Bangkok Highlights

On our way to Luang Prabang in Laos, we spent a few days in Bangkok. I had heard that the city was polluted and crowded, so I was relieved it didn't seem that bad (though certainly not the cleanest of places). Here are a few highlights from our trip.

Chatuchak Market

Claiming to be the world's largest weekend market, the market is huge, and sells everything from puppies to fine art. It was a lot more orderly than I expected -- there is even a color-coded map organized by category to help you find your way. This is less of a tourist market and more of a real city market, with a wide range of goods from cheap to high-end. Definitely a lot more fun than a mall, even if hotter; some of the stalls have enclosed themselves off and put in airconditioning, which is always a welcome relief in SE Asia.

Fresh fruit - a great shopping snack

Detailed Map of Chatuchak Weekend Market

Wat Pho

This temple complex is home to the world's largest reclining Buddha (we saw the world's largest sitting Buddha in Hong Kong, so now we just have to find the largest standing...).  The Buddha was pretty big, or rather long, and he looked very relaxed. I especially like his feet, which were carved underneath. 

  

We also appreciated other features of the grounds, including ornate statues of mythical or historical characters. The guard statues in the bottom photo look to me like something out of Alice in Wonderland.

 

Grand Palace

As the palace grounds were hot and crowded, we did not last long, but we got a sense of the opulence and flair of Thai royal tradition. The royal presence, however, extends beyond the palace gates. The King's photo is everywhere in Thailand -- street corners, airport terminals, restaurants. After 3 days in Bangkok I knew his face as well as any American president; and who could forget the thick glasses. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo, but google should suffice your curiosity. 

Another highlight (though OD would disagree) would be getting massages, which is a major feature of Thai culture (I read somewhere that Thais get massages more than they exercise).  Unlike my massage in Siem Reap, this massage was less spa-like -- no oils, no soothing music, no inspired decor. We got side-by-side massages; my massage therapist was a middle-aged woman while OD's massage therapist was a somewhat diminutive young man. My massage was greatly enhanced by my massage therapist's laughter and commentary (in Thai) as her male counterpart did gymnastic-like moves on my husband trying to apply adequate pressure.  

Now at this point in our trip we were already coming down with what we would later brand as the "Bangkok bug", which we caught from our lost cab driver who coughed for an hour before he found our hotel. So OD thinks it perhaps was not the best idea to get massages and release all the toxins into our systems. He did come down with a high fever after that, though he then did fully recover. I on the other hand coughed for more than 2 months -- that's right, 60 odd days with a deep hacking cough that at one point pulled a rib muscle. OD thinks that we got early exposure of the respiratory bug that hit Singapore about a month later,  so I won't totally blame Bangkok, but next time we have a coughing taxi driver, I'm pulling out a face mask!