Bangkok day one

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The trip here yesterday, Saturday, was uneventful. The impressive airport in Bangkok made it very clear that this town is far more developed than Hanoi. In fact it makes all the London airports seem rather third world! Meeting our driver was a little complicated but we finally found him and got to our hotel in the middle of a lively part of Bangkok. First impressions of the hotel were not good as our room for four only slept two, and the receptionist didn't think that was a problem. She won't get nice comments on Trip Advisor! The helpful concierge, Boy (that's his name and his gender), saved the day and we got an extra bed for one kid while the other got a sofa.

Today, Sunday, we hired a driver for the day and headed to a small floating market at Taling Chan. There are several such places and the well known markets are purely tourist shows. Taling Chan however is the real deal and there were not many other westerners there. It is pretty small but we wanted a place that locals visit, not a pure tourist trap. We bought lots of chicken satay and huge fried shrimp for about $5, and sat cross-legged at low tables. Good food and great fun! Later we took a more touristy longboat ride around little canals. Who recalls the James Bond film, The Man With The Golden Gun, and the boat chases around the canals or Klongs? Well we were living that dream! Kind of. Just slower and with less Martini shaken not stirred. Right, music quiz! Who sung the theme for Man With The Golden Gun, and what year was the movie released? Have a guess, the year shocked me!

After the floating market we went to the weekend market at Chatuchak that Lizzie mentioned in her comment yesterday. Great place to wander around but so big that you could get lost in a heartbeat. All kinds of stuff on sale at low prices. We bought a few bits and pieces, but know it would have been more if we weren't only 9 days into a one month trip!

We took the skytrain back to the hotel where Carys finally got the swim she had been talking about all day. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called The Face. A very cool place in a great setting serving Thai, Indian and Japanese food in three different buildings. Great food but priced like US or UK, not Thailand.

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Comments

[Phil White]

Secret agent? On whose side?M
1977. Sisters sledge. Trip sounds wonderful

[Sand Nick Carys and Ben]

Hi Phil! A valiant effort but not right. The singer was Britain's own Lulu and the year was 1974. I watched the movie recently and Mr. Scaramanga is just as vilanous today as he was 40 years ago.