Adventures with Jack and Julia

Well, from one huge chaotic city to the next, we finally found ourselves in Bangkok in what feels like no time since we left from home. On the way, we of course had to stop at the lounge to check out the feed options. It was awesome! They had salmon nigiri, mini gyozas, a pho bar, char siu bao… they even had massage chairs! Worth arriving a couple extra hours early at the airport for.

Bangkok is definitely a polarizing place. It’s true what they say – you either love it or hate it. We definitely wanted to explore a lot of the city but decided to stay in the classic backpacker area of Khaosan Road. We’d heard it was a funky area and also had a lot of the temples that we wanted to see, and for our first evening, we spent it walking around the main street and checking out the market.

It became pretty clear to us right off the bat that Bangkok is a city you can get by on a backpacker’s budget, but we had to get a lot more creative to do so. It’s a lot more developed than Vietnam (even Hanoi), and the backpacker area has started really up-charging everything to tourists. We found much better deals in other areas of the city and off the beaten path though, luckily.

Day 1:

Our first day in Bangkok was pretty packed. Traffic is absurd in Bangkok and getting around is quite expensive so we decided to just walk for the most part. We started off by visiting the Imperial Palace which was stunning. For $20 to get in, we were also glad to see there was quite a bit to do inside the compound. It’s a huge sparkly, golden building and is known for the Jade Buddha inside. We couldn’t get any pictures of it, though, as you aren’t allowed. We also learned about the significance of the hermit in Buddhism by translating the tablet in front of his statue.

Also included in our admission was a visit to the the textile museum which comprised of outfits donated by the King and Queen from their private wardrobes. We didn’t get photos here either because we weren’t sure where exactly we were allowed to. They are very strict here on that and you can get in a lot of trouble for not following the rules so we played it safe. Needless to say the outfits were beautiful, covered in gold and jewels, and a cool addition to the palace.

We had plans to visit Wat Pho next, which is right beside the Imperial Palace but it was another $20 to get in. This site is home to the famous Reclining Buddha which we would’ve loved to have seen, but we decided that we’d save that for our next visit. Instead, we stopped at a mango restaurant for lunch nearby and saw Wat Arun from across the river. We’ve seen quite a few of these shops around and they’re not all the same but they serve mango sticky rice, mango ice cream, and fresh mango as well. Always delicious, fresh, and reasonably priced.

To follow that up, we finally caved and bought elephant pants after sweating profusely in our Lululemon pants on every temple day. They may be cliché, but there’s a reason they’re so popular and why now even the locals are often seen wearing them and we’ve embraced the tourist look whole-heartedly.

We then stopped at a gluten free bakery where Julia found her first gf beer of the trip! Turns out Singha makes a pretty solid GF brew so we’re keeping our eyes out for more.

We’d walked about 10km already today, so we decided to take a rest and a shower before heading downtown to the biggest mall we’ve ever been in. They had a specialty grocery store there with lots of international options and Julia was over the moon to find one of her favourite snacks: Smartfood! The mall has a huge movie theatre inside so we finally went to see Conjuring 4 (pretty decent!). It was in English with Thai subtitles and there were only 6 other people in the theatre with us. We also saw that they have a theatre full of beds for watching movies which we thought was bizarre. Ours was just a regular VIP, though. Overall a very active but a great day!

Day 2:

Started off as laundry day. It’s been an ongoing mission this trip that we’re still trying to figure out since we only have a week to 10 days of stuff. So far it’s been pretty cheap to get it washed, dried and folded ($2-4) but we’re wanting to make use of our laundry sheets soon. It’s been pretty hard to dry the clothes well in this humidity has been our problem thus far.

Afterwards, we set ourselves up for another huge walking day today. We first made our way to Wat Saket, which has a beautiful view of the city after you climb the steps to the top. It has a pretty fascinating and also at times gruesome history when you learn about the vultures but I’ll leave that to you to research if you so desire.

Then, we walked about 45 minutes to Chinatown but not without stopping at 7/11 for a coconut water and some salmon onigiri. It’s become a new staple snack for us because they’re a little over a dollar and offer a good protein-rich snack. When we made it to Chinatown, we explored primarily the area of Talat Noi, which is one of the oldest parts of the city. We saw a bunch of street art, the old mechanic shops that have been there for generations, and even a funny store filled with rubber ducks. Truly an eclectic zone!

Since we weren’t up for walking back for an hour, we caught a Grab to our next stop which was a hotel we’d received free drink coupons to. As a result of asking the reception for directions earlier and leaving a positive review, we’d earned ourselves some free cuba libres on their rooftop deck. Not a bad way to start the afternoon!

Somehow, our plans managed to take us to another mall this evening. The mall is called Terminal 21 and is designed like an airport with security gates and the same signage as an airport between floors, and each floor is themed as a different country! We came here for the food court which we’d heard a lot about and it didn’t disappoint. Lots of cheap eats on the top floor to try. Just be careful which way you walk out of this mall after or you might find yourself on Soi Cowboy!

Day 3:

Started off with a chill morning of coffee and cards on a street close by our hotel called Soi Ramabuttri. We were also greeted by a mama cat and her six 3 week old kittens hanging next to us. A great way to start the day if you ask us! From there, we went back to the room and Julia did some trip planning. We’re planning anywhere from 2-6 weeks in advance right now, but plans have been changing rapidly depending on what places we’ve enjoyed, what we’re in the mood to experience next, and what we can afford. Thus making the trip planning an ongoing part of our days and week. Thailand’s looking to be about 40 days of temples, jungles, beaches, and objectively one of the best cuisines on planet earth.

After that, we made our way to Chatuchak market, which is a weekend only market that is vastly superior to Khaosan Road. I’d say go to Khaosan road if you’re here to party, meet people, and do a bit of shopping, but go to Chatuchak for cheaper food, way better shop selections, and endless exploring of the many pathways through there. Jack had siu mai, some sausage balls served on sticks you see in Japanese animes and Julia had some corn (her all time favourite street food). We bought some souvenirs and clothes, then made our way back to the hotel for an early night. Tomorrow, we leave at the crack of dawn for somewhere that wasn’t at all on our radar but our trusty tour guide ChatGPT thought would be a good fit before we head north. That place is called Kanchanaburi, and we know very little about it other than it looks beautiful so we’re excited to see what it has to offer!

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