Day 04, Sunday, March 16, Bangkok
Today we arise at 5 AM. We don’t get breakfast in the hotel because it’s not open yet. I call for a Bolt ride at 5:45 AM (Think Uber or Lyft). It is a 15 minute ride to Siam Paragon Gate 1 (Thailand used to be called, Siam”). That is the place our instructions tell us to meet our Tour Guide for the day. It is under large concrete overpasses and it is dawn. So my camera demands some attention and grabs a couple shots. The tour guide shows up at 6:15 AM and checks us in. Before she shows up, we have time to grab a bite of food from a Vendor in front, something made with chicken. Street Food. We also find that water here comes in cans! The bus arrives and we board. The bus leaves promptly at 7:00 AM. The tour guide has quite the sense of humor and everyone is entertained. It appears our group today is around 20 people. It will be a two hour ride on a comfortable bus. Everywhere there are jumbled wires on poles along the streets.
The tour Guides, Apple and Mien Phan entertain us with jokes and local trivia. For example, the average Thai earnings are 10,000 Baht per month. That’s approximately $300 USD. Per month. Let that sink in. You address someone older than you as, ’Peepee’. That is what we should call our driver. But wait, not I. Because I am older than the driver, I am told to address someone younger as, ’Nongnong’. Okay, so there it goes. Thank you for driving today, Nongnong!
We pass many salt mining farms. This is quite the business in Thailand. They pump Sea Water into the fields and let evaporation do it’s thing. Then they rake and scrape the salt into piles and ship it away. My camera whispers in my ear, a two hour ride? Come on, let me have some fun! So I acquire many photos outside from the moving bus.
We stop at Cafe Amazon for a ‘rest’ break with bathrooms. Mien Phan then gives us more trivia and jokes until we reach our first destination.
We arrive at the, “Lao Tuk Luck Floating Market” west of Bangkok. We get into (with difficulty) low floating long boats, such as the ones I commented on yesterday. Ours has what appears to be a 4 cylinder car engine mounted on a long pole, with the propeller at least 12 feet behind the boat. There are 4 or 6 tourists per boat. It’s fun riding in the narrow boats while vendors come alongside with trinkets or food. We cruise through the canals and marvel at this way of life. We even see a sign desribing the cost of a boat ride that we think we understand!
After which we climb out of the boats (with greater difficulty) and have Thai iced coffee and iced chocolate. New found friends Jonathan and Olivia from New Zealand shared their table with us and jolly conversation is had. We walk over walkways over the canals to get overviews.
Then it was back on the bus to the Mae Klong Railway Market. Perhaps you have seen videos where all the vendors pull in the awnings so the train can come through! We ‘high fived’ the passengers on the train because we were inches away! Everyone was on time or early prior to this so we got to see the train come through twice!
Then the trip back to the city was accompanied by guide Apple’s great sense of humor! Driver Peepee ( or to us ‘Nongnong’) took us to Icon Siam, a huge mall on the river. We are not up to walking a mall, especially one this big but Elee wants to see the food areas. This seems to take up most of the ground floor. But first we sit and have a glass of wine.
We then walked through the food courts and marveled at the arrays of seafood, meats and fruit and vegetables. We had been shopping for a taste of Durian all morning and the best we could find was portions for 100 Baht (about $3.50 USD) and didn’t buy any because all we wanted was a tiny taste. Then Elee spotted a vendor with tiny free samples and we said, YES!
Now let me describe Durian. It has such a foul smell that hotels ban it and charge twice as much penalty as they charge for smoking! Sure enough, the smell was rancid! And you say, “You are going to put that in your mouth?” Well, long story short, that’s exactly what we did! And the taste defied logic after smelling it. It was creamy and smooth with a vanilla, banana texture and taste! Absolutely nothing off putting about the taste at all! Now it’s time to go back to the hotel. Right outside the Icon Siam was the river and a riverboat dock. So, for 32 Baht total (0.95 USD, yes, you read that right, 95 cents!) we both got a ride to about two blocks from our hotel!
Today has been a hot one, even for Bangkok. On our walk to the Chillax, we even pass by what appears to be a restaurant food photo shoot! Our hotel has a pool on the roof with a. ‘swim-up’ bar. So guess where we spend the next couple hours? They even have a Happy Hour and get a free appetizer with two drinks! A bargain at twice the price! We chat amicably with other tourists from Holland and Bavaria.
Then back to the room to dry off and head out to find dinner. Tonight we are in search of Street Food. After a couple miles walking, We find a vendor that has Pad Thai with Chicken. Add a large beer and drink for Elee and dinner costs 320 Baht or $9.54 USD! Total. For both of us! However we are underwhelmed with the flavor but it fills us up. The large beer I got was about 38 ounces or one liter. I only drank half of it. A couple sitting next to us was drinking the same beer so I gave them the second half of the bottle!
Back to Chillax to chill and relax for the night. See you again tomorrow!
Around the World in 80 Trips (Or Less) 