I Wanna Bangkok
- jill
- Feb 16, 2019
- 3 min read
(click on photos to enlarge and see comments)
Finally in the big city after SO much travelling...all I want to do is sleep, lol! I had purchased ahead of time a SIM card for my phone, as well as an Airport Rail Link pass to get into the city from the airport, so I picked those up and headed for the train. Found my airBNB pretty quickly--just a few minutes walk from the BTS (skytrain) station at Victory Monument (everything is in Thai/English). DAMN this place is hot. Sweating profusely already! If this is their winter, I'd hate to see the summer!
My airBNB is tiny, but nice. Good A/C. They also left me some water and snacks...all Thai snacks except for the Oreos. The beds were VERY hard--no give whatsoever--so I pull the comforter off and set up a bed on the sofa :-) Then I convince myself to head out and start checking out the city.
First stop is the Erawan Shrine which was packed. It is an outdoor shrine that was attacked by terrorists back in 2015 with a bomb that killed 20 people and injured many more when it went off at 7pm during evening rush hour. You wouldn't know it by the crowds around it today.
There are thousands of smaller shrines like this all over the city--some in people's front gardens, and some in front of businesses. Interestingly, people leave various offerings--opened bottles of soda, sandwiches...even money, which amazingly doesn't get stolen!
Then I walked to the Hello Kitty house which was a letdown--it was mainly a cafe that served rainbow colored sugary treats (too hot for that!!) and then downstairs had a small shop.
But then, I walked from the noisy, hot, smoggy streets of Bangkok down a quiet alley to an oasis--the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was an American who moved to Thailand and was a silk merchant. The interesting part of his story is that he disappeared mysteriously in Malaysia in 1967--so many different theories about what may have happened to him. What is for sure, is that he built this beautiful place in 1959, and luckily, they let visitors in to take a look. You can't take pictures inside, but the outside is beautiful enough for good pictures. The tiny shrine photo is typical of the thousands of shrines all over the city. The canal is directly behind it on the other side of the fence. Afterward, I took a walk along the canal and spotted some good street art.
What an odd little calm spot in the middle of chaos! Really good spot to sit and relax and cool off a bit. I took the tour of the inside (it comes free with admission), and I can't imagine living there without A/C...but the trees and the canal next to it provide the occasional breeze.
From there, I went in search of the Caturday Cat Cafe...which is exactly what you would expect. A cafe...with cats. It took me FOREVER to find it, as it was hidden in the back of a group of restaurants/bars; sort of in a parking lot. Finally got there, and thank goodness, it was blasting A/C. The food offerings were not so great...nothing even remotely Thai to eat...cheese sticks...pizza rolls...weird snack foods. But cute little nuggets that all wear bowties! It was nice to spend time around cats since I was missing mine.
I did have a tasty mango smoothie while I was there :-) Then it was time for the first of several massages I would get while in Thailand (at Chaba Massage)--they are SOOOOO cheap, and GOOD. Then finally time to collapse onto the sofa and fall asleep after my first day on the other side of the world.
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