My second-to-last full day in the City of Angels. A bit sad really, I have grown to like it quite a lot in the organized chaos known to us as Bangkok. Anyway, before I allow myself to get too choked up, here's the business:
Dad was again pulled away to work, so I was flying solo today. Looking at a map (there isn't really any decent map of Bangkok, its sprawl is so great; most just have the main streets and the locations of sites-best you can hope for I guess) reveals that I have covered pretty much every major sector of Bangkok. Contemplating what to do after breakfast, I figured that Chinatown should be given more due, so I hopped on the Sky Train to the train station (my fourth trip down that way now), the station nearest to Chinatown.
Before crossing the divide into Chinatown I stopped in on yet another temple, this one accidentally over-looked. Wat Traimit holds The Golden Buddha, a large statue of the Buddha that is made out of solid gold. Its actually something of a major tourist site. There were quite a few tourists checking the place out, and I joined in for a brief few moments. The statue really isn't all that spectacular, its just the Buddha in a sitting position. Well, we can check that off the list of things to do at least.
I found my way to Yaowarat Road, but instead of hanging out there again, I crossed to the street and headed down an alleyway, which gave out onto a long, narrow alley (parallel to Yaowarat) that was jam packed with stalls and pedestrians. The guide had mentioned this place as a popular venue in Chinatown for shopping, and it certainly seemed so. It was shoulder-to-shoulder, and every now and then everyone had to make way for a motorbike to squeeze through. I made my way through the sea of people, covering a lot of ground. If I had to guess, I would say that particular alley terminates somewhere near Mongolia. So it seemed at least. After having my fill, I made my way back to the train station/metro stop.
Before heading back to the room, I had one more destination in mind. I took the Sky Train (changing from the metro) to Siam Center, a gargantuan shopping complex, not far from the Lumphinee boxing stadium (as a geographical reference, I guess). I was hoping to find an English-language bookstore that might, by some miracle, be carrying a copy of John Burdett's newest book. John Burdett is an English author who writes a mystery series set in Bangkok. I was hoping I could keep the Bangkok experience alive, even on the flight home. There was one such store, and another that had a small English section, but no luck to be had. It was still kinda cool walking around Siam though. Having seen so much of how average/more humbler Thais do their shopping (at outdoor markets), this was a slice of how your more upper-crust Bangkok folks go about their leisure shopping.
After resting for a while back at the room, I linked up with Dad and we headed out into the late afternoon. We noticed while at the Jim Thompson house that something resembling a river-walk ran behind the house. The river in this instance though is a canal that feeds into the Chao Praya. Dad had the idea that we should stroll this walk, and we walked by an entrance into it the other day. So that is where we found ourselves. The walk is really just a concrete pad that runs in front of ad hoc homes built along the edges of the canal. Wood and corrugated metal appeared to be the most common building materials. It was obviously residential, the walk obviously isn't meant for leisure purposes like the famous river walk in San Antonio. However, the residents, all to their credit, didn't mind us brushing past their front doors or stepping over cooking materials left outside.
We walked up to what we thought would be a good point to turn around, and made for where we entered. Back at street level, not far from our hotel, we came across a lot strewn with overgrown vegetation and garbage. In the middle was a court with a volleyball net set up, and 6 Thai guys all playing something called sepak takraw. I had read about it in the guide book, so knew what was going on. It is played like volleyball, expect you cannot use your hands or arms, and the feet and head are the main methods of striking the ball. The ball is about the size of a softball, but made out of wicker. So obviously there are two teams, in this instance with 3 per team. Let me tell you, these guys were good. I figured we should stop and watch for a few minutes, but it turned into half an hour. It made for fascinating viewing, and the agility, stamina, and downright skill that these dudes demonstrated kind of blew my mind. I have never before been so impressed by an athletic performance. The interesting thing was how ragtag they looked. They obviously weren't part of any team, some played without shirts and just gym shorts, one guy had a Toronto Maple Leafs shirt on. Incredible stuff though, a tip of the hat to those boys. Eventually the growing darkness made it harder to watch, and the mosquitoes decided to join the festivities as well. With that, we brought Day 7 to a close.
