Category: Bangkok

Not satisfied with his purchases, thus far, we headed to Pantip Plaza, which is a huge electronics store in Bangkok.  We were more keen on seeing the place, then actually making any purchases.  Although Philipp walked away with a handful of more software.  I wasn’t as overwhelmed by what they had available, although the prices for a few things were good.  Ran into Lucy, from the trek and cooking class in Chiang Mai, who was looking for the Apple store.  She fell in a well (happens to the best of us), and her ipod didn’t survive the bath. 

It was noon, so we headed to Lumphini, but much to our dismay it wasn’t open.  We figured the person we’d asked must have thought we were asking when the market was closing, and said twelve as in midnight, not noon.  Alas.  Philipp still needed some souvenirs, so we headed to the Nana area (near where I stayed my first time in Bangkok).  Philipp managed to anger more vendors than acquire any purchases, so we decided to head back to the MBK.  Sadly the skytrain was closed, but we managed to get a pretty cheap taxi.  Philipp grabbed a bunch of t-shirts, and then we headed back to the hostel so he could be packed and ready for the airport.

After saying our goodbyes, I headed to Siam Paragon, and bought a ticket to see Indiana Jones 4.  I had some time to kill, so I wandered through the mall, and grabbed some food.  The movie was okay – and we had to stand up in honour of the king beforehand.  Very nice theatre, to boot.  I had inquired beforehand to make sure the movie finished before the skytrain closed, but I was lied to, it seems.  I had to walk home, but then noticed the buses were still running so I hopped on one that I hoped would get me close enough to my destination.

Up early, first we had to switch rooms for some reason, then we too the skytrain to the JJ market.  As I suspected, I’d missed a bunch the first time, and with a map at our disposal this time we faired a little better.  I bought a CD that Josh in Laos had recommended, but that was it.  Philipp faired a little better, buying a few things for himself, and for others.  He’s on his way home, so the extra weight won’t be a burden for long.

Visited the MBK next, so Philipp could get some software, and look for a watch for his dad.  He wasn’t impressed with the mobile prices, so he didn’t bother getting one.  I ended up getting an ipod charger, for a pretty good price.  Checked out the Billabong store at Discovery Centre Mall, to see if I could find a shirt to replace the one I bought in Australia and had stolen in Laos.  No luck – I really liked that shirt, too. 

Headed back to the hostel to nap/relax and shower, then made our way to Lumphini Night Bazaar.  Wandered around there – Philipp buying some shoes, me buying more cds.  Philipp wanted to see more of the market, so we asked if it would be open tomorrow afternoon, and were told it was open at twelve.  We decided to return the next day, and made our way to the Muay Thai kickboxing stadium next to the market.

As we were walking there, a security guy (or someone dressed as such), asked if we were heading to the stadium.  We said yes, and he told us to follow him.  He lead us to a co-ordinator for the stadium who arranged to get us our tickets.  Prices were about double the already expensive price we were expecting to pay, so we contemplated for a bit on whether we wanted to bother.  In the end, we decided it would be worthwhile.  We met two other Canadians, Kevin and Kyle, who were having the same dilemna, and they gave in as well.

The kickboxing was pretty fun, with some fairly even matches (except two very young fighters – where one really dominated over the others).  We even got to see some blood, which is important.

After the fighting, we figured we’d head to the Patpong district.  It’s essentially the red-light district, but it didn’t seem as crazy as I thought it might be.  We had picked up some fighting moves at the kickboxing, anyhow, so we were prepared if things got rough.  We had a couple of drinks at a couple of different bars, then finished off the night with a beer on the steps – which seemed to be the thing to do. 

After a long day, we headed back to the hostel for some much needed sleep.

Woke up and had some breakfast in the guesthouse. I’d heard many good things about Chatuchak, the Bangkok weekend market, so I figured I’d check that out.

The market, which the locals call JJ, is accessible by skytrain, which is super handy from the guesthouse. I hopped on that, delighted that it was pretty empty at this hour. The market has over 8000 stalls, and sells nearly everything. I wandered through for about 5 hours, and am still not sure I saw everything. Aisles intersect at odd angles, so it’s really hard to just go up one aisle and down the next.

I don’t think there is much they don’t sell. Birds, dogs, lizards, crocodiles, food, fruit, art, antiques, t-shirts, souvenirs, and much much more. Lots of interesting t-shirt designs, but I think I’m inclined more toward getting some more short sleeve buttoned shirts, as the t-shirts I have now aren’t really Thai heat friendly. Then again, the shirts are relatively cheap, so buying a bunch and sending them home crossed my mind.

Had I been a bit closer to my departure date, I might have bought some stuff, but I’m holding off for now – hoping to find a cheap market in Laos or Vietnam. China’s prices seemed pretty comparable to here in Thailand, so if I wait until I’m back in that giant of a country I’m sure I’ll be okay with that too.

Finished my book in the evening, and went to bed fairly early. The heat makes me sleepy. Once again I planned on going to see some Muay Thai, but the prices were outrageous (by Thai standards – quite reasonable, otherwise), so I skipped it. Maybe somewhere else.

Got up and had some (free!) breakfast. Talked with Pennie and Wiki for a bit, then headed to the Skytrain and over to the Jim Thompson House.

Jim Thompson was an American who started a Thai Silk Trading company and fell in love with Thailand. He was also an architect, and his house was of traditional Thai design, with a few modern touches. He had a number of interesting Thai relics, that were nice to see as well. It was the guide’s first day, and she did a great job, considering. That said, she was clearly going from a memorized script, so a hand held audioguide would have done the trick as well.

