bangkok pt. 1

i try to keep this blog focused on san diego but i'd like to share some experiences from our recent vacation in bangkok and phuket thailand, and siem reap in cambodia. it was an amazing trip, my first to asia, and this seems like the best outlet to try and describe it. so bear with me, or bail out and check out some of the more worthy blogs to the right.

a mere 28 hours after leaving my house i was dropped off at 2 in the morning at our hotel in bangkok, the marriott mayfair. while we stayed there because of a family discount, i couldn't recommend this hotel more highly, regardless of the price. it was truly the nicest suite i've ever stayed in. the 25th floor rooftop pool is a great place to cool off after a hot day in the city below. and it was hot - 90's and muggy... but this is the cool season, after all. plus, the hotel is on langsuan, near lumpini park, which puts you near many of the urban centers of the city (there isn't just one downtown in this sprawling place), the sky train elevated rail, and lots of great restaurants on the street itself. all on a relatively quiet street in a traffic-choked town.




jay had gotten in earlier in the day, so we got some sleep and hit the central chidlom mall in the morning, just up the street. there's a brand new upscale food court there called foodloft on the top floor with all kinds of asian food. we enjoyed malaysian food and dim sum. a great start to our stay, and a good introduction to the vast array of foods available in bangkok.

we took the elevated pedestrian walkway over the gridlock below to the erawan shrine just down the street and admired the music and dancing. a peaceful oasis in the midst of a bustling area, with sky trains shooting overhead and streets packed with taxi cabs.



from there we jumped on the sky train to the chao phraya river to the south and dashed onto the express boat heading upriver. we were on our way to the grand palace, and read it was best to get there via the river, since a taxi trip could mean lots of time in traffic. it was well worth it since it was so much fun to hang out on the boat, watching the city roll by, kids playing in the river, and monks catching the express.




the grand palace was unlike anything i've ever seen before. so much gold and bright color, exuberant sculptures and minute attention to detail - nothing like the staid tourist attractions of europe. i'll skip the history of the palace, but there are so many interesting pieces of architecture and buddhist symbols inside that it will make your head spin.




there are many cultural taboos in thailand, like touching someone on the head, and i managed to perform three of them while at the palace. first, i wore my hat inside the wat phra kaew, the palace's temple and most sacred place in thailand (it's also where the small but highly revered emerald buddha hangs out, currently draped with his winter jacket). next, you're not supposed to point your feet at anyone. well, while sitting cross-legged, i reached into my pocket to donate some change. of course, my leg came out and my foot almost pointed at the buddha! ouch. after walking out basically in shame, i later read about how sacred the buddha is. so i returned to get another look - and promptly walked into the entry area to the temple with my shoes on, another no-no. stupid american.

finally, we enjoyed the unique fusion of thai and italian architecture that the chakri mahaprasad hall exhibits:



so, when in bangkok, make the grand palace your top tourist priority. what's great is that there's really not that many must-see sights in the city, so once you've seen this and a couple of the other wats, you're free to eat, shop and party till exhaustion.

near the grand palace is one of the aforementioned wats, wat pho, where the reclining buddha resides. what's funny is that the building it's housed in barely fits the buddha, so you're jostling with other tourists in a fairly narrow area. plus i love its huge feet. not so great: people who stand in the prime spot to take pictures for eternally long periods of time (not the people shown below however):





we took the river express back to the sky train, hanging out in the back of the boat where we could stand and soak in the city. and that sums up our first afternoon in bangkok. more about that night and the rest of the trip to come. meanwhile, a flickr photo set from our trip is available for your viewing pleasure.