Saturday, November 17, 2007
Wednesday, 10.24: Bangkok
After a restless night (at least on my part), we woke up and partook of the delicious organic vegetarian breakfast at the Phranakorn-Nornlen (spicy mushroom soup, a vegetable omelet and fresh melon juice), then set out to try to find an ATM. The first one we came across wouldn’t let either of us withdraw any money, and the second one we found also denied Bri’s card. We briefly panicked before realizing it was Visa-only, so it thankfully worked with my Visa check card (and Bri was able to get a cash advance on her credit card). With money in hand, we set off for Thewet pier to take the Chao Phraya ferry down to the Grand Palace area. We knew we couldn’t go into the Grand Palace or Wat Pho because we weren’t dressed properly, so we just kind of walked around, trying to get our bearings. It was pretty hot, so we stopped for an iced coffee at this little riverside coffee shop that had a lovely view of Wat Arun (The Temple of the Dawn) across the river. After that, we decided to head back to the area around our hotel, because Bri wanted to look for some sunglasses at a nearby market, and I wanted to see the temple with the giant gold Buddha.
At some point while walking around, I developed a craving for mango, so when I saw a woman outside the temple with a big cart of fruit, I immediately walked up and asked for mango, only noticing the sign on the front of the card that said “fruit shank” afterward. As the woman began tossing the cut-up fruit into a blender, it became apparent that the “shank” was really a shake. (In one of the many conversations about “fruit shanks” that we later had, Bri admitted that she had seen the sign, but thought that “fruit shank” meant a hunk of fruit.) Anyway, because we had made a vow not to eat “fruit shanks” off the street because of fears about contaminated ice, we each took a small sip of the shank (which was pretty good, actually) and then tossed it out. I did find someone selling slices of mango (or what looked like a mango at first—it actually tasted more like an apple) on down the street, so I bought a bag.
We were both getting kind of hungry at that point, and still had about an hour to kill before we had to leave for the train station to pick up our tickets to Chiang Mai, so we wandered up and down the street outside our hotel for a while before deciding to be brave and just go in a place. Although we were the only farangs (foreigners) at the restaurant where we stopped, they did have an extensive English menu. I decided to forego the snake and serpent dishes, and ordered some fried rice. As we were waiting for our food, I ate a few more slices of mango/apple. I wasn’t eating the rinds, just in case, and they were slowly accumulating in my plastic bag. So I was happy to see what I assumed to be a small pink trashcan on our table, and I immediately tossed the rinds in. It wasn’t until our food came and Bri wondered aloud where the napkins were that I looked around the restaurant and realized that the pink trashcans were actually napkin holders! Embarrassed, I fished the mango rinds out of our napkin holder, trying not to attract the attention of the woman who appeared to be in charge.
After lunch, we walked back to the Phranakorn-Nornlen to retrieve our bags and took a taxi to the train station. After picking up our tickets and dropping off our bags at the luggage storage area, we took the subway and Skytrain to the MBK Center, one of Bangkok’s legendary shopping malls, to kill time before the train left and attempt to find a prepaid SIM card for Bri’s cell phone. If we didn’t want to be overwhelmed on our first day in Bangkok, hitting MBK probably wasn’t the best idea, since it’s pretty much the textbook definition of “overwhelming”—floor after floor of tiny stores, loud music and tons of people. But we managed to persevere, and ended up with both the SIM card and a cute new dress for me, bought on sale for 250 baht (about $7). On our way back to the Skytrain, I bought an awesome maple and almond waffle from a street vendor, and we hung out on the elevated platform for a while, watching the craziness of Bangkok below us.
Back at the train station, we grabbed dinner (and a DQ Blizzard for Bri) before boarding our train to Chiang Mai. Our private first-class compartment was pretty sweet; what was not so sweet was the fact that the only bathroom in our car had a squat toilet. If you’ve never used a squat toilet before, let me assure you that a bumpy overnight train is not the best place to learn. (Let’s just say that I was abundantly pleased to see so many laundry places when we got to Chiang Mai.) Other than my toilet issues and the fact that I still seemed to be unable to sleep, the train journey was pretty uneventful. In the morning, we were served a pretty gross breakfast, which we ate while we watched the lovely countryside of northern Thailand speed by outside our window.
