Bangkok

---

5th Jan: Arrived at Don Mueang around 10 am, headed straight for an iced coffee to wake me up. Forgot how sugar is instantly added to all coffee beverages in South East Asia. The girl seemed so pleased when she told me she hadn't made it too sweet. I was gutted but at least it was drinkable. I took the A1 airport bus to Mo Chit, it cost 30 baht and took about half an hour. There I transferred to the BTS skytrain. I was made to dump my coffee cup before heading through the turnstiles, I hate not eating the ice in my iced coffee. BTS was 42 baht and I think it was about 10 stations to Nana, where I was staying. A five minute walk had me at the hostel. It was about 12:40 and the receptionist made us wait until 1 to check in. Once that was done I headed to my bed for a nap.

Feeling refreshed and hungry, I headed out for a late lunch. There were lots of Indian restaurants in the neighbourhood, where I was staying, they did tempt me, but my first meal in Thailand really had to be Thai. I found a place on the side street next to Terminal 21, the big mall. It looked legit, not like all the fancier places, I'd seen. I was seated and given three photo albums containing the menu. I was a little apprehensive as no prices were listed. But when I asked how much chilli, shrimp n basil leaves were, I was told 50 baht (I think), so I ordered it and an orange juice. Well, I know why it was so cheap, when my meal arrived there were only four prawns on the plate. It tasted good, but I wasn't impressed with the stingy portion. Afterwards, I took a walk in the opposite direction. I was obviously staying in a classy neighbourhood, as there were a canny few prossies hanging around under the BTS station. There were also loads of blokes with stalls set up selling viagara and other sex aid/toys to all the desperate sexpats. Back at the hostel, I planned more of my trip before heading out to eat again. I headed to one of the Indian restaurants I had seen earlier, Khana Khazana. I had a mango lasso, palak paneer, and a garlic naan. The food was delicious, if a bit overpriced. I paid about 500 baht for dinner, which is a bit steep. Bangkok isn't too cheap any more.

6th Jan: Today was meant to be productive, but since I had spent the previous evening chatting in the hostel, I had only researched one place to visit. One thing that I really miss living in China is a western style breakfast. I get good breakfasts, but I miss the familiarity of a proper fry up, even though I don't eat them very often when I am back in England. I'd had a couple when I went to Hangzhou, and that had put me in the mood for more. Since the area I was staying in was filled with tourists I knew I would be able to get one and I had spotted a place that had advertised they were open early and did breakfasts. I wandered down to Old German Beer House. It was quite busy as a few tables were taken. I stood waiting for a member of staff to seat me, and when one finally looked over on my direction, I was told to seat myself. That pretty much summed up the attitude of the staff at that place, totally disinterested. I had hoped for more breakfast options on the menu, but there weren't a great deal. I opted for the American Breakfast set. My plate arrived with fried egg, bacon, potatoes and toast. I also got an orange juice and a coffee with it. It was fine, nothing special, the portion size could have been a bit bigger as I definitely wasn't feeling full as I left. Like everything in this neighborhood, it was overpriced.

I took the skytrain to National Stadium station, I did have to change but managed not to mess that up. I loved the big mural on a building wall near the station. It looked so cool. I love street art. It was about a five minute walk to Jim Thompson's House from the station. Jim Thompson was an American businessman, who revitalised the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 60s. He lived in this beautiful house in Bangkok and went missing while walking in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia in 1967. The entrance fee was 150 baht for adults. You have to go on a guided tour of the house and are not able to freely wander around. After purchasing my ticket, I went through the gate to the house and over to the desk to be assigned a tour time in my chosen language. It was busy! There were loads of people waiting to go on the tour of the house. I had to wait about 30 minutes for my tour, but you are free to wander the gardens, so I did that. The garden is quite small, but pretty. Taking a walk around it, it is easy to forget that you are in the city, it was peaceful and not many of the people waiting to visit the house were exploring it. There were some beautiful brightly coloured flowers and lots of trees and bushes with thick green leaves. I loved the fountain/pond with the ornamental woman statue. There was a little museum off to one side, but I didn't have enough time to visit it.

