My fourth day in the Thai capital is nearing its end. Having already covered much of the touristy stuff, today was a little bit off the beaten path. I had to make some snap decisions on what to do today, but everything worked out just fine. Let's get started, shall we?
I settled on an area in the south of the city and along the banks of the Chao Praya River known as the Farang (foreign) Quarter. The area is home to a mish-mash of things, primarily embassies, old colonial-style buildings, some churches, and a mosque. The guide book recommended taking a walk through, so I did just that.
I took the same route as last night to get down there (combination of Sky Train and Metro to the train station. Last night we walked northwards from the station towards Chinatown, this time I walked south), but before making it to the train station I got off a couple stops away in an area known as Lumphini. There is a large park there, which is apparently where Bangkok residents go to get away for a while. I strolled around there for a bit, and it was nice to be removed from the hustle-and-bustle. It was a very well kept green space, and had a neat Chinese-style clock tower in one corner. What made the occasion interesting, however, was the presence of what appeared to be Komodo Dragons in the park. I spotted a handful of the buggers (they are not much smaller than a crocodile) swimming through some of the small waterways or just sunbathing. I asked a passer-by what the hell the creatures were exactly, and they said that they were Monitor Lizards. You see, that is a bit disappointing, because Komodos are supposed to be really dangerous, and I would have felt I was living on the wild side getting so close. Wikipedia tells me that Komodos belong to the same family, but these guys looked tame. I guess that explained the lack of any signage saying "Beware! Komodos kill!" or something to that effect.
After leaving the park I wanted to make one more stop before moving on to the Foreign Quarter. A couple of football pitches up the street from the park is the Lumphini Muay Thai Boxing Stadium. The stadium, which is the most popular in Bangkok, featured in Rain Storm, the third installment of the John Rain set of novels, a favorite of mine, so I thought it would be worth a look-see. I got there but almost walked by the place-it doesn't have the look of the primary Muay Thai stadium. Its small, and set back from the road a bit and the exterior is nondescript, to say the least. I walked around to the side and found an entrance. There was a worker nearby and I motioned if I could go in for a look-around, and he pointed me in. Yeah, not at all what I expected. The interior was small, with the ring in the center surrounded by 4 or 5 rows of chairs-those are the most expensive seats. Further back were stadium-style benches cobbled out of wood slates. The roof was corrugated sheet-metal. The place stunk of.....whatever. I can't imagine the number of smells that could take home in a place where two men beat the bejesus out of each other surrounded by a packed crowd where only some decrepit-looking ceiling fans offered reprieve from the sweltering heat. Cat shit was amongst the smells though, a family of feral cats was lounging about on the seats. Again, this is the city's main venue for the country's national sport. Preparations for a fight (tomorrow) were underway though, as my only other company was a handful of workers getting everything ready. One of them handed me a couple brochures. One part showed some celebrities who had stopped in for fights in the past. Who were those celebs? Nic Cage and Steven Seagal. Doesn't get any bigger than that. Either way, I thought the stadium was awesome.
I finally caught the metro down to the train station, where we set out for the Foreign Quarter. It was a bit of a hike, but it was another part of the city that I can now check off. I meandered about, passing by points recommended by the guide book, including a large catholic church, a mosque, the city's main post office, and the former Customs House, which, though it looked gutted, is now used by the Bangkok Fire Department. The walk left me pretty winded, so I caught a meter-taxi back for a rest.
After letting the dogs rest a bit I set out again, not wanting to just stay in the hotel room. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but decided on first taking the Sky Train up to the Victory Monument, another mammoth monument directly north of us, like the Democracy Monument, situated in a huge traffic circle. It ended up being a great idea. I packed into the Sky Train (I had to dash from car to car, struggling to find a little space to squeeze into) and got off at the right station. You can't actually walk up to the monument, but that didn't matter. I was quickly distracted by the ad hoc market place that ringed the entire area. I proceeded to explore as much of the area as possible, which was brimming with locals out for some evening shopping/eating. Some sections offered food, others clothing and other items. It made for absolutely fantastic people watching. The even better thing? I was essentially the only white face in the crowd. This was a Thai thing. There were no pushers/hawkers, people trying to scam tourists, tuk-tuk drivers looking for a fare, or some guy offering prostitutes. Why bother, when there are no tourists to be had. I am really glad I stopped by there, sometimes you bound about something that a guide book doesn't offer, and that the tourists don't crowd into.