Continue to Day 4, Chiang Mai
After a restless night (at least on my part), we woke up and partook of the delicious organic vegetarian breakfast at the Phranakorn-Nornlen (spicy mushroom soup, a vegetable omelet and fresh melon juice), then set out to try to find an ATM. The first one we came across wouldn’t let either of us withdraw any money, and the second one we found also denied Bri’s card. We briefly panicked before realizing it was Visa-only, so it thankfully worked with my Visa check card (and Bri was able to get a cash advance on her credit card). With money in hand, we set off for Thewet pier to take the Chao Phraya ferry down to the Grand Palace area. We knew we couldn’t go into the Grand Palace or Wat Pho because we weren’t dressed properly, so we just kind of walked around, trying to get our bearings. It was pretty hot, so we stopped for an iced coffee at this little riverside coffee shop that had a lovely view of Wat Arun (The Temple of the Dawn) across the river. After that, we decided to head back to the area around our hotel, because Bri wanted to look for some sunglasses at a nearby market, and I wanted to see the temple with the giant gold Buddha.
At some point while walking around, I developed a craving for mango, so when I saw a woman outside the temple with a big cart of fruit, I immediately walked up and asked for mango, only noticing the sign on the front of the card that said “fruit shank” afterward. As the woman began tossing the cut-up fruit into a blender, it became apparent that the “shank” was really a shake. (In one of the many conversations about “fruit shanks” that we later had, Bri admitted that she had seen the sign, but thought that “fruit shank” meant a hunk of fruit.) Anyway, because we had made a vow not to eat “fruit shanks” off the street because of fears about contaminated ice, we each took a small sip of the shank (which was pretty good, actually) and then tossed it out. I did find someone selling slices of mango (or what looked like a mango at first—it actually tasted more like an apple) on down the street, so I bought a bag.
We were both getting kind of hungry at that point, and still had about an hour to kill before we had to leave for the train station to pick up our tickets to Chiang Mai, so we wandered up and down the street outside our hotel for a while before deciding to be brave and just go in a place. Although we were the only farangs (foreigners) at the restaurant where we stopped, they did have an extensive English menu. I decided to forego the snake and serpent dishes, and ordered some fried rice. As we were waiting for our food, I ate a few more slices of mango/apple. I wasn’t eating the rinds, just in case, and they were slowly accumulating in my plastic bag. So I was happy to see what I assumed to be a small pink trashcan on our table, and I immediately tossed the rinds in. It wasn’t until our food came and Bri wondered aloud where the napkins were that I looked around the restaurant and realized that the pink trashcans were actually napkin holders! Embarrassed, I fished the mango rinds out of our napkin holder, trying not to attract the attention of the woman who appeared to be in charge.
After lunch, we walked back to the Phranakorn-Nornlen to retrieve our bags and took a taxi to the train station. After picking up our tickets and dropping off our bags at the luggage storage area, we took the subway and Skytrain to the MBK Center, one of Bangkok’s legendary shopping malls, to kill time before the train left and attempt to find a prepaid SIM card for Bri’s cell phone. If we didn’t want to be overwhelmed on our first day in Bangkok, hitting MBK probably wasn’t the best idea, since it’s pretty much the textbook definition of “overwhelming”—floor after floor of tiny stores, loud music and tons of people. But we managed to persevere, and ended up with both the SIM card and a cute new dress for me, bought on sale for 250 baht (about $7). On our way back to the Skytrain, I bought an awesome maple and almond waffle from a street vendor, and we hung out on the elevated platform for a while, watching the craziness of Bangkok below us.
Back at the train station, we grabbed dinner (and a DQ Blizzard for Bri) before boarding our train to Chiang Mai. Our private first-class compartment was pretty sweet; what was not so sweet was the fact that the only bathroom in our car had a squat toilet. If you’ve never used a squat toilet before, let me assure you that a bumpy overnight train is not the best place to learn. (Let’s just say that I was abundantly pleased to see so many laundry places when we got to Chiang Mai.) Other than my toilet issues and the fact that I still seemed to be unable to sleep, the train journey was pretty uneventful. In the morning, we were served a pretty gross breakfast, which we ate while we watched the lovely countryside of northern Thailand speed by outside our window.
Continue to Day 4, Chiang Mai
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