MDubs' Summer of Travel: Bangkok: 5

Our short trip to Bangkok was a bit of a whirlwind, and definitely an adventure! We were completely overwhelmed with how big and busy the city is--not in a hold-your-breath-while-crossing-the-street-in-Hanoi kind of way, but in a massive, which direction do we start walking kind of way.

We checked into the Shanghai Mansion hotel, right in the heart of Bangkok's Chinatown. If you're planning to visit Bangkok, I highly recommend staying here!! It's been our favorite hotel on the trip so far (excluding your casa, Wen-Ai & Bill ;) ), with cozy and creatively decorated suites, amazing buffet breakfasts, and the best massages. All of the staff is incredibly helpful and friendly, too.

Beautiful Shanghai Mansion

Chinatown

We unpacked quickly, excited to start exploring this giant city. Matt found a little street cafe nearby that was ranked high on Foursquare, so we set out to find it. After about 20 minutes of walking, we ended up in exactly the same place that we started. Bangkok: 1, The Dubs: 0. We decided to forget about getting food, and just head to the MRT station towards our next destination at Lumphini Park. Just before crossing the street to the subway, Matt noticed the street sign was the same one the restaurant was (supposedly) on. So we decided to go for it, and 30 seconds later we were eating the most amazing pork and rice. Game on, Bangkok (BK: 1 DBs:1).

Yummy pork & rice--worth the walk

The MRT was really clean and easy, and after a few stops, we exited for Lumphini. We could see the entrance just around the corner from where we were dropped off, but since we would have had to cross the street, decided to keep walking and go in another entrance. Turns out the other entrance is on the opposite side of the park. One point for Bangkok. After walking for what seemed like an eternity, we made it inside the beautiful park. Filled with more joggers than Central Park, tons of interesting greenery, beautiful statues and fountains, we decided it was worth the walk. We participated in the national anthem (it's played daily in Bangkok at 8am and 6pm), looked in on a public aerobics class full of over 100 people, and made our way (back) to the other side of the park, so we could continue our walk to the next stop, the Sky Bar (aka the rooftop bar featured in Hangover 2).

On our way to Lumphini

Sad that we can't get into this beautiful park

We made it!

Insane aerobics class

Pretty temples everywhere you walk!

We walked through the busy Silom district and were amazed at how much was going on. Big shopping malls and small local vendors alike, it helped shed some light on the character of Bangkok. It also helped distract us from the trek we were on. If you've ever traveled with us, you know we love to try to walk everywhere. Well, its kind of hard to do that in Bangkok because things are so far away from each other. We started to realize this when, after about 30 minutes of walking down Silom Road, we looked at the map to find we were barely half way. Point Bangkok. So, when we saw a trendy looking cocktail lounge a few minutes later, we decided to take a break from walking and get some liquid energy :) After a few drinks, and card games later, we geared up for the last stretch of our journey to the Sky Bar (side note: this bar was really cool, so The Dubs evened up the score, once again). Fifteen minutes later, we made it!! But only to get turned away because somebody was wearing shorts. Note: We read online earlier that there was a dress code, but since Matt didn't have any pants (except workout pants for when we visit the temples), we figured we'd chance it, and felt pretty confident about our chances. And we really didn't think they'd turn us away since he looked pretty dapper in his collared shirt and Sperry's. Welp, Bangkok, you get 2 points for that one. Feeling discouraged, and not wanting to walk ANY more, we caught a cab back to Chinatown, which ended up costing 200 Baht for a pretty short ride. Bangkok: 5, The Dubs: 2. Don't worry, we do (a bit) better tomorrow.

After an amazing breakfast at the Shanghai Mansion (you've got to stay here!!), we set out to explore the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun and a floating market. The Grand Palace is appropriately named because, wow! There are so many brightly colored, sparkley temples to marvel at and wander into, its kind of overwhelming to know where to begin. I never thought I'd say this, but the temples we saw here make the churches in Rome seem simple! Mosaic-like pieces of gold, marble and other colorful jewels are strung together in such a careful, detailed way, it's hard not to stare in disbelief. We walked by Wat Pho, and Wat Arun, (which even in a state of restoration still looked beautiful) and stopped for some iced coffee at this sweet Thai woman's small shop, and found a tuk tuk driver to take us to the Talin Chan floating market (those of you who have been to Bangkok probably know where this story is headed...).

Tuk tuks in Thailand are definitely more interesting than the tuk tuks we took (ha) in Cambodia. This one in particular felt like we were sitting in the back of a pickup truck, and they way he sped and weaved in and out of traffic, I'm surprised we made it out alive. He dropped us off outside of the Bangkok city limits (only cost 100 Baht--member that time our cab driver overcharged us??), told us to cross this sketchy looking railroad track and wished us luck (seriously).

Just when we thought we may have been scammed and deserted in a random area of the city, we saw the entrance gates to the Talin Chang Market. Yes! Nailed it. Except that apparently the floating markets only happen on the weekends. It's cool, none of the (many) articles or reviews I read about floating markets mentioned that tiny detail. We had (another) good laugh, decided to make the most of it and took our own private boat down the Chao Phrya River. Despite there being no markets, it was actually quite enjoyable and a great way to see some more of the culture in Thailand. We bought beers and some lychee fruit from a lady rowing down the river, and had a lovely ride. After that, we took a ferry back to our hotel, and ended our long (hot) day out with a complimentary leg and foot massage at our hotel. Five stars, two thumbs up, we loved the Shanghai Mansion (in case you hadn't noticed).

Pretty temples at the Grand Palace

Wat Pho

Wat Arun

The craziest tuk tuk ride of our life!

Talin Chan "floating market"

You know the saying, if at first you don't succeed? Well, we set out for attempt number two at the Sky Bar. Matt wore his black Aesics with a polo and Sperry's, and we weren't gonna take no for an answer this time (really, if those pants didn't work, we'd just buy a new pair from the store). Before we went on our way, we wandered around Chinatown and had the best food from the food trucks/stations. Pork on stick, chicken on a stick, dumplings, Thai donuts, egg rolls...we feasted on all of this food for less than our expensive cab ride the night before. Bangkok, we're starting to like you.

Being experienced this time around, we took a tuk tuk to the State Tower, and waltzed right by the clothing police up to the 64th floor bar, "Distil". Our hostess escorted us to our loungey seats overlooking all of Bangkok, but not before checking out Matt's pants about 5 times. Don't worry, we didn't get turned away this time! And the ambiance and view was worth the wait and worth the pricey cocktails. Before we left, we took some pics at the Sky Bar on the 63rd floor, and then made our way back to Chinatown, where we enjoyed another cocktail and some live jazz music.

We sort of wish we had another day here, but are also okay with leaving. We totally understand why some people love this city and others are not too crazy about it. We felt both emotions during our 2 night stay here, but regardless, we're excited to move north to a slower, less touristy city, Chiang Mai! This city is the one that first caught my attention about Southeast Asia, so I'm pretty excited. Get ready for a post about cooking classes and tigers and elephants, oh Mai (see what I did there?!) ;)