And that, as they say, was that. Hopefully Day 5 will bring new adventure. Come back to hear what went down.
I settled on an area in the south of the city and along the banks of the Chao Praya River known as the Farang (foreign) Quarter. The area is home to a mish-mash of things, primarily embassies, old colonial-style buildings, some churches, and a mosque. The guide book recommended taking a walk through, so I did just that.
I took the same route as last night to get down there (combination of Sky Train and Metro to the train station. Last night we walked northwards from the station towards Chinatown, this time I walked south), but before making it to the train station I got off a couple stops away in an area known as Lumphini. There is a large park there, which is apparently where Bangkok residents go to get away for a while. I strolled around there for a bit, and it was nice to be removed from the hustle-and-bustle. It was a very well kept green space, and had a neat Chinese-style clock tower in one corner. What made the occasion interesting, however, was the presence of what appeared to be Komodo Dragons in the park. I spotted a handful of the buggers (they are not much smaller than a crocodile) swimming through some of the small waterways or just sunbathing. I asked a passer-by what the hell the creatures were exactly, and they said that they were Monitor Lizards. You see, that is a bit disappointing, because Komodos are supposed to be really dangerous, and I would have felt I was living on the wild side getting so close. Wikipedia tells me that Komodos belong to the same family, but these guys looked tame. I guess that explained the lack of any signage saying "Beware! Komodos kill!" or something to that effect.
After leaving the park I wanted to make one more stop before moving on to the Foreign Quarter. A couple of football pitches up the street from the park is the Lumphini Muay Thai Boxing Stadium. The stadium, which is the most popular in Bangkok, featured in Rain Storm, the third installment of the John Rain set of novels, a favorite of mine, so I thought it would be worth a look-see. I got there but almost walked by the place-it doesn't have the look of the primary Muay Thai stadium. Its small, and set back from the road a bit and the exterior is nondescript, to say the least. I walked around to the side and found an entrance. There was a worker nearby and I motioned if I could go in for a look-around, and he pointed me in. Yeah, not at all what I expected. The interior was small, with the ring in the center surrounded by 4 or 5 rows of chairs-those are the most expensive seats. Further back were stadium-style benches cobbled out of wood slates. The roof was corrugated sheet-metal. The place stunk of.....whatever. I can't imagine the number of smells that could take home in a place where two men beat the bejesus out of each other surrounded by a packed crowd where only some decrepit-looking ceiling fans offered reprieve from the sweltering heat. Cat shit was amongst the smells though, a family of feral cats was lounging about on the seats. Again, this is the city's main venue for the country's national sport. Preparations for a fight (tomorrow) were underway though, as my only other company was a handful of workers getting everything ready. One of them handed me a couple brochures. One part showed some celebrities who had stopped in for fights in the past. Who were those celebs? Nic Cage and Steven Seagal. Doesn't get any bigger than that. Either way, I thought the stadium was awesome.
I finally caught the metro down to the train station, where we set out for the Foreign Quarter. It was a bit of a hike, but it was another part of the city that I can now check off. I meandered about, passing by points recommended by the guide book, including a large catholic church, a mosque, the city's main post office, and the former Customs House, which, though it looked gutted, is now used by the Bangkok Fire Department. The walk left me pretty winded, so I caught a meter-taxi back for a rest.
After letting the dogs rest a bit I set out again, not wanting to just stay in the hotel room. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but decided on first taking the Sky Train up to the Victory Monument, another mammoth monument directly north of us, like the Democracy Monument, situated in a huge traffic circle. It ended up being a great idea. I packed into the Sky Train (I had to dash from car to car, struggling to find a little space to squeeze into) and got off at the right station. You can't actually walk up to the monument, but that didn't matter. I was quickly distracted by the ad hoc market place that ringed the entire area. I proceeded to explore as much of the area as possible, which was brimming with locals out for some evening shopping/eating. Some sections offered food, others clothing and other items. It made for absolutely fantastic people watching. The even better thing? I was essentially the only white face in the crowd. This was a Thai thing. There were no pushers/hawkers, people trying to scam tourists, tuk-tuk drivers looking for a fare, or some guy offering prostitutes. Why bother, when there are no tourists to be had. I am really glad I stopped by there, sometimes you bound about something that a guide book doesn't offer, and that the tourists don't crowd into.
And that, as they say, was that. Hopefully Day 5 will bring new adventure. Come back to hear what went down.
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