We are off to Bangkok from Perth after seven incredible months in Australia. We saw much of Australia but missed a couple places…so we must return.  Thailand is known for its happy people and warm smiles.

We are off to a good start sitting in the Royal Silk Service, business class of Thai Airways. This along with the 100 plus movies will help the time “fly”. What an experience. After flying for thousands of flights over 30 years I want to live on Thai Airways, kinda like the lady that retired on a cruise ship! The meals were delicious.

• Marinated Beef Fillet with Jaew Sauce
• Chicken Soup with Bamboo Pith
• Stir-fried Eggplant with Chili and Basil
• Steamed Jasmine Rice
• Prawn in Chu Chee Curry
• Pork in Red Curry

…And can’t forget dessert, a pumpkin coconut custard.

On this flight we will cross over the equator around Sumatra, Indonesia. Officially no longer in the land down under after nearly one year spent in New Zealand and Australia!  The flight seemed to go quickly and we are excited to land in Bangkok!

After getting smoothly through customs and immigration at the Bangkok airport, we take advantage of the great cab fares to transport us to our home for four nights in Bangkok. Our Airbnb host had provided us directions in Thai for me to provide to the driver:
I am stay here ==> ฉันพักที่นี :

Life @ Sukhumvit 65 (ระหว่าง BTS เอกมัย – BTS พระโขนง) คอนโดอยู่บนถนนสุขุมวิท *** ไม่เข้าซอย

จาก สนามบิน ใช้ทางออก ถนนพระราม 9 ขับเข้าเมือง, เลี้ยวซ้ายเพื่อเข้าถนนเอกมัย (สุขุมวิท 63) จนสุดถนน เลี้ยวซ้ายเข้าถนนสุขุมวิท ผ่านวัดธาตุทองและโรงพยาบาลสุขุมวิทไปประมาณ 200 เมตร คอนโดจะอยู่ริมถนนทางด้านซ้ายมือ หลังป้ายรถเมล์

No sweat, lol.

A $9, forty-five minute cab ride took us to our condo. Our place is outstanding. A newer condo with a pool, fitness center and a view all for around $50 per night. This beats Aussie prices and will help the budget!

We had a nice dinner just down Sukhumvit Street. A couple pad thais, spring rolls, cucumber salad and two ice cold Singha beers. And more budget love, all for about $30.

Our first full day in Bangkok started out terrific! My Chicago Cubs baseball team tied the World Series with the Cleveland Indians at three games a piece! It took the Cubs two straight wins to tie it. I lived in Chicago for 17 years after college and the Cubs quickly became my team. I always preferred the National League being a long time Cincinnati Reds fan growing up, with Pete Rose and the Big Red Machine. So it was an easy choice to become a Cubs fan. So a Cubs fan for over 30 years! After the game, we took the train to Chinatown. A very nice train system here! Buses are old and lack Air Con, so we will stick to the trains.

Just a note, as many probably know, the beloved Thailand King passed away in October. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 88, was the world’s longest-serving monarch. He passed on Oct. 13 after ruling for more than seven decades! Thailand is officially in a year of mourning with shrines, pictures, videos, and billboards everywhere in honor. Most people are wearing black and white clothing or muted colors. It is moving to see such incredible genuine support and love for the King.

We spent the afternoon doing our own five mile walking tour of Chinatown.  We followed a self guided tour we found from Big Boy Travel, a lot of stops but a good map and guide.  After a short walk from the train, we started out at Wat Traimit temple, temple of the Golden Buddha. In 1955 workers were moving a large Buddha statue when it fell and cracked, revealing an enormous golden Buddha image under its plaster. The plaster was used as a tactic to hide the gold. It is, apparently, the largest gold Buddha statue in the entire world, weighing over five and half tons and over 15 feet tall.  It is around 83 percent gold according to the guide we received at the site.

After passing through the Chinatown gates, we stopped by the Kuan Yim Shrine, a temple dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion in Chinese Buddhism.

Just past here the streets start to fill and we began enjoying and exploring the busy street markets. The markets have food and about every other item you could imagine. Lots of traffic, people, tuk tuks, mopeds and bikes. But it all seems to flow with a rhythm, not chaotic as I have seen it characterized.

