Bangkok – 1 full tummy, 2 happy feet, 1 enlightened soul

Bangkok had been on my travel radar for long, but had always been pushed aside in the end because of it’s reputation as a sleazy destination for the-oh-so-typical-all-mens-groups. “What’s to do with the family there?,” I wondered. But an upcoming long weekend along with extreme craving for good Thai food was what finally brought it back to the top of the list. Since we only had 3 full days, we decided to do just Bangkok. The rest of Thailand would have to wait.
A couple of days in Bangkok and you realize how unfair it is, to judge this beautiful city based on just one aspect. My first impression of Bangkok when I landed was – “Oh this is so Mumbai”. When I drove a little to the outskirts, it reminded me of Goa, the canals (Khlongs) at the floating market reminded me of Kerala. Bangkok lacks the poshness of Singapore or Hong Kong, yet in it’s own, modest way it makes a mark. Some peculiarities of Bangkok –

• There is a lot of traffic on the roads, but there is no honking and everyone follows the lanes. Life can be so less stressful even on a packed road if there were just no honking!

• What’s with these rolls of overhead cables everywhere?! Power cables, TV cables, fiber optic cables, bundle loads all hanging from pole to pole, sometimes in hundreds, do make for an unpleasant sight. I read that projects are underway to move them underground, but will take many years because of the costs involved.

• Street food and massage parlors are everywhere. Massage parlors don’t necessarily have to be shady. The foot massage centers are out in the open at every nook and corner and just what you need after a tiring day of relentless shopping. These two sweet masseuse made my day with their rubbing and kneading of my feet. God bless them!

• The city is pretty clean. Surprisingly there are no dustbins anywhere in sight, yet there is no litter on the road. For a city that thrives on street food, this is impressive. And Thailand is not really a rich country. But the people there know they need to keep the tourists happy and do their bit to keep it clean, proving that poverty is not an excuse for uncleanliness. Learn Incredible !ndia. This hurts 🙁
• Everything is so inexpensive. From hotel tariffs to dining, everything is cheaper compared to other big cities, making this a classic budget destination!
• Bangkok is the hottest city in the world, yeah I say that coming from Dubai. Bangkok is hot – day or night, summer or winter. Plan the places to visit keeping this in mind. Avoid times around mid noon.

Visa

Thailand is one of the many countries where Indians can get a visa on arrival. The fee is 2000 Baht per person and has to be paid in cash. Fill, print and carry the online form to save time there and don’t forget the photographs (one per applicant). We were lucky to have arrived at a time when there was a tourism promotion that waived off the entire fee.  The fee however is really not what you should be worried about. Prepare to be annoyed – the chaos, the huge lines, no information on which lines are for whom, non-working air con, and then as usual – a separate, smaller, premium line for an additional 200 Baht per person. We fell for it. It still took us around 1 hour, start to finish, but it was worth it.

Transport

Bangkok has a pretty good public transport system. In the three days that we were there, we traveled by almost every mode available – the MRT (subway), the BTS (metro and bus), taxi and Tuk Tuk (our good old auto rickshaw).

BTS and MRT tickets can be purchased at the stations. Only one-way tickets are available.  Keep a printed copy of this BTS and MRT map in your backpack always. Try and book a hotel that’s close to one of the stations for easy movement.

With MRT and BTS you will save the Bahts and more importantly avoid the road traffic. Taxi drivers will stop when you wave hands, ask where you want to go, then tell you they will not turn on the meter, ask for a fixed price (typically 1.5 to 2 times meter fare) and then speed off when you say you don’t agree. Hmm, sounds familiar?
We trusted google maps to show us the best route and mode of transport and followed it blindly. Bangkok is one place where I would trust Google over people. Why? Read on.

