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29.03.2008 China Town and Jim Thompson Museum
Fabian and I met in Khao San Road at 10 a.m. The day was unbearably hot. I was glad that we could take the boat downtown and enjoy a nice breeze and be splashed by water every now and then rather than being stuck in traffic in a muggy bus.
Our first target of the day was China Town. We walked up and down the narrow streets and due to the heat I really wished they were a bit wider. The heat seemed to be caught between the alleys. At some point we went to have breakfast and then we were looking for a post office so Fabian could finally send off his post cards he had written weeks ago.
It was interesting to have a look at the market where all sorts of foods and spices were sold. The place was definitely overcrowded though and our clothes seemed to be sticking to our sweating bodies soon.
Around 2 p.m. we took the bus to our next target. It seemed to take ages to find the bus stop, considering it was way too hot to walk.
When we got
off the bus we had the idea to go to seven-eleven and get cold drinks. We bought a huge cup of ice coffee and were excited about our bargain until we discovered that those drinks were really nasty and we had to throw it away.
We moved on to the the Jim Thompson Museum which was definitely our highlight of the day and probably also my personal highlight of Bangkok. I highly recommend to go and see it! The house was designed and occupied by the American architect Jim Thompson who somehow managed to combine Thai architecture with a Western touch. Actually the complex is a combination of several houses he bought and had transported to Bangkok. I immediately fell in love with the place and felt very comfortable at once. It seems to be a place to relax somewhere hidden in the middle of the busy city jungle of Bangkok.
After the tour around the museum we decided to have some tea at the in house restaurant in order to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere a little longer. I could have moved in straight away 😊
Our final plan of the day was the Baiyoke Tower. But
then we experienced the unexpected. After all the sweating and walking we decided to afford a taxi. Everyone who has been to Bangkok before knows that the city is totally overcrowded with taxies and traffic in general. Anyway, there are taxis everywhere and they keep stopping next to you offering you a ride and they don't care that you keep telling them that you don't need one. I don't know how many rides I was offered to the airport and how many times I asked "do I look like I'm on the way to the airport?" It's quite unnerving actually! But where's a taxi when you need one? The first few ones that passed by were occupied but then there followed quite many empty ones which just kept ignoring us. Finally one stopped and we got in, told the driver where we wanted to go and he just told us to get out again. I felt confused. We got a bit of time pressure because although we had been on the tower already we wanted to go again to see the sun set and time started to work against us. No idea how long it took us to get a
ride but we finally made it - on time! 😊 We had a look at Bangkok by daylight, at sunset and at night. Then we went one deck lower where we enjoyed a cocktail at the bar.
Again it was awesome to spend the day with Fabian and time passed way too fast 😊
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