One Night in Bangkok

One Night in Bangkok.

Everything is bright in Bangkok. Whether the shiny mosaics on the temple and palace walls, the cheap trinkets and souvenirs on the tourist haven of Khao San Road, or the endless neon signs that come out at night - Bangkok is meant to be seen, no matter what you do there.

We arrived in Bangkok after yet another thrilling overnight bus trip, and had approximately 36 hours in the city until we had to go catch the next one to Phuket. I'd say we made the most of it.

Cecelia and Jen had already been in Bangkok for a couple of days, so I let them lead the way and show me how to get into the city from the bus station. We arrived on Khao San Road, the Itaewon of Thailand (the main touristy Korean shopping street that caters to Western tourists more than anything else.) Also doubles as Party Central for backpackers and foreigners. We stayed in a a cheap dorm room right off of KSR for about six dollars a night. As soon as we dumped our bags we formulated our plan. I wanted to see the National Museum and the Royal Palace, Jen wanted to see the Royal Palace and Chinatown, and Cecelia, who had already done the Palace, wanted to go shopping in Chinatown. Solution? Jen and I would go to the Royal Palace and meet Ceci in the afternoon, and I would do the National Museum the next day while the girls shopped.

So, we all walked towards the river together, where Ceci could catch a boat ferry (cheaper than a taxi!) to Chinatown and Jen and I could walk to the Palace. Turns out KSR is quite close to the heart of old Bangkok, which was actually only founded as a major capital city in 1785, just a little after the formation of the United States of America. However, Thai culture had been around for centuries before Bangkok – the location was all that had changed.

So, everything is old Bangkok was centered around the river – Chinatown, the Palace, the major temple complexes, and the merchant streets. I learned all of this at the museum the next day, so I’ll save the history for a bit later. Jen and I enjoyed the Royal Palace, which, as in all Asian countries, actually means ‘complex of pretty buildings, none of which are large or significant enough to constitute as a palace.’ But, it was where the king and his family had hung out, so I guess it constituted as royal. It was definitely impressive – huge, tall, glittering buildings embellished with glass mosaics, gold leaf, and semiprecious stones. We enjoyed walking around, admiring, and taking pictures among all the tourists doing the same thing.

However, it was super hot out, and neither of us had slept very well on the overnight bus – we knew we had a night out ahead of us, so we decided to save Chinatown for the next day, skipped out on the other temple we were supposed to see, and headed back to Khao San Road. We had lunch and then relocated to a coffee shop, where we could chill, do research for our next destination, catch up on e-mails, and relax. Once again, I was reminded of the importance of taking chill days – it’s hard to do while traveling, because it’s easy to feel guilty for not sightseeing in a new place, but extremely necessary.

So, refreshed and ready to go, we all regrouped at the hostel in the evening, showered and got ready, then took a taxi across town to the Banyan Hotel, a much-too-fancy place for our grubby selves (good thing we cleaned up well) with the intention to have a rooftop drink at Vertigo, an open-air restaurant on the 59^th floor, for panoramic views of the city.

Due to traffic we missed the actual sunset, but we were able to see the city light up as dusk fell. Our drinks were ridiculously expensive, but fun to splurge on as we enjoyed the perfect weather in the perfect setting for our night. From there, it was back to Khao San Road, where we met up with a friend of mine from Korea, living there now, and we all had a ton of fun eating, drinking, and hanging out with other travelers we met along the way. That's all you need to know about that night. 

The next day we were a bit slow moving, and I went through some frustrations trying to get a train/flight booked for the next leg of my trip. I had to remind myself to be patient, and that I was lucky to be able to be booking flights from my computer in my hostel at all – things I worry I take for granted too much sometimes. After two hours of Internet reloading and a Skype call I was all set, and had about five hours to explore Bangkok on my own while the girls went shopping in Chinatown.

So, I walked myself back past the palace complex and visited Wat Pho, a beautiful temple grounds that Jen recommended I see. I have no idea of the significance of these funny looking things poking out of the ground, but I know they were really pretty and all over the place! Wat Pho’s major claim to fame is the Reclining Buddha, a massive gold structure about 46 meters long. It was just as I finished snapping my pics that the rain started, so I had to exit quickly to get to the Museum before it down-poured  The nice thing about traveling in the rainy season is that you kind of expect the afternoon rains, so if you plan accordingly you can do all your indoor stuff while it rains, and do all the picture/outdoor stuff in the morning while it’s sunny. Worked for me, at least.

Cheap Pad Thai - a must in Bangkok.

The National Museum was really impressive – held in the former Royal Palace, so it was huge, and held so many artifacts I didn’t even have time to see all the rooms. I spent most of my time in the history wing, reading about the development of Thailand and its people, taking notes along the way (yes, I’m one of those people). Basically the Thai people, who most likely migrated from southern China, have inhabited the area since the early millenium, and rose to become one of the most powerful empires in the land. Its most powerful era was the Ayutthaya period, which rose to dominate the neighboring Khmer (Cambodian) empire around the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and fought incessantly with the Burmese to their left. Thailand is the one country in Southeast Asia to never have been colonized, a fact they are fiercely proud of, and should be. When the French started their formation of Indochina, they left Thailand alone as a buffer state from Britain, who was encroaching upon Indochina from the West through India and Burma. To avoid fighting the British, and vice versa, they decided to leave Thailand as neutral grounds, though Thailand had to make nice with both countries to avoid getting taken over.

Today, Thailand is doing pretty well for itself – the Chakri dynasty, founded in 1782 along with the foundation of Bangkok – is on its ninth King Rama. If you don’t know what King Rama IX looks like, go to Thailand and walk around just about any major city or even inside any formal building and you should see him, dressed in his royal splendor, alongside his wife in a picture on the wall. No joke. They love their king, and it is borderline criminal punishment worthy to speak badly about the king in public.

So, after attempting to leave the Museum, being dumped on by the rain (it was just waiting for me to leave safe shelter), and running back to chill in the café for a half hour, I was done with Bangkok, for the time being. As always, I’m glad I came and saw a little bit of it, as it is better than nothing at all. 

Last stop in Thailand: Koh Phi Phi!