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Published: October 3rd 2012
JT house 1
Peeking out of Jim Thompson's bedroomArrival in Asia:
After an easy flight from London (read: children slept the whole way!) and smooth arrival in Bangkok (read: traffic was only marginally bad... the last 50meters of our journey took 45minutes), we kicked our Thai adventures off with some local cuisine around the corner from our lovely little hotel, the
Old Bangkok Inn. That was to be the first lap on our of Pad Thai marathon. In spite of the 5 hour time difference, we were all tired enough to collapse in bed by 10pm. (No comment on the number of times Mimi woke up during the night, ready for fun and games. Sam, on the other hand, slept miraculously like a log the whole night!)
The Old Bangkok Inn is located near the
Democracy Monument and the Golden Mount Temple (
Wat Saket). Our room was the Lotus
JT house 2
The kids explore Jim Thompson's gardens. We agree that this would make a good house for us. room, a beautiful family suite with two bedrooms and a semi-outdoor bathroom. Needless to say, the latter was a big hit with the kids who particularly enjoyed taking their baths outdoors. These had to be timed carefully however as it is still the rainy season in Bangkok and we were confronted with frequent downpours.
Bangkok DAY 1:
We had a happy start to the day with a breakfast feast of new unfamiliar fruits and some familiar standards.
Braving the rain, we took an express long-tailed boatfrom our nearby
Tha Phanfa canal boat stop to
Jim Thompson's house , where we found ourselves more curious about the man than the collection. Consensus in our family is that the CIA is behind his disappearance and it is high time Hollywood got on board with a movie about it.
After a pleasant lunch in the house gardens, we dove into the nearby urban madness and sought out
Siam Ocean World . This was a surprisingly large and well-organized aquarium on the ground floor of Siam Paragon, one of Bangkok's many MASSIVE shopping centers, in the shopping district of Siam, in the heart of Bangkok. (I- Lea- kept on wondering if this might
urban jungle
Urban Jungle be the shopping center built over the land that used to contain the Queen Mother's gardens and the former Intercontinental Hotel, managed by my father 40years ago...)
Luckily, the weather dried up in the afternoon, allowing us to get around by foot. After the aquarium, we made our way to the
Erawan shrine, believed to be one that brings good luck to its visitors.
As Sam began to fall asleep in my arms, we realized we had completely forgotten to factor in some naptime for our energetic little 2year old. This prompted us to quickly head to the closest ferry stop, hoping for an easy and quick return to our hotel. As it happens, the Erawan luck was not with us. While we were boarding the ferry, I climbed on board first so that Arnaud could safely hand me the kids. Before I had time to even get solid footing and reach out for the first of my children, the boat suddenly moved backwards and away from the canal-side platform, leaving me to struggle to regain my balance on the edge of the boat. Then, much to my surprise, the boat took off… leaving behind a stunned Arnaud,
bangkok contrasts
Bangkok contrasts still holding Sam in his hands over the canal waters and a rather upset Mimi by his side… That is when I realized Arnaud also had our backpack with him, meaning I was not only without my family, but without any money, phone, or clue of the name of my ferry stop. The Thais around me were equally upset by what had just happened and rallied to help me. First they scolded the innocent man who dared to ask me for my ticket. Next, one of them called his brother, whom also had been left behind on the canal platform and said brother handed his phone over to Arnaud, whom was rather amused to have a complete stranger hand him a cellphone and find his wife on the other end. And that is how we were able to come up with our game plan to find each other again and make it home safely… together.
Dinner was at
The Deck , a lovely riverside restaurant with breathtaking views of the Temple of Dawn,
Wat Arun. Even though it was only a short walk away from the hotel, we couldn’t resist turning this into an opportunity to take the kids for
tuktuk no.1
Tuktuk ride no.1 (while driver stops to ask for directions!) a much anticipated ride in a tuk-tuk.
Bangkok DAY 2:
Jet lag got the best of us this morning and we all slept right through the morning, only emerging at 11am! Breakfast therefore turned into brunch, followed by a quick tuk-tuk ride to the
Grand Palace. The kids were delighted by all the golden and sparkling structures- some halls, some stupas (or chedis, as they are called in Thailand), some statues... It took them no time at all to figure out that one bows to the Buddha with hands together, a gesture they mastered with enthusiasm.
Next, we strolled over to the dazzling
Reclining Buddha of
Wat Po. The massage school at the back of the temple grounds was also somewhat of a draw for us, though the long lines scared us off.
Another lovely riverside dinner, this time at the
Verandah of the legendary
Oriental Hotel, touted by some as having the world’s best Pad Thai… (how then, I ask you, could we not give it a try?) The food was indeed pretty perfect and the children’s menu and friendly service made the experience all the more pleasant (and the bill was actually fairly
Wat
Wat's Arun there, Sam? reasonable, contrary to our expectations…) But gentlemen be warned: bermudas and sandles are not permitted- thankfully Arnaud was tipped off just in time.
