and it is estimated that 200,000 people visit every day. The place is divided into sections (I believe the highest I saw was Section 36). The stalls are more-or-less organized based on what they sell. If I lived in Thailand, this place would be great for decorating my home. Tons of artwork, antiques, and everything else you can think of (pictured below: Chatuchak Weekend Market).
(Creighton is big-time since moving to the Big East)
(officially licensed?)
(I mean you can buy anything there)
I bought 3 things at the market: lunch (pad thai with seafood – delicious; pictured below), snack (some corn fritter – delicious; pictured below), and a pair of knock-off Beats headphones. The Beats were only 120B (Baht is the Thailand currency: 31B for every $1), so I had too.
After the market, I went to the bus terminal to book my overnight
bus to Chiang Mai for Monday night and the return on Friday night. The VIP seat
(more leg room) was 820B. The first class (not as much leg room) was 560B. The
second class (not sure what this gave you, but I decided that I shouldn’t do
the very cheapest option) was 380B. I booked the first class seat. More on the
bus transportation in Part II (pictured below: bus terminal).
From the bus terminal, I headed down to the heart of Bangkok
to find a hostel for the first two nights. The one that I had in mind to check
out was fully booked so I went wandering from there to find a place to crash. I
stumbled upon 3Howw Hostel (pictured below: my room). I stayed in a bedroom with 3 bunk beds (6 people
total).
The first night there were 4 of us in the room; the second night I had the room to myself. The place was really cheap, 390B, had a great location, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. The hostel was about 4 blocks north of Khao San Road. Khao San is described as the center of the backpacking universe. It is a fair description. Tons of people backpacking crash in this area to mingle. I met a lot of great people on Khao San.
(3C was no A6 #amirite Breezy?)
The first night there were 4 of us in the room; the second night I had the room to myself. The place was really cheap, 390B, had a great location, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. The hostel was about 4 blocks north of Khao San Road. Khao San is described as the center of the backpacking universe. It is a fair description. Tons of people backpacking crash in this area to mingle. I met a lot of great people on Khao San.
Once I had the hostel figured out, I jumped on a water taxi
and headed down to the Asiatique Market (pictured below).
This place was a very upscale, new place to hang out at night. It was a very nice area and I enjoyed walking around there, but it was not very cultural at all. For dessert, I enjoyed a strawberry mochi. Mochi is ice cream that is surrounded by a cake-like layer (pictured below: mochi). It is delicious.
(water taxi)
(water taxi after a few stops)
(kebab sounded alright for dinner, but this homie scared me)
(settled for a much more traditional beef bowl)
(if you want a crowd, incorporate fire into the act)
This place was a very upscale, new place to hang out at night. It was a very nice area and I enjoyed walking around there, but it was not very cultural at all. For dessert, I enjoyed a strawberry mochi. Mochi is ice cream that is surrounded by a cake-like layer (pictured below: mochi). It is delicious.
After spending a couple hours walking around, I jumped back on
the water taxi to head back to Khao San to check out what was going
on. On the taxi, I met Brian and Karen. These two were on their honeymoon from
Wisconsin and we ended up enjoying some good conversation over one-too-many
Chang beers (pictured below: my new friends Karen and Brian at the Hippie Bar).
We bounced around to a couple places and I ended up stumbling back to 3Howw around 2am.
We bounced around to a couple places and I ended up stumbling back to 3Howw around 2am.
Day 2 — Wake up in Bangkok hungover: check that off the bucket list.
On Sunday (Day 2) morning, I wanted to check out one of
Thailand’s floating markets. Kristi from the hostel gave me great directions to
the floating market that is just northwest of Bangkok. She discouraged me from
going to Damnoen Saduak floating market, the one that was featured in the old
Bond movie. She said it was too touristy.
The taxi I jumped in took me to the river where for $1000B
they would take me up the river to the floating market and back. That seemed
ridiculously expensive and you wouldn’t even get to walk around the market, so
I asked the cab driver about how much it would be to drive up there. He said
around 120B. Sold. It was only about a 20-minute ride.
The market was pretty cool (pictured below: floating market).
