10/27/12 - One Night in Bangkok (part deux)

Since this was only a weekend trip we couldn't be our usual lazy selves and sleep the day away.  At least Bangkok is an hour behind Singapore and Malaysia so we picked up some time that way.  The Grand Palace was also nice enough not to open until 9:30, so there didn't seem to be much of a point in getting there early.  With another trip to the lounge behind us (yes, we're lounge people..... hotel, airport, doesn't matter) and stomachs full of omelettes with Thai Hot Chilies and croissants that were as big as my hand (with chocolate sauce of course) we felt ready to tackle the city.  A quick stop at the concierge to confirm our itinerary (two thumbs up) and we set off with the camera to behave like tourists.

First stop was the Grand Palace.  This took awhile to get there as there was a "Red Shirt Rally" going on.  By rally I mean hundreds of people in cars, trucks, and motorcycles all wearing red, yelling slogans and streaming down one of the roads.  Unfortunately we needed to cross that specific road to get where we were going.  Our taxi driver actually apologized (super nice guy) but it was pretty interesting to see the political process in action as well as the group that almost derailed our honeymoon to Phuket two years ago.  We were told a "Yellow Shirt Rally" was going to be Sunday, but never did find out if that happened.  At the very least it didn't impede our trip to the airport.

We knew that we were going to have to borrow some clothes as you cannot have bare legs or shoulders in the palace complex.  Even though the monarchy stopped living here in the '30s the rules are still pretty strict as it is still used for official functions and of course is a major cultural/historical site.  Luckily you can put a 200 baht deposit down for each article of clothing you need and you get it back when you leave.  This is how I ended up wearing this sweet pair of pajama pants for a few hours in the 90 degree heat.  If you think they fit.... well c'mon, but beggars can't be choosers. Besides, I wasn't going to walk around in jeans in that heat all day.  I actually didn't realize how much warmer it was with them on until we were leaving and I felt like I had stepped into a refrigerator just by wearing shorts again.

Lots of temples, statues, really intricate art work.  Much better photos than this sitting on the camera at home.  They may make their way into some future posts.

Feeling sufficiently more cultured it was time to do some bargain hunting at the weekend market.  This was on the other side of the city, but we were able to negotiate what seemed like a fair price with a driver for a direct route.  Anytime you got in a taxi that didn't start from your hotel they wanted to take you somewhere on the way (some type of shop) so they could get a bonus for themselves.  It was almost like buying a direct flight vs. having a layover somewhere. It was only a hundred baht or so to avoid the stop, but it helps having a professional negotiator with you.

The Chatuchak Weekend Market is just ridiculous.  Words and photos cannot do it justice.  Stall upon stall of everything under the sun.  Its like they took the Mall of America, made it one floor, outside, and turned the AC off.  Even then, that might not be big enough.  If you can't find it there, it doesn't exist.  Food, furniture, household goods, clothes, pets (if you don't think we dawdled by the multiple puppy stalls you don't know us very well) everything. We wandered aimlessly for about 2 hours trying to find a small souvenir for our apartment and finally settled on a miniature Buddha head.  You wouldn't think that would be hard to find, but for some reason we were struggling with finding a good one.

Hot, dehydrated and getting a little hungry, we needed some internal fuel to get back to the hotel.  One of the many great parts about Thailand is there seems to be a coconut vendor within your field of vision at all times.  We each scored one for ourselves, at 30 baht ($1) why not?  Coconut water is supposed to have more electrolytes than Gatorade and I sure felt better after this.  Besides, you get to watch someone use a machete to hack the top off of it.  Overall, successful shopping trip for multiple reasons.  Back to the hotel (which was turning out to be pretty awesome, great room, great lounge, great pool) to kick back and relax a bit before dinner.