Adventures in Asia, Part 2: It's Better in Bangkok
- Feb 9, 2017
- 4 min read
Sorry for the delay—I'm back! This is a long one, so thank you for your patience :) Day Two of our incredible vacation started with breakfast right down the block from Hotel Muse at Crepes & Co., a great spot that I highly recommend....along with a thousand other Trip Advisors. They have more of an Mediterranean/ international menu, but great for breakfast, regardless.
From there we set off by foot to explore downtown Bangkok, specifically the Siam district. Tons of shopping and so many interesting eateries. There were literally more malls (and motorcycles) than I've ever seen, clustered within blocks of one another. We strolled through Central World, Siam Center and Siam Paragon en-route to The Jim Thompson House. The food court level of Siam Center is unbelievable. It's a food lover's paradise. So many unique eateries! There must have been hundreds of options. I think we were a bit overwhelmed, and still full from breakfast, so we picked up a passion fruit juice and continued on our way. (We were also on the hunt for a dessert spot called "Hungry Bear." More on that later.)
The Jim Thompson House was fantastic and a nice reprieve from the overload of malls and eateries. I highly recommend a visit, should you find yourself in this vibrant city. A good family friend recommended we check it out, and I'm so glad we did. While I enjoyed the temples, palaces and buddhas throughout the country, this was a very unique experience. Post tour, we grabbed a fresh spring roll and drink at the restaurant on the property. It's a bit pricey for Bangkok but very lovely, as there's a huge koi pond with lots of foliage in the middle of the city.
After that, we walked back to the hotel, stopping once more at Siam Center. Prior to our trip, we had seen a frozen mango dessert on Insta and were determined to find it. Oh and we did. Hungry Bear was everything we hoped for...and more. I can still taste the mango deliciousness. It's a "sundae" made of mango shaved ice, topped with homemade whipped cream and mango puree. We also encountered this amazing graffiti artist on our walk.
We rounded out the afternoon with a head, neck and shoulder massage (obvi, couldn't resist!) from the place next to the hotel that had been booked the previous evening. It was good, but Jasmine Spa was a better experience. Post spa we headed to the roof of our hotel for a beautiful sunset and cocktails.
After a quick shower and rest (i.e. an episode of The Night Manager—and if you haven't seen it, you're missing out!) we headed out to dinner at Soul Food Mahanakorn, a quick metro ride away in the Thong Lor neighborhood. It felt a little pricey compared to our meal the following night, and was also full of westerners, so while I don't doubt the authenticity of the dishes we ate, I think I overhyped it in my mind. Good food regardless: we got the crab curry, fried rice, papaya salad and shrimp satay. Particularly loved the fried rice.
We are so exhausted we went back to the room, ordered some room service for dessert (nothing says vacation like dessert in bed), watched another episode of the Night Manager (a common thread throughout the trip) and called it a day.
Day three began with breakfast at the Hen and the Egg. I had heard of it while researching our trip and was excited to discover that it was right down the block from our hotel. Such a charming spot. Loved the food and decor. Service was ok, but the ambiance and whole coconut I ate for breakfast more than made up for it.
Feeling a bit more adventurous, we next set out for the famed Flower Market, exploring the river along the way. We decided that a tuk-tuk ride would be a fun way to see the city. What an adventure—not for the faint of heart. The flower market was very interesting. Rows and rows of beautiful orchids and marigolds. Thailand is known their orchids and it was very cool to see so many in one place. Thousand if not millions available for next to nothing.
Right down the street is Wat Pho, one of Bangkok's holiest and most beautiful sites. We checked out the Reclining Buddha (largest gold buddha in the country) and spent an hour or two exploring the beautiful, sacred grounds. It's hard to capture it's immensity and beauty.
From there we continued on to Chatuchak, otherwise known as the Weekend Market. This is probably the largest outdoor market I'll ever visit. In my life. It makes El Rastro in Madrid look tiny. Larry, a fellow traveler from Singapore that we briefly chatted with outside of the Hen and the Egg, recommended that we go. While I was initially on the fence because I knew we'd be going to the weekend market in Chiang Mai, I'm so glad we did. What an unbelievable experience, and for me, a highlight of Bangkok. I was weary to wear my camera since there were literally thousands of people everywhere we turned, so I only grabbed a few photos. We picked up some goodies (namely those signature Thai elephant pants!), got some Pad Thai, and of course, some mango sticky rice—this time topped with a scoop of coconut ice cream. OMG was it good.
We strolled around for about 2 hours, and then headed back to the hotel via—you guessed it—tuk-tuk. We showered and relaxed for a bit, and decided on dinner at Mercury Ville, a shopping and restaurant hub right in the Langsuan neighborhood. There were a few options and we decided to try our luck at Have a Zeed. This place felt like a real local spot, which we loved. The food was awesome and our bill was about $15! Highlights included: the best tom yom soup I've ever had, delicious green curry, and an excellent papaya salad.
We picked up some exotic fruit and Thai snacks on our stroll home and went to bed fairly early after yet another long but incredible day. Follow our adventures as we continue on to Chiang Mai, up next! (And at this rate, if you're lucky, you may get the whole synopsis by next year.)
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