I made my way back to the waiting area and soon my group was called. The group was pretty small, maybe 10-12 people. Our guide was lovely, but very softly spoken. Some people asked her to speak up but she told them to come closer instead, what a legend! First, we had a quick look around the garden and she explained some of the history of the house and grounds. Then it was over to the main house. We had to take our shoes, as is customary in most Thai homes (and also most of Asia), we were allowed to keep our cameras and valuables with us, but we weren't allowed to take any photos of the interior. I really enjoyed the tour, not that I can remember much of what the guide said. It was all timed well so that when the group in front vacated a room we would enter it. The house isn't massive (maybe it is compared to Thai standards), but it is beautiful. Jim Thompson definitely had good taste, all the antiques on display and decorations were beautiful. The floors were a bit rickety so it probably was a good idea that we weren't wearing shoes. While we couldn't take photos inside, when we were in the courtyard we were able to take some photos of the house, however there were too many people there to get good shots.

I decided to take a wander around the two small buildings that contained some historical looking artifacts. This first building I think was filled with scrolls or paintings, I can't really remember, but I do remember talking to a very friendly Thai gentleman that was perusing the cabinets, too. I then went over to the other small building to look at the exhibits in there. There were some gorgeous Buddha statues among other things on display. Unfortunately due to the lighting, I couldn't get many decent pictures, but I did enjoy looking at what was on display. The loos are definitely worth a visit in this place, very nice and clean. I had a little look around the gift shop, let's just say the price of Thai silk is well out of my league.

I decided to take a wander around the area and see what was about. To be honest there wasn't too much there if you weren't interested in shopping. There was an arts centre, but I wasn't in the mood to explore it. I had a little look around one of the malls, but it looked pricey, then I headed across the bridge to the other one, the MBK centre. I had a bit of a wander, and went up to have a look at the cinema, but couldn't figure out the times. I had passed a local looking restaurant so stopped there on my way back to the sky train. This place was heaving, I managed to get a table but ended up having to share it as more and more people came in for food. It must be the place to go. I had seafood with chilli and Thai basil, spicy and delicious. I had an iced coffee to wash it down with.

I took the skytrain back to Nana Station and decided that I would go and see a film at Terminal 21. I went up to the cinema and bought a ticket for Allied. I was a bit of a divvy when I was paying for the ticket as I handed over a Chinese note instead of a Thai one, the lass on the ticket desk told me the Chinese one was worth much more than its Thai equivalent. I headed down to get a coffee, only to be told after ordering and trying to pay that they had no change. No one seemed bothered about actually going to try and get some change from somewhere so I left coffeeless. I sat and read, while I waited for the film time to come closer. Once it was time I went through to the screen. The cinema was pretty empty, but as my luck would have it for all the rows of empty seats, some buggers sat next to me. I had never been to the cinema in Thailand before so the whole national anthem/king thing was a bit of a shock. To be honest, I was foaming, I know I am a guest in this country but having to stand and listen to the nation anthem, while looking at a picture of the king is too much. I am totally anti-royalty and it's not like Thailand is some great exception where the royal family are doing amazing work with the commoners. There is still a lot of poverty here and a bloke I was talking to last night in the hostel was telling me that his former interpreter had turned to prostitution as it was more lucrative. Anyway, I don't think that any royal family should be held in such high regard, in almost god-like reverence, it is all just luck of birth and it is the type of behaviour I would expect somewhere like North Korea. Rant over! The film was good, but I was freezing by the end of it. The air con was blasting! I was hungry once again so looked for somewhere to eat on my way back to the hostel. I chose a nice looking place called Marco, that was near where I was staying. It had nice seats outdoors, and I got to sit there drinking some Chang beers and watching the world go by. I ordered the Tom Kha Gai, chicken and coconut soup. It is one of my favourite Thai dishes and I wasn't disappointed.