There were a bunch of stands set up on the side of the river that were selling different fruits, vegetables, and dishes. I decided to buy an “egg pocket;” that is the best way I can describe it. It was egg on the outside and a bunch of different vegetables packed in the middle (pictured below: my lunch at the floating market). It was pretty solid. Not very filling, though. I washed it down with a large Singha beer. It was just okay. I much prefer Chang to Singha even though Singha is more popular in Thailand. They are brewed by two different companies and the company that brews Singha also brews Leo. Leo was pretty good. In my humble opinion, Chang was easily the best, Leo was easily the most average, and Singha was the most disappointing.
There were a bunch of stands set up on the side of the river that were selling different fruits, vegetables, and dishes. I decided to buy an “egg pocket;” that is the best way I can describe it. It was egg on the outside and a bunch of different vegetables packed in the middle (pictured below: my lunch at the floating market). It was pretty solid. Not very filling, though. I washed it down with a large Singha beer. It was just okay. I much prefer Chang to Singha even though Singha is more popular in Thailand. They are brewed by two different companies and the company that brews Singha also brews Leo. Leo was pretty good. In my humble opinion, Chang was easily the best, Leo was easily the most average, and Singha was the most disappointing.
Before checking out any of the temples, I was told to go
check out the Train Museum. I went there and it was 300B. It looked very
unimpressive from the outside and the fact that no one was there on a Sunday
helped me decided against it. From there, I started my temple trek.
I walked to Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn). It was a long walk
and I was starting to get a little tired before I got there. I saw a sign for “Wat
Arun” and an arrow that led to this:
(sweet turtles tho)
I go in and all I see are dorms for different monks with a very small Buddha and an area to pray.
This was the most overrated thing ever. There was nothing fancy here. I left very disappointed and kind of shocked. It looked nothing like the pictures I
saw.
After continuing walking for another five minutes, I see
another sign for “Wat Arun” and another arrow leading down an alley. This alley
was much more fruitful (pictured below: Wat Arun).
(can't climb all the way to the top but you can go up 2 levels)
(it was pretty steep)
(view of the city from Wat Arun)
(this was in a temple off to the side at Wat Arun; enjoyed a nice rest here until I was kicked out by a monk who was coming in to pray)
(one of the coolest parts of the temples was the amazing murals on the walls)
It was raining off and on during Day 2, but my time at Wat
Arun was completely dry. Funny how those things work out.
From Wat Arun, I headed to Chinatown to get some food. I
walked around for a while and settled on a street vendor that was selling some
sort of fried meatball. I handed the lady 2 different items and she responded, “Tree
item twen-five baaaht,” so I threw another meatball on there. Even though it wasn't perfect English, it was a nice change from Jakarta that a lot of people knew at least some English. Best food I had in Bangkok,
no doubt. They cut up the meat and put it in a plastic bag with some spicy soy
sauce (pictured below: food and Chinatown). Incredible.
I walked around Chinatown for a while, then caught a cab
back to Khao San Rd. (pictured below).
This night I met up with a lovely British lad from just outside London, Chris. We enjoyed a couple pints and talked about Premier League football. I can have a decent conversation with soccer people, but it isn't even worth trying to sneak in American sports into the conversation. They know nothing about any of them.
This night I met up with a lovely British lad from just outside London, Chris. We enjoyed a couple pints and talked about Premier League football. I can have a decent conversation with soccer people, but it isn't even worth trying to sneak in American sports into the conversation. They know nothing about any of them.
Headed back to the hostel to crash and rest up before doing
the Grand Palace and Wat Pho the following day.
Day 3 — Slept in as late as I could on Monday (only until
about 8:30am). All I had on the schedule was to do the Grand Palace and the
nearby temple, Wat Pho. I had to be at the bus terminal to catch my 11pm overnight
bus up to Chiang Mai, but I had a full day before needing to be there.
I left the hostel for good at around 10:00am. The first
mission was to find some breakfast. I found a corner restaurant that had an “American
Breakfast” for 75B (pictured below: scrambled eggs, bacon, tea, and toast). Very tasty and the right amount of filling for a long day
ahead.
