Four Nights in Bangkok

Sam has requested that I kick off today's blogging festivities!

Today was a busy day. We made the trek up to the Weekend Market by taxi and were immediately impressed with the chaos and general hugeness of the market. Sam tells me it is close to a square mile and full of vendors selling just about anything you could possibly want.

We spent a long time in the clothes section. In contrast to the other markets we've been to, the weekend market has a ton of authentic, interesting Thai designers that come to the market to sell their things. Of course there is still the requisite number of stalls selling souvenirs and Chang tank tops, but we felt much more interested by what the market has to offer. One of the highlights was Sam's interaction with a very nice Thai man selling shorts. During this interchange I was fortunate enough to see Sam don a "changing dress" which is essentially a long floor-length skirt that you can try clothes on under. He looked lovely.

My coolest purchase was from a Thai boutique called Melon Vodka. I bought a very cool shirt with a tiger on it in a salmon color. This was a victory especially because we are, for the most part, much bigger than Thai people, and tend to not fit their sizes so well.

We browsed the market for hours, and then grabbed a cab down to the Grand Palace, perhaps the most impressive of the temples in Bangkok. We saw the jade buddha and were again impressed with the beauty and intricacy of the architecture and ornamentation. Visitors to the Grand Palace also must wear conservative clothing, so we didn't linger too long since we were wearing long pants (Sam) and a long, hot skirt (me).

From the grand palace we headed over to the river again, and caught a canal tour from one of the eager tour companies. The boat took us around the canals of Bangkok for an hour, a very eye-opening experience. Along the canals, the houses alternate from fancy, mansion-types to shacks that look on the verge of tumbling into the water. Run-down and very basic, it was interesting and important I think to see that Bangkok is not all fun and games. The water in the canals is also very dirty, and often dotted by floating trash. Nonetheless, Thai kids took to splashing and playing along the edges, and waved happily to us as we passed in the boat.

We returned back to sample the BBQ fish that the restaurant just in front of our hotel is known for. The red snapper was tasty, and some spot prawns and a Chang or two rounded out the meal nicely. We're headed to bed early, tuckered out from a long day of sightseeing and excited for tomorrow's departure to Chiang Mai. It's been real, Bangkok!

I pass the torch to Sam:

Getting to the Weekend Market before the heat really settled was key, as the maze of stalls starts to scorch once the sun gets high. When we first got there we were excited and relieved to see that this was not like the night bazaar at all but instead filled with colorful unique merchandise. Equally relieving were the merchants who were not nearly as aggressive, and many of whom actually made their products.

One of my highlights was definitely the changing dress, which are actually the go to changing room option. I bought a pair of shorts and tried some shirts from the stall but even the XL nearly burst trying to get over my shoulders. The man in the stall was great, he told me he designed the clothes ( or the shirts at least, I think some of the sellers lie about this), and was extremely friendly and helpful without being overtly agressive. I didn't even barter when he charged me 200 bhat for the shorts, come to think of it we didn't barter for anything at the market because the people we enjoyed the people we were buying from and we enjoyed giving them our business; push come to shove we are only talking about a couple dollars here and there, and I don't mind paying the extra when I don't feel like I'm being ripped.

Emma's highlight buy was an Emerald ring. The ring is pretty cool, and the vendor was a teenage boy from Afghanistan who spoke great English, was extremely friendly, and we talked a while about the Afghani antiques he sold and about his families migration to Thailand. Really interesting stuff. Emma wasn't going to buy it at first, but when we walked away she quickly changed her mind, again we didn't barter and genuinely enjoyed giving the kid our business.

The Grand Palace came next, in the heat of the afternoon, in jeans, all of which quickly wisped away any hydration I tried to accomplish. Interestingly enough most locals only wear long pants and jeans, I have no idea how as I would probably die.

Other than the heat the Palace is amazing. It was founded in the late 18th century when the King decided to move across the river, and now acts as the main government complex (so much cooler than the White House) as well as a very great wat (temple). The Wat was similar to Wat Po in regards to the grandeur, and amazing attention to detail shown in the colorful illustrations lining to walls and shiny mosaics decorating the buildings. We observed the emerald Buddha which was miniature in comparison to the Reclining Buddha of Wat Po, but much holier as their were strict rules in entering its room such as not pointing the bottoms of your feet at the statue.

After going through the main stuff we changed out of our long pants and ventured to the coolness of the river. We took a colorful longtail boat on an hour tour after some vigorous haggling. I was certain we got a good deal as I got it down to half price, only to find the Spaniards on the boat with us got it for less with no haggling at all. Oh well.

As Emma said, the trip was very interesting; seeing the various landscapes of the riverside. It was pretty cool to see all the kids swimming and fishing in the river that I was grossed out to get splashed with. I guess the same could be said for the water in Santa Monica, which I have submerged myself in once or twice.

We topped off the night with some BBQ fish from the restaurant outside our hotel, which we've been eying for a couple days now. Tasty whole Red Snapper and some fresh giant prawns hit the spot. We then strolled around Khoa San for a while opting for a foot massage which was pretty sublime. My guy went to town on my legs and kinda made a spectacle about the size and firmness of my calves, having several of his co-workers give them a feel. Another example about how I am not proportioned the same as the Thai people. I didn't care though, not even when I thought he was going to break my toes or pull my hamstring. It was great.