Tomorrow marks the last full day in Bangkok. Hope to see you here.
Dad was again pulled away to work, so I was flying solo today. Looking at a map (there isn't really any decent map of Bangkok, its sprawl is so great; most just have the main streets and the locations of sites-best you can hope for I guess) reveals that I have covered pretty much every major sector of Bangkok. Contemplating what to do after breakfast, I figured that Chinatown should be given more due, so I hopped on the Sky Train to the train station (my fourth trip down that way now), the station nearest to Chinatown.
Before crossing the divide into Chinatown I stopped in on yet another temple, this one accidentally over-looked. Wat Traimit holds The Golden Buddha, a large statue of the Buddha that is made out of solid gold. Its actually something of a major tourist site. There were quite a few tourists checking the place out, and I joined in for a brief few moments. The statue really isn't all that spectacular, its just the Buddha in a sitting position. Well, we can check that off the list of things to do at least.
I found my way to Yaowarat Road, but instead of hanging out there again, I crossed to the street and headed down an alleyway, which gave out onto a long, narrow alley (parallel to Yaowarat) that was jam packed with stalls and pedestrians. The guide had mentioned this place as a popular venue in Chinatown for shopping, and it certainly seemed so. It was shoulder-to-shoulder, and every now and then everyone had to make way for a motorbike to squeeze through. I made my way through the sea of people, covering a lot of ground. If I had to guess, I would say that particular alley terminates somewhere near Mongolia. So it seemed at least. After having my fill, I made my way back to the train station/metro stop.
Before heading back to the room, I had one more destination in mind. I took the Sky Train (changing from the metro) to Siam Center, a gargantuan shopping complex, not far from the Lumphinee boxing stadium (as a geographical reference, I guess). I was hoping to find an English-language bookstore that might, by some miracle, be carrying a copy of John Burdett's newest book. John Burdett is an English author who writes a mystery series set in Bangkok. I was hoping I could keep the Bangkok experience alive, even on the flight home. There was one such store, and another that had a small English section, but no luck to be had. It was still kinda cool walking around Siam though. Having seen so much of how average/more humbler Thais do their shopping (at outdoor markets), this was a slice of how your more upper-crust Bangkok folks go about their leisure shopping.
After resting for a while back at the room, I linked up with Dad and we headed out into the late afternoon. We noticed while at the Jim Thompson house that something resembling a river-walk ran behind the house. The river in this instance though is a canal that feeds into the Chao Praya. Dad had the idea that we should stroll this walk, and we walked by an entrance into it the other day. So that is where we found ourselves. The walk is really just a concrete pad that runs in front of ad hoc homes built along the edges of the canal. Wood and corrugated metal appeared to be the most common building materials. It was obviously residential, the walk obviously isn't meant for leisure purposes like the famous river walk in San Antonio. However, the residents, all to their credit, didn't mind us brushing past their front doors or stepping over cooking materials left outside.
We walked up to what we thought would be a good point to turn around, and made for where we entered. Back at street level, not far from our hotel, we came across a lot strewn with overgrown vegetation and garbage. In the middle was a court with a volleyball net set up, and 6 Thai guys all playing something called sepak takraw. I had read about it in the guide book, so knew what was going on. It is played like volleyball, expect you cannot use your hands or arms, and the feet and head are the main methods of striking the ball. The ball is about the size of a softball, but made out of wicker. So obviously there are two teams, in this instance with 3 per team. Let me tell you, these guys were good. I figured we should stop and watch for a few minutes, but it turned into half an hour. It made for fascinating viewing, and the agility, stamina, and downright skill that these dudes demonstrated kind of blew my mind. I have never before been so impressed by an athletic performance. The interesting thing was how ragtag they looked. They obviously weren't part of any team, some played without shirts and just gym shorts, one guy had a Toronto Maple Leafs shirt on. Incredible stuff though, a tip of the hat to those boys. Eventually the growing darkness made it harder to watch, and the mosquitoes decided to join the festivities as well. With that, we brought Day 7 to a close.
Tomorrow marks the last full day in Bangkok. Hope to see you here.
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