Bangkok DAY 3:
This day was dedicated to the
Khlongs of Bangkok. We decided to avoid the tourist track by allowing a young French man- a contact through Arnaud’s vast network- to take us around on his own long-tail boat. It was fun to visit some of the less frequented waterways of Bangkok and get lost in one of the lively floating markets for lunch- without another “
farang” in sight. Less fun, was said young Frenchman forgetting to fill his boat’s petrol tank before collecting us which led us to run out and have to float along until some friendly Thais came to our rescue.
After a much needed rest at the hotel, we were lucky enough to enjoy a dinner invitation by a former colleague of mine, who now heads up WHO’s operations in Thailand (thank you, Maureen!) Being able to dine in such a child-friendly home and have some stimulating adult conversation was a true treat. It was also fun to simply hear about expat life in Bangkok.
Bangkok
kids at temple 1
Mimi and Sam at the Grand Palace DAY 4:
More friendly hosts reached out to us on Monday… This time it was Kun Niphon, a dear old Thai friend of my parents and owner of the fabulous
Venus Jewelry shop. We were spoiled not only with a visit to his showroom where the children were allowed to pick out necklaces, but then we were taken for lunch at Bangkok’s swanky
Polo Club. (Many thanks to both Kun Niphon and his friendly son, Pala, for the delicious meal and gracious company.)
In the afternoon, we attempted a visit to
Vimanmek Mansion, the world’s largest golden teak mansion. After an hour and half of rainy traffic jams, we finally got to the gates, only to be told it was closed. When we asked why our tickets (purchased the previous day) said “Open every day”, we got a smile and a shrug and the answer “yes, every day, tomorrow.” And to those of you complaining that we are not posting blogs every day, I would like to offer the same response…with a smile and a shrug.
Bangkok departure for Siem Reap, Cambodia (DAY 5):
Though we were originally planning to take a train to the Thai
border with Cambodia (at Aranyaprathet) and brave the scam-heavy confusion at the border to then continue by bus to Siem Reap, Arnaud came across a website that seemed to spare us the stress and lengthy hours the above entailed with the offer of direct car service (for a slightly higher price- of course… ok, literally twice the price, but half the time!) All I had to hear was that I wouldn’t have to wake up at dawn to catch the 5:55am train and I was on board. So at 10am sharp, as planned, we were met at our hotel by a friendly driver and his slightly old (we’re guessing late 1980s) but solid-looking Volvo. Our luggage only barely fit in the trunk, which had to be held closed with some rope, but we still managed to take off with everyone buckled-in and comfortable. The 3
rd class-only train might have been more interesting and scenic, but considerably less air-conditioned on this sunny steamy Tuesday.
We made it safely and happily to the border. Our Thai driver dropped us off some 50meters away and we knew that we would have to walk across before meeting our Cambodian driver, who was supposedly
waiting on the other side with our names on a sign. We should have known that such simplicity was too good to be true. To make a long story short, there was no driver waiting for us… just a whole bunch of dodgy scammers trying to pull us in different directions (sometimes apart from our luggage!)… and 2 passport controls, 300 meters of carrying our own luggage, and one 10min. government shuttle bus later, we were climbing into a very beat up taxi who agreed to take us (and only us) to Siem Reap for $48.
Goodbye Thailand, Helloooo Cambodia!
A few more stats for the week:
17: No. of times Sam has delighted crowds (or maybe just us) with his rendition of “Petit Papa Noel”
4: No. of known occasions unknown tourists have taken photos of our children (not always with our permission)
25: Percentage of taxis with seatbelts
3: No. of days it took Arnaud to figure out he was saying the female thank you in Thai
0: No. of Thai massages enjoyed by Lea!!!!!!
Some travel
lessons learned the hard way:
• Mosquitoes are not drawn by light but by our perfume.
• When you are going to spend a day on a boat, bring your own hats and hang on well to them.
• When a boat driver tells you that those fish are going to splash you a bit, he means you are going to get soaked and you’d better put away your camera.
• Even if the morning is super sunny, bring rain gear during a rainy season day.
• Just because the guidebook says the Democracy Monument is the most famous monument in Bangkok doesn’t mean any of the city’s cab drivers will agree... let alone have the slightest clue of where it is located.
• If a deal sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true.
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claudine
non-member comment
votre voyage
j'ai adoré les commentaires ( pas toujours bien traduit ). Bravo, continuez votre beau voyage. Et envoyez nous de superbes photos On vous embrasse très fort.