Wandered around the city for a bit, after that – then bought some dvds and envelopes, to burn some pictures to. Grabbed my pictures, then had the dvds burned.

I had planned on going to the Muay Thai match, but my interest faded as it got closer to the time. Hung out in the guesthouse, watched some of the Office with some Canadian girls who’d bought the bootleg dvds of season 3, then ran into Wiki and Pennie in the common room and chatted with them for a bit.

A hot day in Bangkok. I got up and had some of the free breakfast in the hostel. Nothing fancy, but free, so it’ll do.

Made my way next to the Vietnam embassy. Stopped a couple of times by taxi drivers, who tried to sway me to use their visa agencies, rather than endure the long lines at the embassy. I decided not to listen to them, and check out the embassy first, and was in and out in about three minutes. My visa will be ready tomorrow afternoon.

Being hounded by taxi drivers seemed to be the theme of the day. I got to the Wat Ratchanatda and was told by someone claiming to be a history teacher at the nearby school that it was a Buddhist holiday and that all the temples were closed. It’s a scam I’d read about in advance, but I played a long for a bit to see what he had in mind. Mostly it involved driving me around and having me waste much more time than I’d like in souvenir shops. He seemed pretty upset when I told him I’d prefer to go on foot, and surprise surprise, everything was open.

I walked down to the Grand Palace next, and was put off by the number of tour buses parked outside. I figured I’d check it out later, and headed off in the direction of Khaosan Rd. Khaosan is the backpacker mecca of Bangkok, and filled with tons of small shops, and guesthouses. Didn’t linger too long, but passed through and headed to Wat Intharawihan, which isn’t where I was headed, but something I stumbled upon. 32 metre high Buddha.

Visited the marble temple next, which was quite nice. On my way out I solicited the services of a taxi driver to take me to the Grand Palace, since it was quite a hike, and quite hot. It was fortunate that I got the ride, as it was just about to close when I got there. I grabbed a ticket before the gates closed, and had a look through. Lots of shiny shiny buildings. The Emerald Buddha was nice, but not overly impressive – but then again it was only 66cm in height and sitting atop a 3 metre structure. Sorry, no pictures allowed.

The Grand Palace itself was nice, but much of it was closed off as the King’s sister has died, and the Palace was in lying in state mode.

Took the bus back to the guesthouse, and chilled for a bit. The Dane is gone, but Jimmy the Dutch is still there. He’s asked my name and where I am from three times so far – which could have to do with the fact that he spends most of his time drinking. Nice guy though. He lives in a tent in Holland.

Checked my email after that, and did some reading. A day in the sun can really wear you out. Travelling can be a small world, though. As I was heading to my room to grab some water I ran into Wiki, who, along with Pennie, seems to be following me around Thailand. They’d actually recommended the guesthouse to me, so it’s not a huge coincidence that I’d run into them there, but they hadn’t intended on coming to Bangkok at all, but changed their plans. Not 100% sure what I’ll do tomorrow, but hopefully it involves air conditioning.

Slept better on the bus than I was expecting, but we arrived later than I was expecting, due to all the delays. Not that it really made a difference to me. Eveline was meeting her friend from Switzerland, who is now a monk in Thailand. We fought off taxi drivers, and I was told to hop on bus 53 to get to the MBK Skytrain station. I hopped on, and pointed to the MBK skytrain on the map for the ticket collector (buses in Asia seem to have a driver and a separate ticket collector – I guess labour is cheap enough to do so). She nodded, and nodded again when I asked her to tell me when we were there.

After about an hour I was starting to wonder just how long and winding the bus was, and when I saw the same place I’d gotten on the bus, I asked her again – and she was a little less reluctant to admit she had no idea what I was talking about. I got off the bus and asked another transit operator, and found out I wanted bus 16 which was across one of the canals. I crossed over, but couldn’t find the stop for 16, so I asked another driver, and he pointed me further north. I headed that way and finally managed to find a stop.

Hopped on there, and managed to get to the MBK station pretty easily after that. Took the skytrain to the stop nearest the guesthouse I was hoping to stay at, and was quite happy that it wasn’t far from the station at all, and then happier still to find out that there was a dorm bed available.

Spent the day walking along the main road near my hostel. Reached Siam Square and the MBK Centre, and had a look through there. Tons and tons of shops, selling everything, but mostly cellphones. So many cellphones stores in fact, that I’m not sure how they all stay in business. Wandered back through the multitude of malls on the north side of Sukhumvit, not because I wanted to shop, but because I wanted to avoid the heat. Nothing too special, although one of the floors had a number of exotic car manufacturers. Fact of the matter is, that even the streets are lined with vendors, so it’s pretty much impossible to avoid someone trying to sell you something.

Here’s a short list of some of the things I’ve seen for sale: a guy walking around with a basket full of knives for sale; a woman holding about 20 disco balls of various sizes; Viagra; bootleg dvds, music, software, video games; souvenirs; and of course, sex. Some of the prostitutes look disturbingly young, and I’ve seen more than a handful of older western men with young Thai girls. Hard to get very far without someone trying to sell you a massage by a scantily clad girl.

Met two people in my room: Jasper from Helsingor, Denmark who has been travelling for 6 months, and leaves for home tomorrow. He says I’m the first person he’s met on his travels who knew where Helsingor was; and Jimmy, an older guy who has been travelling for four years, and realized today that he’s out of money, so he’ll be heading back to Holland in ten days. He played us a little tune on his harmonica, then headed out for the night.