Thailand, day 2. I've got a vague itinerary for my first full day in Bangkok: Thailand's Grand Palace, Wat Pho to see the reclining Buddha, the famed Chatuchak weekend market... and then I'll just see what happens.I learned my lesson on day one in Thailand: hesitance = missed opportunities. I wake early and leave the hotel, seeking Bangkok street food, determined not to let language and shyness come between me and a tasty Thai meal. The streets are buzzing with early morning activity.
Falling in love with gaa fae yen and Thai street food
You don't have to walk more than 5 minutes to find someone cooking or selling street food in Bangkok, often from a makeshift cart or the back of a bike: chicken skewers, fried fish, grilled bananas, soups, rice and noodle dishes, coconut pudding in banana leaves, fresh fruit. Why so many people buy food from the ubiquitous 7-Elevens is beyond me.
I find a strip of food stalls along the sidewalk around the corner from my hotel; there's not a tourist in sight, but plenty of locals. I stop and watch hungrily, then point to order: congee with egg and pork, 35 baht. Khob khun kha, I say. I share a table on the sidewalk and eat breakfast with a local man who doesn't seem to notice my presence.
A King and I experience at the Grand Palace
Despite the crowds, I am enthralled by the Grand Palace, which takes me back to my watching and re-watching of The King and I as a kid. I've never see anything like it; not even Versailles matches this level of excess.
Gold mosaic columns tower above me, gold lacquered cupolas top gold lacquered buildings, ornate gold statues stand amongst ornate glass mosaic statues.
A reclining Buddha and more gold at Wat Pho
Two hours later I leave, enjoy a fresh mango smoothie on the street, then head to nearby Wat Pho, famous for its 46-meter-long statue of a reclining Buddha, covered entirely in gold leaf. As I'm wandering around the temple grounds, I overhear a Brit complain that "this looks exactly the same as the other one." I chuckle; I guess that's what they mean by getting "templed out." The Buddha is impressive, but I've seen enough (and had enough of crowds) after an hour.
An afternoon at Chatuchak market
Chatuchak market is better than expected. I'm not much of a shopper, but I wander the aisles for hours, fascinated. The market boasts more than 8,000 stalls, organized by category: clothing in one area, ceramics in another, art in another. You can buy just about anything: cheap Thai fisherman pants and penis-shaped bottle openers / corkscrews / whistles (?) but also a wide range of artisanal jewelry, clothing and art. I wish I wasn't backpacking and restrain myself from buying much.
And then the food: so many options. I feast on pork-filled rice crepes and chicken skewers for lunch, stop for coconut ice cream with royal jelly and sticky rice mid-afternoon, then take a break with a bottle of Chang beer during a sudden downpour. I'm starting to love Thailand, and also wondering how everyone stays so thin.
I don't have a plan for the rest of the day, so I hop back on the skytrain and take a brief sojourn through the Siam Center mall in the heart of Bangkok, which feels startling modern and luxurious in contrast to the Bangkok I've experienced so far, and makes me feel hopelessly under-dressed.
Bangkok waterways and canal taxis
I escape and catch a canal taxi down one of Bangkok's many waterways, my favorite way to get around this city. I can't distinguish one stop from another and get off too early, which gives me an opportunity to (1) walk and work up an appetite for dinner at a highly-recommended restaurant nearby and (2) experience another side of Bangkok.
We are minutes from the luxury mall, but here people live in cramped quarters, with crumbling foundations and rusted tin roofs. I'm basically lost, and completely out of place, but everyone I encounter is full of smiles and welcome. The language barrier is no barrier at all.
Bangkok's best Pad Thai and Kao San Road
The lineup outside Thipsamai reminds me of the brunch lineups I join with all the #instafoodies at home. I pop in my headphones, watch a dozen chefs in the outside kitchen toss endless rounds of noodles and shrimp, and wait 45 minutes for a table at the restaurant that reputedly serves Bangkok's best Pad Thai.
My verdict: aroy and surprising. My noodles come wrapped in a shiny omelet, topped with two big prawns, and the sauce is tangier and less sweet than the Pad Thai I've had at home. Was it worth the wait? No. But watching the kitchen action was.
I take a detour via Kao San Road on the way back to my hotel, because – well, it's just one of those places you have to see for yourself. And then you realize that it's just like so many other places: Surfer's Paradise in Australia, Hollywood Blvd in L.A. Obnoxious foreigners, two-for-one drinks and cheap tourist t-shirts. I have a beer and grab a tuk tuk back to the hotel, exhausted.
Today's lesson: Bangkok is a city with many sides, and I like some sides better than others.