Bangkok

Cambodia and Thailand - October, 2005 Asia Trip Home Page

Bangkok

Bangkok was everything we expected - busy, dirty, polluted and interesting in spite of all that.

The photos here show us doing the necessary Bangkok sightseeing - Wat Pho, the Royal Palace, etc. We also had some fun riding the Chao Phraya express boats on the river of the same name that runs through the city.

Upon our return to Bangkok at the end of the trip we took the sky train up to the weekend market in the north part of town. The sky train is a well kept elevated rail system that greatly simplifies travel to certain parts of town. Bangkok traffic can be and often is horrendous, although we had reasonable luck with taxis and tuk-tuks, the 3-wheeled contraptions that proliferate in the tourist areas especially. We didn't try the buses because taxis were cheap and effective, and we had no idea where any of the buses were going!.

Specific Bangkok recommendations:

1. We liked our hotel, the Grand China Princess. Well run, reasonably priced, great location, helpful staff, great breakfast (included). We stayed at this hotel for 3 nights at the start of our trip, booked through asiarooms.com, and then again for two nights at the end of the trip.

2. Best dinner of the trip was on the north side of Thanon Yarowat a few blocks east of the hotel in the very heart of Chinatown where we ate at a street side restaurant (on a corner). I don't think the place has any fixed facilities - it just appears in the evening. We were there Friday night and I don't know if it is just a weekend thing. Very well prepared fresh seafood. We had prawns in pepper sauce and squid in a curry. Not cheap by street food standards (about $4-$5 per plate) but fantastic food.

3. We also ate twice at the Royal India, about a 10 minute walk, recommended by Lonely Planet (hereafter "LP"). Very good Indian food in an ethnic Indian area - there were other eateries in the area that we would check out if we return.

4. By all means try a tuk-tuk. Be sure to negotiate a decent fare. We were able to travel from Chinatown to Tha Chang for 50 baht although the driver started at 100. However, metered taxis are a better choice overall, and very reasonable. We traveled across Bangkok for 100 baht ($2.50), unless gridlock ruled in which case the waiting time can push the meter up a bit.

6. The Chatuchak weekend market in the north part of the city was as good as advertised in LP. Dedicated shoppers can spend a full day and not see everything.

7. We walked around various areas of Chinatown quite a lot, fascinating.

8. We also enjoyed one dinner at Ban Chiang in the Silom area, another place worthy of its LP recommendation. Lots of Thais eating here.

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