Susie and I arrived safely in Bangkok last week and were treated (by Susie’s parents) to two nights at the lovely Plaza Athenee. Massages there were the perfect way to recover from our jet lag.
The next day we set out to explore the city a bit. We were just a few steps from the BTS SkyTrain, so we gladly hopped on and rode it down to the river to catch a ferry to see some sights. The river is muddy and wide like the mighty Mississippi, so it might be confused if it weren’t for the pagoda style buildings and high-rising temples along its shores.
We made landfall with three missions: check out the Royal Palace, get some food, and find a hand-made bowl traditional bowl that monks use for making daily offerings.
Mission 1: Accomplished.
The Royal Palace is quite a complex to behold. It used to be the residence of the king, but now it is only used for tourists and the occasional ceremonial event. It houses several temples–including Wat Phra Keo, the home of the Emerald Buddha. The architecture, reliefs, statues and accouterments all make the place worth checking out (tho’ admittedly it is a little pricey to enter). You’ll see what I mean when I post some photos. That’ll have to wait until I have access to some bandwidth.
Mission 2: Accomplished.
We ate at a Lonely Planet-recommended restaurant called Hemlock. Good Thai in an intimate, family-feeling place. Good prices. Lots of white people. I guess you can always count on that when LP makes the reservations.
Mission 3: Accomplished.
We had set out to find a tourist-supported place where locals practice a traditional art of hand crafting steel bowls that monks use for daily offerings. It’s no longer operating. But, we did manage to find the monk supply super center in a little back street. It was a total score.
We finished the night with a local whiskey that was not so good and set off frighteningly early the next morning for Siem Reap in Cambodia.
This is awesome.
