Feb 6, 2024.
We arrived in Bangkok in the afternoon of Feb 6th. Our travel agent in Vietnam (Minh) had arranged for a driver and a tour guide to pick up the six of us and take us into the town. We had the same driver and guide for our 3 days in Bangkok and we sent straight into sightseeing mode before even checking into the hotel.
Our first stop was Wat Arun, also called the Temple of Dawn. To get across the river we stepped onto a ferry which shuttles passengers between the west and east banks of the river every 10 minutes. Arun was built in 1808 and sits on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The temple is famous for its magnificent 79-meter-high central spire. Wat Arun Ratchawararam is an ornate Buddhist temple with many gold statues and structures covered in colorful porcelain pieces.
What struck me as odd, but not uncommon, were the young foreigners who had rented traditional Thai costumes and posed for their Instagram selfies. I’m not sure they even knew where they were. There were hundreds of people doing this, oblivious to the rest of us trying to take pictures of the architecture.
Our next stop was a longboat ride on the Chao Phraya River which runs through Bangkok. It was getting late in the afternoon and our guide Tito was anxious for us to be in our longboat during sunset.
Getting into the narrow boat was a bit tenuous because the river was very busy with boat traffic and the water was churned up.
Our private boat ride took us through quieter canals that run behind neighborhoods. The buildings facing canals ranged from abandoned shacks to dilapidated homes as well as affluent homes and a number of temples. The canals are not really quiet because of the constant roar of the longboat motors. The highlight of the ride was the Big Buddah statue at Wat Paknam. He is seated with his legs crossed and soars to 69 meters, as high as a 20 story building. We only saw this temple from the water but the inside is supposedly worthy of a visit. Our driver was waiting near the pier to take us to our hotel.
The Royal Orchid Sheraton is much nicer than I expected. It sits on the river and all of us got Riverview rooms. They provide a free ferry across the river to the Icon Siam Mall complex.
Dinner at the hotel was a treat – riverside fine dining at Siam Yacht Club. Fancy drinks, lobster, steak and salads was exactly what we needed. The views across the river sparkle at night as the city lights up. The rooms are very comfortable and a big upgrade from boat living.
Wed Feb 7
We couldn’t have squeezed one more activity into this very full day. Minh had planned a cooking class and a city tour during the day. Then I booked a four hour food tour in the evening.
Our cooking class was at Sampong Thai Cooking School. It was a very professional operation that included both demonstrations by the owner Koi and hands on cooking by all the students. The morning started with a walk to a nearby market to learn about typical Thai ingredients.
We had a lot of fun but didn’t expect the class to last until 2pm! We made panang chicken curry, fried noodles with shrimp, papaya salad and bananas with coconut cream topping. All of the sauces were made from scratch.
A heavy duty mortar and pestle is a must for mixing spices and creating pastes. And we learned that you have to put some muscle into the pounding.
I plan to try some of the recipes in the cookbook that was provided since we have some excellent Asian markets in Pensacola. And now I know what to buy.
By the time we finished up, the day had gotten quite hot for sightseeing. But on we went. Our driver had the AC running and he handed out cold water bottles and chilled hand wipes. Our first stop was the Grand Palace. This was the official residence of the Siam amd Thai Royal families from 1782 to 1925. It’s now a great source of income to the royals.
Wat Pho is a Buddha temple complex temple next to the palace known for it’s 46m reclining Buddah. The temple is home to a Thai medicine school that also teaches traditional Thai massage.
Traffic back to our hotel at 4:30 was very slow. A 3 km ride took almost an hour during rush hour. The same drive later that night around midnight took 10 minutes.
Our evening food tour took us all over the city, racing around in tuk tuk taxis. We had a total of 7 tuk tuks. We sampled various Thai dishes in about four stops including a walk through Chinatown and a stop at a vendor selling all kinds of fried bugs. The guys all tried one just to say they did.
One stop was the 24 hour flower market. We wondered who buys flowers and vegetables in the middle of the night? The location of the flower market used to be a fish market but the odors of the seafood were too close to the Palace inhabitants.
Riding in the open air tuk tuks was the most fun part of the night. They all had neon lights and our driver taunted the others while driving like a maniac.
The last stop on the tour was at a riverside rooftop bar three stories up with views of both Wat Pho and Wat Arun temples lit up at night. By the time we finished it was almost midnight.
Thursday Feb 8
Our last day in Bangkok was hot. We visited Ayutthaya, the former capitol of Thailand (Siam at the time) located about 80km north of Bangkok.
Ayutthaya was founded in 1350 and was the second capital of Siam. The Burmese army with their elephants destroyed the city and plundered it’s treasures in 1767. What we saw were just the ruins of the brick buildings. The king of Siam moved the kingdom’s capitol to Bangkok later in the 18th century. Some of the Buddhist statues were draped in gold cloth, maybe to simulate the ones covered in gold.
Some of the statues had their heads knocked off, courtesy of the Burmese army. Imagine what they did to the inhabitants. There is one Buddha head that fell at the base of a banyon tree and has since become encased by the roots of the tree. Visitors are forbidden from taking photos in a standing position in front of the head as it is considered disrespectful.
The ride back was partially in the van and rest on a day cruise boat along the Chao Phraya River. The cruise included a mediocre buffet lunch and great views. It was a leisurely way to travel and we had excellent seats inside at the front of boat.
The group was so glad I didn’t plan anything for our afternoon and evening. I did a little shopping at River City mall and at Icon Siam complex. Icon is across the river and it was a hopping place just two days before Chinese New Year. it has been fun to be in Asia during the weeks leading up to the New Year.
At the mall, there were lighted decorations, live performances, and an amazing food court if you can even call it that. So many eating options and reasonably priced. The mall itself is modern and luxurious with about seven floors.
The Asians seem to be quite affluent. Everyone has a smartphone. Even the old ladies in the markets sit and play on their devices. If you look around on the train, 75% of passengers have their heads down.
The one thing that is sad here in Thailand is that the water from the tap is not potable and everyone is drinking bottled water. And plastic is used everywhere. So much waste and garbage created. The upscale hotels have water filtering systems and provide fresh water in glass bottles.that we use to refill our metal bottles. Singapore had some water filling stations but in Thailand they were only in the airports.