After a rather sleepless night (jet lag I guess) we had a late breakfast (good buffet, covering English/American style, Continental and Asian breakfast – I stuck with the fresh fruit and rice noodle soup, very tasty) and then headed into town.
The Chatrium Hotel is located right at the river in the southern parts of Bangkok. That means it is quiet (we can actually leave the balcony door open or sit by the pool, which is located just a few yards from the river, without being disturbed by the usual hustle and bustle of Bangkok) but it also means that you can’t just step outside the door and immediately start your sightseeing. Instead we decided to use the complimentary shuttle boat provided by the hotel which is just a five minute ride from the Saphan Taksin station, which acts both as the Southern terminal for the Chao Phraya Express boats navigating the river and as access to the Skytrain. We soon found out that the advice given in The Lonely Planet Guide to Bangkok was spot on: within one hour, three different people approached us and suggested – in a very friendly helpful way – to rent a Tuk Tuk to take us to different places. The Tuk Tuk would be really cheap and they would help us negotiate a good price and agree the round trip with the driver. We did not accept the offer but instead decided to believe the Lonely Planet Guide which was suggesting that the Tuk Tuk would take you anywhere but where you actually wanted to go (usually to cheap Gem shops and tailors). Only later did I remember the other advice which was that these people would usually lie about temples and other sights being closed due to Buddhist holidays, which is actually what two of the guys did who tried to talk us into a Tuk Tuk ride. Unfortunately we believed that part of the story and went to MBK Center instead (just follow the Skytrain line to the terminal stop, National Stadium), perhaps the most famous shopping centre in Bangkok. Its size is mind blowing – on five floors, there are hundreds of shops offering clothes, shoes, electronics (especially mobile phones), cameras, and so on. There are a large number of appealing restaurants as well, selling everything from simple Thai fare to sophisticated Japanese food. For the cheaper places, you need to buy food coupons first which you then use to get your food. We had two massive Mango Smoothies and after a late breakfast skipped lunch. I resisted the temptation to barter for a Galaxy Tab, which – together with iPads – were sold as the most prominent electronics device all over the fourth floor.
To avoid the mid-day heat, we returned to the hotel for a swim (the pool would be ideal for swimming since it is nice and long – if it wasn’t for being only 1.20m deep) and a nap. We then headed back into town to chase down some food – and got really lucky. We just left the Skytrain at Siam station and wandered around aimlessly. In a narrow shopping alley we came across a small restaurant called Som Tam. Since I recalled that Som Tam was the name for the Papaya salad typical for Northeastern Thailand I got curious and after noticing that the place was packed pretty much exclusively with Thai people we decided to give it a try. We did not regret it. We ordered a mixed Thai Papaya salad, a Thai pork sausage salad and a minced beef salad with sticky rice (all typical for Northern Thailand) and some fried chicken wings, covered in a garlic crust (a bit boring, to be honest). The salads were fantastic, enriched with herbs (coriander, mint), lime, fish sauce and in one case a splash of tangerine juice. The chef wasn’t holding back on the chilli either and looking around us we couldn’t help but feel that we got lucky to have found some real Thai grub the locals also enjoyed. Indeed, when we left the restaurant, people were queuing up outside the restaurant, already placing their orders. We paid 500 Baht (about £10) for the food, two ice teas and a Pepsi, a third of what we paid in the hotel restaurant the night before which wasn’t even half as good. We then strolled around the area a bit more (sampling some lovely fresh tangerine juice on the way) and headed back to the hotel. All in all not a bad first day. Tomorrow we will go for some of the temples again, and not believe people when they tell us they are closed…