Once I had finished my meal, I started the 30-minute walk to
the Grand Palace. On my way there I saw a random stall that was selling
hair-grooming equipment. This was like striking gold. As you can tell from my
photos, I now have facial hair. It started as a joke we were all going to do
after Lebaran Holiday where the guys on that trip were going to rock a
mustache the first day back to poke fun at a Filipino teacher that has a mustache
that probably has a combined 18 hairs on it*. Everyone on the trip convinced me
that I should shave mine into a goatee and see how it looks. I have had it ever
since. It’s growing on me (pun). Anyway, you cannot find a beard trimmer in
Jakarta. The only one I had found was $40. This one was only $10. I was very
excited to get it. I tried to haggle on the price with the dude, but he was
staying firm at 300B. Either he offered me the real price right away, or he
could tell I was desperate. Regardless, I was ecstatic. Levi, I don’t have to
borrow your trimmer anymore !!
* It is all in good fun. Ryan, the Filipino, is a tremendous
dude and I am very fortunate to have met him. He is terrific competition on the
ping pong table, too.
The Grand Palace was very impressive. There were a ton of
different buildings: huge and beautiful. The main attraction is Wat Phra Kaew
(Temple of the Emerald Buddha). The legend is that the statue dates back to 43
BC, but historians can only trace it back to Northern Thailand in the early 1400s. After
moving around Northern Thailand, the king in Chiang Mai took over the throne of
his father in Laos in 1552. Upon becoming king of Laos, he took the Buddha with
him to Vientiane. In 1779, the king of Thailand captured Vientiane and returned
the Emerald Buddha to Thailand. It has been in Bangkok ever since. The Emerald
Buddha is actually made of Nephrite. “Emerald” in Thai means “green-colored.”
There was no photography in Wat Phra Kaew (pictured below:
pics outside of Wat Phra Kaew followed by an online photo of the Emerald
Buddha).
Walking around the Grand Palace took about 2 hours. There was a lot to see and it was all very impressive (pictured below: a bunch of pictures from the Grand Palace).
The textile museum (pictured below: entrance of the textile museum) at the end had drawn some positive reviews online. The former queen had donated money and a lot of her dresses to the museum. It was…eh. The dresses were very pretty, though.
From there, I walked to Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining
Buddha). The Buddha is 15m high and 43m long. They said that it was a massive
Buddha, and it really is a massive Buddha (pictured below: my time at Wat Pho).
(pond at Wat Pho)
(sign next to pond at Wat Pho; click to make larger - it is worth reading)
I had plenty of time until I needed to be at the bus terminal, so I decided to check out the mall area of Bangkok. First, I went to MBK mall (pictured below: MBK from the outside and inside).
This mall was massive. Had a ton of stuff. One floor was for all the clothing stalls; another was for just cellphone accessories. It was crazy. On the 5th floor, there was an international food market set up. There were different restaurants set up with food from all over the world. I have become a huge fan of curry since moving here and decided to go with chicken in red curry with rice and an omelet. It was delicious (pictured below: different food from around the world and my curry dish).
Not too far of a walk from there is Siam Paragon (pictured below).
This is the super fancy mall in Bangkok, so I decided to check it out. I’m not going to say I didn’t belong in this mall, but I didn’t belong in this mall (pictured below: if they had a white one, I would have gotten it).
This is the super fancy mall in Bangkok, so I decided to check it out. I’m not going to say I didn’t belong in this mall, but I didn’t belong in this mall (pictured below: if they had a white one, I would have gotten it).
I spent a good amount of time in a bookstore in the mall. It
was nice to have a wide-range selection of English books. I sat there for
probably an hour just skimming books. It was lovely.
On my way out of the mall, I noticed their grocery store on
the bottom level. I stopped in to the get the necessities for my bus trip
(Reese’s and Skittles).
I still had not taken the skyrail in Bangkok, so I decided
to jump on the BTS to head up to the bus terminal. It was nice and clean. It
was a little crowded, but it was around 8pm (pictured below: BTS).
(they had a cool board that showed exactly where you were on
the BTS route)
Got to the bus terminal with about an hour to kill before having
to board for Chiang Mai (pictured below: waiting to board the bus).
(made the mistake of only buying one bag of these; straight fire)
(this life tho)
(Fugees went in on this one)
So, that was Bangkok. Check back on Friday to
read about my adventure up north to Chiang Mai (pictured below: map of
Thailand).
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