Venture into Bangkok

The plan after Tokyo was to meet up with a good friend, Caroline, for the few days around Thanksgiving! She and I had been in touch while I was planning my trip and she had always had a love for southeast Asia so we planned on meeting in Bangkok and possibly going over to some part of Cambodia. Caroline had taken care of the hotel so all I had to do was find it when I got out of the airport. After being in more developed parts of Asia, I knew I was going to be seeing a change in scenery upon entering southeast Asia. A few years back, I had gone to Bangkok for a few days so it would be interesting to see if I remembered any of the places and to see what might have changed about this city. 

View from the hotel

Crazy communication lines

When I got to Hotel Dvaree Diva Bally, I was told that Caroline had just walked out for a bit so I hung out in the lobby and it didn't take too long before I saw her familiar face walk through the door. Caroline had arrived a day earlier so she had already taken in some sights and walked around a bit so I let her lead the way to finding lunch. I can’t quite remember which part of Sukhumvit we were in but we didn't walk too far before finding a spot called The Honey House where we ordered a few small dishes to nibble on while we caught up with each other, me telling her about where I've been so far, and she telling me about the most recent school year (she and I graduated from the same education program).

We spent what we had left of the day just chilling by the pool and catching up before we ventured out to the streets of Bangkok to find what our next meal would be. With my love of asian cuisine, it was difficult to find a place to settle on but we ended up at a small little restaurant where I got a fresh coconut and we shared some curry, pad thai, and veggies. Caroline was still experiencing some jet lag so it was just about the right time to call it an early night.

Some night views - street food

Lots of bikes on the road

Passing by Cowboy Street

Fresh coconut!

Pad Thai with veggies on the side

Curry too!

View from the tuk tuk

With a fresh start the next day, we grabbed the tuk tuk from our hotel to a few streets away to do some exploring. I always love seeing the fresh fruit stands around so we got some fruit to snack on while we decided on a spot for some more substantial food. Caroline had read about this restaurant called The Local that she really wanted to try so we wandered over there. The restaurant looked like a cozy little house and was really pretty inside being very nicely decorated with lots of wood features and what looked like authentic thai decor. The best part of eating with friends is being able to share food so we ordered an appetizer dish with several things to taste, some curry, and another saucy dish that all tasted delicious!

With Caroline

Fruit stands

Yum!

Enjoying some fresh fruit in a bag

Fancy drinks at The Local

Delicious appetizers

 

Yummy curry

Nomalicious

Decor inside The Local

Fountains at Lumpini Park

Our goal for the day was to catch a Muay Thai boxing fight and we had found a stadium that was only a few stops on the train away so we went on our way to check out what we could find out. On our way, we passed by Lumpini Park which, I believe, was built by King Rama to teach others about the environment. At the Park, there seemed to be some sort of ceremony going on because there was a huge set up of people in scout uniforms but we didn’t stay long enough to really see if there was anything going on. 

Not quite sure what was going on here

Sea creature!

On our way to where we had mapped out the boxing stadium to be, we passed by stands upon stands of different figurines made from all sorts of leaves and flowers and other trinkets. Seeing many of these things being made so vigorously as we walked by these tables so nicely displaying these little statues led me to believe that there had to be some sort of holiday going on and I would come to find out later that the Thai were about to celebrate the start of their Water Festival. So anyway, as we walked back and forth around where we thought the boxing stadium was supposed to be, we couldn’t find any indication of it so we walked back to where we had seen a group of men wearing neon vests who were a part of a motorcycle taxi service and asked them for a little help. It took a bit of charades (us making boxing movements) before they figured out what we were looking for and they offered to drive us to where we could find a stadium so after striking a deal, Caroline and I each hopped onto the back of a motorcycle and we were off.

Trying to catch another glimpse of what I thought was a crocodile

There it is!

Walking through the humid city

Beautiful leaf structures

Tribute to the king

Sightseeing

Ladies making leaf lanterns

Hopped on the back of the cycle

The motorcycles were surprisingly easy to ride and weren’t as aggressive as we thought. We snuck in between buses and other cars and didn’t need to hold on for dear life while we were riding and it actually was a great way to tour the city. We were dropped off right in front of Rajadamnern Stadium and we were told that there would be a fight later in the evening so we purchased tickets that also gave us an opportunity to take a photo with the winner. With some time before the fight in the evening, we saw that there was some sort of flea market or festival setup a little bit down the road so we walked towards it to see what all the hustle was about. 