7th Jan: Since I had to check out of the hostel, I was up fairly early. I thought check out was at 10, but it was in fact 11. I could have had an extra hour in bed. For breakfast, I decided to head to the Thai place I had eaten at on my first day, the western breakfast hadn't really hit the spot. So I decided to get my favourite Thai breakfast, I don't think it is breakfast food for Thais, but that's when I like to eat it. i went back to the place with the meagre portions as I knew it would have what I wanted. There didn't seem to be many old school Thai restaurants like this in this neighbourhood. I had a pork omelette with rice. It was really good and I wolfed it down.

I wasn't in the mood to do any sightseeing, so I headed to the mall, Terminal 21 which was next door. Since I had change in my purse, I headed back to the coffee shop from yesterday and was successful in getting a coffee this time. I spent a couple of hours relaxing and reading. The mall was pretty quite, I really wondered how some of the shops survived. The one opposite me only had two customers the while time I was there and they didn't buy anything. To continue my morning of relaxation, I headed for a Thai massage. There was a nice looking spa near where I was staying, but the prices were astronomical, so I headed up a quiet back street and found a cheaper place. I had an hour's Thai massage and it was just what I needed. I love laying on a mattress on the floor getting my body pulled and contorted. I love hearing my bones crack, especially my spine ones. I always forget how ticklish my thighs are though, I have to try my hardest not to laugh, which makes me tense up, not the best when having a massage.

Since it was around lunchtime, I decided that I should eat again, even though I wasn't too hungry. But since my flight was at 6 pm, I thought I'd better fill up. I had seen a Mexican place from the skytrain that was close to Nana Station, so I headed there. Well, you could tell it was a classy joint as it was shared its floor space with a Subway, but I didn't care. I hadn't had Mexican food in forever, so I wasn't going to waste an opportunity to get my fill. They had a pretty good looking menu and I plumped for one of the pork burritos, of course I had to pay extra for guacamole in it, I wish people would learn guacamole is a right not a privilege. My burrito was huge when it came, I had ordered spicy and it had a good kick to it. I really enjoyed it and was stuffed afterwards. Although it had cost me an extortionate 350 baht.

Back at the hostel, I picked up my bag and headed to the airport. I did my original route in reverse. I took the skytrain to the end of the line and followed some direction that I had found online to the bus stop. A bloke working there for the buses made sure I was in the right place. What a kind and helpful man, I know it's his job, but still it was nice. I had to wait quite a while for the bus to turn up. There are two airport buses the A1 and the A2, I can't remember which one turned up first but it was rammed. The nice man told me to wait as the other one was due straight after, I did as I was told. I watched most of the other people pushing to squeeze into the bus like sardines. About a minute later the next bus turned up and it was empty. It pays to listen to the nice man, he knows the score. Self check-in at the airport was super quick. I am a total hand luggage only convert, saves time and no one checks it anyway. I had a coffee while waiting for my flight, which ended up being delayed about an hour, gutting thing was that there was another Air Asia flight to Krabi that was half an hour after mine and it left on time!

---

Photos

Garden
The Jim Thompson House

Garden
The Jim Thompson House

Garden
The Jim Thompson House

Garden
The Jim Thompson House

Garden
The Jim Thompson House

Garden
The Jim Thompson House

Exterior
The Jim Thompson House

Across the Way
The Jim Thompson House

Interior
The Jim Thompson House

Beautiful
The Jim Thompson House

Ornate
The Jim Thompson House

Spirit House
The Jim Thompson House

Spirit House
The Jim Thompson House

Exterior
The Jim Thompson House

Exterior
The Jim Thompson House

Artwork
The Jim Thompson House

Big Mushrooms
The Jim Thompson House

Teapot
The Jim Thompson House

Buddha
The Jim Thompson House