Bangkok!

Bangkok is a huge, bustling city. With a population of 8.3 million, it is the same size as New York City, but it is much more dense. It has both a subway, and a sky train (which is an elevated light rail). The streets are full of taxis (real ones, not pick up trucks converted to taxis) and tuk-tuks (which are essentially scooters that are built for three, with a driver in the front and a seat for two people behind, all of which is covered by a small canopy).

We spent the morning at the Chatuchak Weekend Market, which is one of the largest “outdoor” markets in Asia. I use quotes around “outdoor,” as many of the stalls are in covered buildings which are intersected by walkways lined with stalls. Some of these walkways even have air conditioning, which is a blessing as it is sweltering. The market is divided into 27 “sections,” and there are approximately 15,000 stalls in the market. Obviously, the market covered acres and acres of ground. The stalls sells a mind-boggling assortment of items — clothing of all kinds, t-shirts, kitchen wares, purses, soap, leather goods, souvenirs, ceramic dogs, ribbons, fabric . . . You get the idea. There are also lots of food carts, selling a variety of Thai treats, both sweet and savory. We ate, we shopped, and after 2 hours we were exhausted.

As we rode the sky train back from the market, Arie noticed a very funny sign near the door. It showed a seat, with a person sitting on it wrapped in goldenrod colored robes. (Photo attached.). The sign means that the seats near the door were to be given to monks. Now, that’s not a sign that you see everyday — at least not outside of Thailand.

Maya and I next stopped at MBK shopping center, which is one of the larger (although not the largest) shopping centers in Bangkok. It is seven floors. And, unlike shopping centers in the US, there are no anchor stores or department stores. Instead, the mall is filled with small, individually owned stalls, grouped by the type of item. So, for example, one entire floor is filled with stalls that sell personal electronic devices — iPhones, galaxy phones, tablets, etc. Many of these stalls have handwritten notes on them, ostensibly from satisfied customers, talking about how “great” the vendor is and how satisfied they were with the service. Again, the number of shops and variety of items was totally overwhelming. But, we soldiered on, and managed to do a little shopping at the same time.

In the evening we did a night-time food tour by tuk-tuk. This was a fantastic adventure. We were a group of 12 — the four of us, four more from San Francisco (three siblings and a girlfriend), a couple from London, and a couple from Mexico. Our guide, Mod, was a Bangkok native. We were supposed to have 6 stops, but really had far, far more than that. After a round of introductions, Mod took us to the fleet of 6 tuk-tuks that were ours for the evening. We piled in and sped off to our first stop — a restaurant where we were served 4 different dishes, including a soup. While all of the dishes were good, my favorite was a catfish that was boned, skinned, deep fried and covered with a spicy mango and garlic sauce. I had to restrain myself from eating the whole dish, as I knew that there were many interesting and tasty treats ahead of us. The next stop was my favorite of the evening — a restaurant called Ann Guay Tiew Kua Gai, where we ate stir fried noodles with a runny egg. Two things were particularly notable about the restaurant. First, it is on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list. Second, the “kitchen” is a series of oil drums that had been cut in half and made into “stoves” which were heated by charcoal. The drums were in the alley behind the restaurant. We got to go see the “kitchen,” and it was beastly hot, and the cooks worked ceaselessly. The food was AMAZING. All four of us finished every bite, even knowing how many dishes we had left to eat! We next had an unplanned stop for sticky rice and mango — Maya and I have been sampling the dish as much as possible, and decided that this was the best version that we had eaten so far. Given the number of dishes that we were eating, Mod also worked in a few non-food stops — we went to the flower market (beautiful), and we visited the Wat Pho (aka, Temple of the Reclining Buddha) where we learned how to fold lotus blossom and lay them as an offering. Our penultimate stop was a bar called the Eagle’s Nest, where we hiked up five flights of stairs for a fantastic view of Wat Pho and Temple of the Dawn. By the time we got back to our hotel, at nearly midnight, we were stuffed and elated. What a great night.Read more