Hoping that nothing goes into my mouth

 

Trailing right behind Caroline

Weaving in between cars

Surprisingly feeling safe

Amongst the cyclists

When we got to the entrance of the outdoor market, there were so many things to see and smell. Of course, I was interested in the things I could taste and we passed by grilled octopus and a huge assortment of fried insects. I had never thought to put those critters near my mouth but it seemed to be such a popular thing that I decided that it was worth trying at least once before I could give an honest opinion about it so Caroline and I purchased a few different crawlies to try. The last one I tried was a huge cicada that the lady selling them actually had to help me peel away the outer skeleton before she handed over what looked like a small scoop of flesh and it actually was quite tasty, kind of like chicken. Getting past the appearance was the hardest in terms of bringing the creature to my mouth but past that, it was just another thing to eat and quite palatable too.

Walking over to the outdoor market and passing this grand entrance

So many great things to see and eat!

Bustling outdoor market

Squid on a stick!

Yum yum yum

 

Critters!

Time to try some

Cicadas

Yep, ready to eat more

Here goes!

Not bad!

Tastes like chicken! 

Hi little fellow

 

Pancakes?

Treats!

And more treats!

And more yummy things!

Playing a slingshot game

We walked around a bit more to check out the rest of the market and found lots of other tasty treats along with some carnival-type games and souvenir stands. It wasn’t before long that we made our way back to the stadium to get our seats and we got there for second row seats, up close and personal. We had wait service too so we ordered some cold beers to sip on while we waited for the first contenders to step out to the ring. It was really surprising to me how young these Muay Thai fighters were and I wasn’t sure how comfortable I was watching these kids duke it out in the ring. Regardless, I watched as there was a small ceremony prior to each fight, where the contenders did a sort of dance and prayer around the ring before they faced each other. There were quite a few fights arranged for the night and some were complete KO’s while others could have been won by either fighter. After quite a number of fights, it was time for the main fight and once the winner was announced, Caroline and I were directed to an area in the back where we took photos with the victor, a fairly young fellow. 

Waiting for the fights - close to front row

Ceremonial prayers?

Getting ready to go

Final bows before they start

Difficult to get action shots

Crowds in the cheap seats

Ding ding

Knockout

Taking a photo during intermission

Program of fights

Young fighter coming out

Photo with the winner 

Final fights of the night

Clears out so quickly

Noms right outside of the stadium

Night views

After we left the stadium, we wanted to go back in to the outdoor market to find something to eat but it was so packed that we quickly decided that we were probably better off not traveling too far into it. At times, the crowd pushed so close to stands with erupting cooking fires that I was worried that someone was going to catch on fire and there would be nowhere to run. It took us close to half an hour just to walk a few feet in front of us because it was so packed. Since we were at a standstill for a little bit, Caroline and I ducked out of the crowd into a small space to get a type of egg crepe to share as we settled our claustrophobia. Getting back to the entrance of the market, we walked along a bridge where we could see lanterns being placed into the river in celebration of the water festival. Such a pretty sight despite the pandemonium that was occurring inside the market. 

Lots of motorbikes

Packed like sardines!

Celebrating the Water Festival 

Stopping for this egg crepe

A little bit crowded...

On the back of the motorbike

Finally getting out of the market, we hopped onto the back of two taxi motorcyclists and headed back into our part of Sukhumvit where we wandered into Cowboy Street, the strip of road brought up to entertain foreigners. As we sat in a small bar with our drinks, avoiding the rain, we watched as these young girls pulled travelers into their establishments. It was a sad sight to see since we didn’t know the back story of these girls and it is a shame that they are subject to this life of who knows what happens behind the doors of those clubs. Caroline and I sat and watched in disgust as we watched these middle-aged men interacted with these girls and it was only so much before we had to walk away from the scene and call it a night.

Cowboy Street

Full of foreigners

The next day was our last morning in Bangkok as we were going to hop a plane over to Siem Reap to spend the remainder of Caroline’s Thanksgiving break. We decided to have a lovely little breakfast at a small cafe down the road called Lapin Vanille before we made our way to the airport. With no hiccups on our way there, we were on our way to the neighboring country!

See ya later Dvaree!

Delicious breakfast with thai tea

And can't forget dessert

Cheers!