Summary
General advice from some friends who have the experience of travelling long term is that there isn't a need to go full ham like on holiday. We've had busy days but Nicola has also basically been asleep and in bed by 9pm so there's a balance somewhere to be found!
Day 0
Arrive in Bangkok
Turns out it's bloody hot and humid
Shopping mall Japanese robot delivery for food
Day 1
Grand Palace
Luke's first pad thai - peanut free (?)
Masked dance show
Walk through Chinatown
Thai massage - gloriously painful
Day 2
Chatuchak weekend market
Westlife loving market vendor
Chatuchak park - lizards and butterflies
First order of accidental peanuts - pineapple rice is evil
Dumpling catch up with Isabel
Heaven rooftop bar
Day 3
Wat Pho temple
Siam museam - exhibition about 'Thainess'
Wat Arun temple
Chronicle
We arrived in Bangkok after a 11.5 hour flight in which Nicola didn't sleep at all whereas Luke all but slept through the whole thing. Easy taxi ride to our apartment (we're staying in Luke's dad's flat whilst here), dumped our bags and went straight out for food. Settled on Japanese food so as to not worry about Luke's peanut allergy on the first night and the boy loves chicken karaage. The Japanese restaurant had little robot waiters so it felt like we'd flown into the future, and they were super cute!
The next day Luke started the day with a shame breakfast McDonalds although it was off the local breakfast menu - the excuse being peanuts, it was hella easy and cheap(ish). Nicola's initial judgement was short lived when she came crawling back as the local food got a bit overwhelming that early in the morning.
We then got the metro to the Grand Palace. The AC on the metro was a dream after the heat above ground, and the metro is like a cool and clean palace that allows you to escape from reality - the exact opposite of the London Underground.
Nicola from her prior experience of temple visits in Thailand believed that boys didn’t need to cover their legs as god loves a bit of man leg. Turns out we were wrong and Luke needed some more modest wear than his shirt and short shorts. Maybe he's not gods type. The only long trousers Luke packed so early on were his waterproof Goretex over trousers. It was an absolute sweatfest.
The Grand palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha was very gold, very grand and absolutely roasting hot - it felt like the palace grounds trapped the heat. Our favourite bit was the garden where it was much cooler and open. A decision to walk around the museum there meant we were able to get shuttled onto a bus for a free masked dance show.
In between the dance showing Nicola found a popular pad thai street vendor. The crushed peanuts were staring at Luke in the face but we could see what was going in it. Turns out pad thai doesn’t have peanuts cooked in it just added at the end…
We watched the Masked dance show - it’s was short and sweet - but it gave Luke the chance to pluck up the courage and try a pad thai after the show… Luke survived the journey and it was delicious! It was a big moment! It was likely cooked in peanut oil but thankfully Luke is fine with that.
On that high decided to waddle through Chinatown. Luke had never seen something so busy- alleyways of markets that were rammed and motorbikes trying to get through… and the sum of this market trip was buying some more face masks which Thai's wear religiously outdoors and in when in public.
Hot and sweaty and tired, Luke wanted a beer but it turns out pubs and bars don’t exist in Phra Ram 9 (where we were staying) so we got a panic Starbucks. It was overpriced, but it was needed.
To further relax we got our first Thai massage - £4.25 each… the masseuse put Nicola into positions she didn’t know were possible, or that her back cracking could make that noise! Pretty sure they were laughing at us when yelping. Back home happy!
The next day we got the train to Chatuchack Market. In opposing fashion to the UK, Luke successfully bought lots, but Nicola couldn’t find a dress. At lunchtime the heavens opened and we sat under a clock tower at the center of the market for an hour whilst it rained and chilled out. The market stall next to us smashing out Westlife tunes was greatly appreciated.
We finished looking around the market and went to Chatuchak park. Once there we saw monitor lizards which were out in the rain and weird squirrels! We also went to the free butterfly house which was cute. Walking around the park Nicola nearly stacked it - full banana slip style on some wet tiles, but luke grabbed her and saved her. Not all heroes wear capes.
Walking back to the Metro we walked through the pet section of the market which was pretty horrible- There was no care for the animals which were too cramped, hot and not taken care of, with some animals present that should be in the wild! We hopped on the Metro to visit Isabel - Luke's friend from school - for dumplings and catch long overdue catch up. Great to hear about her life in Thailand. We took her advice and went to a rooftop bar "Heaven" before bed.
Decided to add to the temple run collection, first one Wat Pho. Luke donned his classic backpacker elephant pants to hide his immodest knees - only to find out that boys weren’t restricted here. We actually preferred this to the Grand Palace due to the huge structures, statues and open space. Became one of 'those' tourists queueing for a couple shot with the massive gold reclining Budda, was so warm and stressful with all the people and of course the picture was shit - not worth the hassle.
We walked to the Siam Museam as it was a close and we wanted a bit of history. Completely different to what we expected and it turns out it was about what it meant to be Thai and ‘Thainess’ which was very impressive for the clear cultural significance this has but it was so weird.
Temple day meant another temple and over to Wat Arun. The closest station had a great name -‘itsaraphap’ which we continually called ‘it’s a trap’ - Luke's Star Wars reference was very much lost on Nicola. It was a very similar design to Wat Pho but only had the one giant pillar in the middle. There were many many Asian women posing and dressed in what looked like traditional formal wear all over the Wat - still clueless as to why. Got a 5BHT (12p) ferry across the river afterwards - the price differences will never get old.
Closing thoughts
Our summary of Bangkok is that it's - chaotic, hot and probably not going to be our favorite city. But we had a great couple of days exploring, trying markets, food and working out how to not get ripped off. It was however a great place to start settling in to travelling. Cheers Dad.
Next stop is Kanchanaburi...
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