People

The people in Bangkok are warm, smiling and courteous. I had heard stories from some friends citing example of racism towards desis. We didn’t feel that at all. They will smile, bow, fold hands in a namaste and greet you with a “Sawadi”. When you leave, they will again bow and say “Kha pun kha” to thank you. Politeness and a feeling that “The customer is the king” is imbibed in their hospitality. The shopkeepers from my home town in Pune need to be sent here for some good training 😊
Most people in Bangkok can speak some English. Outside Bangkok it’s harder and you have to make do with sign language. A funny thing we noticed – the Thai people along with their tonal accent have a casual attitude towards the letter R. I have heard them pronounce it sometimes as R but mostly as L especially when it comes towards the end of the word. It’s quite funny when the masseuse rubs your feet and in the tonal accent tells you to “Leeeeeelaask” (Meaning ‘Relax’. if you didn’t get it now, don’t worry. You’ll enjoy the joke more after your trip, when you know what I mean 😉 )
But, don’t let their warm smiles and child-like talk fool you. The sweetest person may end up being the biggest scammer you met. Hotel staff will “suggest” you take a hired taxi instead of a bus because they think it could be very tiring (it’s not that there isn’t some truth to it, but the way they talk to each other in Thai and then try to coax you again to take a cab, all makes it look very fishy). There must be “cuts” in place everywhere.  The cab driver you take will not drop you at the final destination, citing traffic ahead, and instead drop you at a remote location where the only option is to take an expensive boat ride to the final destination. 
This was me at the end of the three day trip – 

Source: www.sayingimages.com
I had made no new friends and learnt at least 3 life lessons!

Food

If you like Thai food, what other place to savor it in, than Thailand? There are also the usual MacD’s and KFCs but I will sever ties with anyone who says she ate at a MacD in Bangkok, SO DON’T! And please don’t go searching for a Rang Mahal or a Delhi Darbar Indian restaurant too. “I am a vegetarian, so I did not eat Thai”, is no excuse here, as every Thai dish can be made vegetarian. For 3 full days, my day began with some piping hot noodle soup for breakfast

and ended with a sumptuous Thai meal for dinner (spring rolls, Pad Thai and raw Papaya salad – a must try)

Ditch the Coke, have coconut water instead. It is often sold chilled and in convenient packaging like so. How cool!

Leave the snack bars at home and enjoy fresh tropical fruits like Pineapple, Mango and Papaya for the in-betweens.
And if you are adventurous, go ahead and try something like this 😉 –

No idea what they were called, but it stank to a 500m radius, so I passed. I am not too experimental when it comes to meat. But whenever I saw something interesting, I would confirm it had no meat and try it. Like this pumpkin puri (as I call it) at the Amphawa floating market

Watching the lady make it was even more fun

Or this Re Rai (as pronounced) –  steamed rice noodles in coconut cream somewhere reminding me of a distant, more shapeful cousin called Ukdice Modak.

Whatever you try or do not try, do not, I REPEAT, DO NOT, leave until you have tried the following two items at least once –Coconut ice cream – served in a half shell with oodles of coconut malai, scoops of ice cream, topped with a spoonful of condensed milk and peanuts and a beautiful orchid on the side.

Mango with sticky rice – Fresh cut thai mango pieces with sweetened sticky rice topped with coconut cream and salted Moong daal (yup, you read it right).

I just realized I have a picture of the Satay below but never ate it, while on the trip.

 How can I go to Bangkok and not eat Chicken satay even once.. Sigh, I want to go back already!

Currency

The Thai Baht is the local currency. At the time of writing, 1 USD is approximately 33 THB. Carry sufficient cash as most places will only accept Bahts. Bangkok is street shopper’s paradise – from food to clothing there’s a lot to binge on, so keep those pockets full. Exchange counters are available everywhere – from the airport to the street markets.

Things to do

Three days is still less to cover all of Bangkok, but we managed the following. We visited the Chatuchak Weekend Market

A ride on the long tailed boat in the Damnoen Saduak floating market

A walk through Amphawa floating market

Asiatique – the riverfront market

The Grand Palace

and the Wat Pho (Temple pf reclining Buddha)

Continue to Bangkok – things to do,  for a detailed article to help you plan your visit. “whats and whens and hows” – it covers it all!

—

To sum it up, Bangkok is a good, budget, short vacation. If you have more days with you, definitely club it with one of the beach destinations like Phuket or Krabi. Go there to savor the food, shop like there was no tomorrow, then pamper yourself to good massages, and pray a little in the quietude of the many Buddhist temples to thank the  Lord for all you have. You will come back with 1 full tummy, 

2 happy feet,

and one enlightened soul.