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Published: June 25th 2008
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Landing at Bangkok airport really set the standard for the rest of the city. After 7 weeks of travelling in the towns and cities of India and Nepal, Bangkok was quite a contrasting experience. The airport looked like a space ship! It wouldn't look out of place floating around in space in a Star Trek film. Inside it was pristine and very efficient. The Thai's also just seem like they are incredibly happy people. Even the policemen who wear impossibly tight uniforms are cheery.
The bus into Bangkok reinforced our first impressions as we took in our first views of the city from a wonderful air conditioned coach with leather reclining seats. Victoria fell asleep most of the way, but the city was much more cosmopolitan than we had expected and sky scrapers were scattered all over the horizon. In contrast to the dusty roads of the sub-continent the roads here were tarmacked with lanes. More importantly, the drivers actually remained in them. The roads were also very clean with the central reservations looking like they had been designed by a landscape gardener.
Our coach dropped us off at Khao San Road, the main backpacker base in Bangkok. It's
a strip full of bars blasting out loud music, street vendors, market stalls, massage parlors and lots of neon. It's lively atmosphere was both surprising and infectious. At night the street really came to life. The music was cranked up, the street vendors multiplied and curious women selling wooden frogs seemed to be everywhere. Most nights we ate from the street vendors on this neon strip with the food variety being awesome and extremely tasty. We walked from one end of the strip to the other on a street-vendor-crawl each evening. Each portion was quite small which was great, as it allowed us to sample a large variety every night. Like oriental tapas.
The food we eat varied from spicy beef, chicken or pork kebabs, grilled corn on the cob, pad thai, crepes, fried rice, mango sticky rice (which is amazing), seafood, fresh fruit and much more. It was also incredibly cheap, less than 50p a meal per person.
On our first day in Bangkok we went to the famous weekend Chatuchak Market which was absolutely mind-blowingly gigantic. It was like nothing we had ever seen or experienced market-wise anywhere. The size is difficult to gauge. We spent
about 5 hours there and still missed more than half out. It sold everything from clothing and cutlery to furniture, CD's and an assortment of animals. There were fake watches, bags galore, lots of food, paintings, jewelry and shoes...everything! It was a very tiring day and we were utterly exhausted at the end of it.
They even sold deep fried insects which I (Mike) just had to try. They were actually quite tasty. The street vendor wanted me to try a bit of everything so I ended up with a mixed bag of various sized crickets, grubs and other weird looking insects. I drew the line at eating cockroaches. The vendor also added a splash of soy sauce, which I'm sure was very much needed. They actually tasted OK if you push out of your mind what they actually are. They were crispy and pretty easy to chew although I don't think I could stomach it as a regular meal.
The next evening we experienced MBK shopping center. It is large building with 8 floors, each floor specialising in a particular type of merchandise from electronics to clothing. It combines a modern shopping centre with a market-like atmosphere.
Certain areas are dedicated to specialist market stalls whereas others contain the usual Starbucks and McDonald's outlets. The top floor was a fantastic cinema which would beat the standard of most cinemas back home. They were large and comfortable with reclining chairs, huge screens and excellent sound systems. After our cinema drought we ended up going 3 times in the week as it was very cheap, only about 3.50 pounds for the both of us. After all we had only seen the latest Indiana Jones film once in Nepal!
As we spent more time in the country we began to realise that Thai's appear to be incredibly respectful of their King. Not only does his picture grace many walls with huge canvas paintings, but before every cinema showing, and at 6pm every evening the national anthem is played. Everyone stands up in a respectful silence. It is a completely contrasting perspective of a monarch than the one in the U.K. The Queen I'm sure would be extremely jealous.
We also took a trip from MBK on the sky train network (a modern air-conditioned tube-like system in the sky with TV's) to Siam Square which also has a modern
Street Food
On Khao San Road. shopping centre. This was almost depressing with designer shops such as Mulberry and Chanel covering the whole centre. A bit much for budget conscious travellers such as us. It was definitely worth a look though even if only for the super-car show rooms and the food hall. On the bottom floor there is a huge aquarium which we intend to visit on our return to Bangkok in a few months.
One of the top attractions in the city is the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Krew which both redefine complete mind-numbing flabbergasting beauty. The day we visited was glorious which really enhanced the beauty of it. To enter the complex we had to ensure our legs were fully covered as well as our shoulders (Victoria had to hire a shirt) which was not an easy task in the intense, steamy heat.
First up was Wat Phra Krew or Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The main temple is flanked by some beautiful buildings and sculptures from large gold stupa's to ornate statues in full armor. It was a tranquil and atmospheric area which emitted an incredible regal flavour. It was also a very colourful setting with lots of reds,
blues and golds all shimmering in the morning sun. In the centre of all of this was the temple itself which we had to remove our shoes to enter. The Buddha itself is just 75cm high but is a very important figure in Thai culture. It is made of emerald - hence the name - and its clothing is changed three times a year (to coincide with the seasons) in an important ceremony involving the King himself.
After this we walked through to the Grand Palace itself which was equally as breath-taking. The architecture was similar to the previous temple but there was much more greenery surrounding it. It was an awe-inspiring place fit for a King. Convenient I guess, as that's who it's for. The whole complex will certainly be worth a second visit on our return to Bangkok.
The final temple we visited was Wat Pho which contains the worlds largest reclining Buddha. The statue celebrates the passing of Buddha into nirvana (Buddha's death). At 46m long it was quite a sight and only just fit into the building it is housed in. It was pretty impressive and took a couple of laps to really absorb
the grandness of it.
The whole city was a welcome sight for civilised eyes and great fun. We still have some unfinished business as far as some of the sights are concerned but are very satisfied with what we have seen so far of this large modern metropolis. Overall Bangkok certainly has been brilliant and we are most definitely looking forward to coming back soon to get further under its skin.
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Michelle&Gaz
non-member comment
Wow guys....
...looks really amazing. The temples remind us of when we were in Koh Samui but not the skyscrapers nor all that traffic! Looks like such a fantastic contrast. And your taste in delicacies, Mike, never fails to impress! You're both looking really well - hopefully speak to you soon xxx