Preamble
I’d like to say sorry that the only pictures we seem to have are selfies, a lot of the go pro pictures didn’t turn out well, BUT we have hella videos, they just take ages to upload, so I’ll do that after the trip. And I’d also like to apologize for just how word vomitty these posts are. They’re very much, we did this, then this, and then that, then some of this and then that. Too tired to write well!
Day One
Grand Palace
The entry fee was 500 Baht!! It was pretty, but not worth 500. I’d say go to Wat Arun and just pay 50 Baht for their fee or go to the the National Museum right next door for also less baht and more knowledge, as it is a museum and not just pretty buildings. There was a long road littered with stands; herb stands, food stands, keychain stands, etc. This road connected you from the Grand Palace to the neighboring National Museum and one of the best Universities in Thailand, Chulangkorn University. At this point we were extremely jet lagged, and had spent quite some baht cabbing to the Grand Palace. We decided to check in to our AirBnb.
Lee Travel Inn
We totally made a mistake in planning (almost) everything. Prices seem a lot cheaper here than on AirBnb, but I guess planning allows us for peace of mind, and regardless everything is pretty cheap. We like this place! However we chose a room with no A/C, just a fan, which means we’ve been sleeping with as little clothing as possible. Luckily there seem to be no mosquitos in this fine establishment, so we’re good. It’s very clean, and sort of hostel-y, everyone has their own independent rooms, and there are shared bathrooms and showers. We have our own shower/bathroom which is nice. The shower water is not heated, but that’s no big deal, and flushing is done manually. Furthermore, *Bring Toilet Paper!! everywhere you go, this place doesn’t have any, and so do a lot of public restrooms. Wifi is only available in the lobby, which is sort of nice, you get to meet other people this way.
Lumphini Park
At this point to save money and to wander, we decided to walk to Khao San Road. On the way we bumped into Lumphini Park which was crazy fun. It’s this huge beautiful park, but the absolute best part were all the “Workout Machines”. I only took video, and uploading is very hard, but I’ll do it ASAP.
MBK
Oh man, when at first Thomas said we needed to go look at malls, I thought, “woop-dee-doo”. Like when I tell people visiting Bellevue/Seattle to visit Bellevue Square, it’s really just a mall. But THIS, oh no, THIS was no ordinary mall, it was a 7 story consumers mania. It was basically like indoor, air conditioned, clean stands. The stores were all very small, with very affordable prices. Each floor had a theme, the 5th was like electronics, 7th food, and everything else was basically clothes and purses as far as i was aware. I needed a small purse, so I bought one for 200 Baht! That’s about $6, so of course, we bought another purse for Thomas’ Mom. We bought some charging cords, and one fo those things so you can suction your phone onto your car while driving. We decided to try out their food court, and ate some saffron rice and curry chicken. It was only about 45 baht. Not bad! Another thing we noticed, portion sizes are on point here. Sure you’re paying only $1.50 for your meal, but it’s just the right amount of food!
We then meandered around and went to the visiting Siam Ccenter and Siam Paragon which was like the crystal shops at the Aria. Here you will find your Gucci, your pucci, and other italian designer things.
Another interesting thing, we have met far more Chinese than Americans. Some Australian and UK hailing tourists, but very few english speaking otherwise. So, being bilingual has been such a blessing, as it led us to follow two old asian men, running onto a moving bus, that would lead us to Khao San Road, for 16 baht. That’s 8 baht each. And since then, we have been trying to bus as much as possible! So cheap!
Khao San Road
‘FARANG EVERYWHERE’. That’s what we are, foreigners, or farang. It is a lively touristy road with more popup shops everywhere. Lots of beer and street food. The beer here is good, but its $2, which I think is quite high! But their beer is very good! Light, but at the saem time a decent alcohol percentage. We tried two different pad thai’s, and I got to say, I am sad. (Street) Pad Thai in thailand is nothing like Pad Thai in the USA! There’s like no tamarind paste, but there is definitely lots of tamarind here, I see other vendors selling that shit like candy.
We then met these two ladies buying some fried bugs to eat, while we were watching them try to haggle and then actually begin to eat their bugs, a chinese man came around, buying a whole BOX of these pupae like bugs, and he said they were his favorite. Because we were asking so many questions, he gave Thomas and I each one to try. (Thank you kind stanger?) They were uhh, definitely very protein rich. I was not a fan, and we quickly went to buy some fried chicken and coconut ice cream to wash out the flavor.
We also decided to get a Massage on the road. SO worth. only 120 baht each for a half hour in heaven. We’re already looking very forward to our next full body Thai Massage.