The food stalls are everywhere. We saw the worms, scorpions, and other interesting items. I am usually mister adventurous when it comes to eating, but I am easing into it. We opted for some fried vegetable balls, yummy and chewy. Then, I went for some BBQ pork satay…outstanding. We had a couple of waters and sodas all day. We struggled to spend $10 on food all day.

A long day, but well worth it, we logged about seven total miles.  We were happy to arrive home about six pm to prop the feet and rest up for dinner. Dinner at Soul Food Mahanakorn was terrific. We had Pad See Ew with baby squid stuffed with pork, lamb curry, and an organic red blend wine from Stellenbaosch, South Africa, Konkelberg 54 2013.

The next morning begins with breakfast and another Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians game.  Off to another good start, rather great start, as the Chicago Cubs wrap up the World Series with three straight wins!   One hundred eight years since their last World Series championship, quite a drought.

Bangkok has some excellent upscale shopping. We are not big shoppers and actually don’t own a lot of stuff anymore. We are not looking to re-accumulate! But the Siam Paragon Mall is enormous, high-end, and at ten stories, is one of the largest in Asia.  We spent the afternoon here!

The mall houses the largest aquarium is SE Asia, the Sea Life Ocean World, an open concert hall, 15 beautiful large theaters, a remarkable gourmet grocery store that rivals those anywhere and every retail store one can imagine. It seems there are hundreds of food options, many chains but also fancy food stalls that serve food similar to the street markets of most Asian varieties. There are dozens of tech type stores, heaven for me but sensory overload.  There are several auto retailers including Maserati, Lamborghini, BMW, and Bentleys. Needless to say we experienced much of this, although we did not buy a car.

After lunch, we did see a movie, The Accountant with Ben Affleck. We thought it was great. Ben was not your stereotypical accountant.

Speaking of lunch, we ate Thai food, imagine that, at Peppery. And Peppery delivered! Wow, Maak Pet! We had a spicy basil and hot chili blue crab stir fry, BBQ Pork, a salad with hot red chilis and sticky rice.

Since we saw the movie after lunch and took care of some business we had by using a department store’s “scanning services”, we just stayed for dinner! BTW, can you imagine walking into Macy’s or Myers (in Australia) and asking if they could scan some documents for you?
On our third full day in Bangkok, we explored some of the top temples and the Grand Palace. To get there, we took a train and a “ferry” down the river. Sweet ferry ride!  The ride was in a longtail, the infamous long, narrow, colorful boats powered with basically a car engine and a propeller attached to a very long shaft.

Our first stop was Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha), or Wat Phra Chetuphon.  It’s famous for its giant reclining Buddha that measures 150 feet long, covered in gold leaf.  His feet are over 15 feet long! The rest of complex and grounds are extensive and beautiful, well worth wandering, relaxing and reflecting.

With the passing of the King in the last month, thousands of mourners are visiting the Grand Palace.  The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings, gardens and courtyards.  The visitors are ushered into the area group after group.  The security is tight with multiple check points.

The temples and grounds in the area are voluminous and simply amazing.  The Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is regarded as the most important Buddhist temple in Thailand. The Buddha image is carved from a single block of jade, not emerald.

It was a warm day and we enjoyed some air con and lunch across the street from the Palace, at a small place. We had Pad Thai, Tom Yum Soup and a couple of coke zeros. 215 Baht or about $6! Portions sizes about 1/4 of US!

But, of course, I can eat more. The Royal Navy was serving complimentary food. I sampled the chicken soup and gyzo type dumplings. On our way back, I hit another food stall to sample grilled crab and shrimp! Awesome! Ok time to head back to our condo to workout!

On our final night in Bangkok we dined at an small place near our condo, Tamnak Isan. We enjoyed the salt and pepper squid and shrimp, blood cockle shells, vegetable red curry, and a Singha and Leo beer. Our server had a Guns N Roses t-shirt on with US tour dates on the back.  We tried to ask her if she had been to one of the concerts-blank stare.  Then, we tried to tell her we liked her t-shirt.  Another, blank stare.  We even tried to use Google Translate.  Needless to say, we failed miserably in our communication and I am guessing she did not know who the band was on her t-shirt.

On Saturday we packed up early and were on our way via a taxi to Hue Laphong train station for the train to Ayutthaya, once the capital of Thailand. More Thai adventure awaits!

And a few more pics from Bangkok…