Bangkok on 10/2/13: Food, Ferry Ride and Sights

A Western breakfast of fried eggs, “sausages” (we’d call them hot dogs though!) toast and make your own coffee or tea was included in the room price every day which was perfect for Steven as that’s his favorite breakfast.  I prefer yogurt, fruit, tea and possibly a croissant or mini baguette with jam so we always bought these enormous Chinese Fuji apples at fruit stalls for my breakfast and for us to munch on during the day.  The best jam we’ve bought all trip was the strawberry jam from RIMI grocery store in Tallinn; that was long gone by now so we settled on Best Foods brand instead, a very poor substitute!

·        Wish we could buy some more of that jam plus the best dates and yummy black raisins I’ve ever had; they were both from Russia.  So big and moist, I drool at the thought of them both; going through a bit of withdrawl now having finished both the dates and raisins a bit ago!

·        We’ve both eaten a lot of local food along the way but have stuck to almost exclusively rice and veggies, often with chicken, in very small local restaurants and not from food stalls.  Hasn’t been worth it to come within 10 feet of one of the omnipresent food carts b/c of Steven’s allergies.

·        Decided to take the Chao Phraya ferry all the way to the last pier, Rajsingkorn, going south so we could experience more of the life on the river; it cost us a measely 15thb or .50, to go the whole way.  Once there, we switched to another boat and paid 15thb for the ride back upriver to Payap Pier to go to Vimanmek, the world’s largest golden teakwood mansion.

·        We both loved our ferry rides; fascinating seeing the various boats on the river: ferries like ours, express ferries with different flags, longtail boats, tugboats, motorboats, etc.  Lots of debris on the water though that morning but don’t know why that day.

·        Some sort of demonstration or rally (truly not sure which but Steven thought the former and I the latter!) going on the main street outside the mansion.  There was a huge banner welcoming Donald Carter (my mother’s maiden name), who’s the Speaker of the NZ House of Representatives.  People galore, including schoolchildren in uniform as always, were waving flags, a man was shouting something I clearly didn’t understand into a loudspeaker but the kicker was the number of police officers all carrying huge shields and rifles.  I just can’t imagine people getting all into a dither over New Zealand of all places!

·        Stopped in to see one of its museums; just like at Bangkok’s Grand Palace, we had to remove our shoes; even the security personnel had no shoes on!

·        Once at the mansion itself, we were required to buy either a 50thb or 100thb sarong to enter the mansion since neither of us had thought when setting out for the day to wear clothes covering our knees in Bangkok’s heat. It threw us for a loop b/c we’d been able to always borrow or rent them in the past so we weren’t thinking as clearly as we should have.  We clearly weren’t thinking clearly b/c we just bought the last 2 50thb ones which also happened to be quite heavy and pretty if plain.  Neither of us thought until we were walking around the grounds we should have gotten at least one of the 100thb ones that was especially attractive as I had, on my wish list, to buy a sarong to oat some point in Thailand!  

·        Steven was bound and determined to either chuck his right away b/c of the weight or cut it up and have place mats or something made from it once we got home!  I pleaded with him not to ditch it or leave it for another guest so we could give one to each of the girls; they are a lovely shade of peach and perfect for either winterish weather in both Boulder or Lansing, Michigan.  Nina and Natalie – I hope you’ll agree especially after reading the tale of the sarong!

·        Finally saw the Vinanmek Mansion after all that doodah; not sure we felt it was worth it after spending so much time and money for the entrance fee, sarongs and then locker for backpack, etc.  It was beautiful but, after going through a security pat down and seeing all the signs warning of a 2000thb fine each for all sorts of infractions, the mansion lost a lot of its allure for us.

·        Walked to the Golden Mount and hiked up its 344 steps to the top to see Wat Sukhot, also known as Benchamabophit; loved the spectacular views of the city and the marble tiled floors we walked on outside before entering the wat itself; we sat and listened to monks chanting their evening prayers and lucked out getting an air conditioned Bus 49 back to near the guesthouse; the bus only cost 11thb each, about .30.  I say lucked out as most of Bangkok’s buses do not have air con as it’s called in SE Asia.

·        Another big traffic jam; thought it was b/c it was rush hour but found out later that it’s always like that; glad that we traveled on every means of transportation available while in Bangkok so we could experience them all; love the ferry the most as you might have guessed by now.

·        Random observations:  saw absolutely massive photos of the king and queen at every major intersection around the city; it got to be a tad unnerving seeing them everywhere; also a fairly major UN presence in the city judging by the number of FAO and UNICEF signs we saw on buildings and vehicles.

·        We walked a good 8 miles around the city today so a long but generally fun day.

Same story about the photos - mea culpa.