January 1-2 2019
These two days didn’t exist for us. We started out incredibly early in the morning at the temporary United Club in Ft Lauderdale (thanks Paul!) for many hours because Paul had a super early flight (boo Paul). After that it was straight 30 some hours of flying that it is not worth detailing here in its uneventfulness. We made it to our hostel and went to bed.
January 3, 2019 - Bangkok, Thailand
We had a long night our first night in Thailand (again, not detailing here). We were also completely on the other side of the world, so our body clocks were beyond confused. We were staying at Bangkok Niras Hostel, which while wasn’t nearly as social as we were hoping, was a very nice and comfy place to get us started. So, the first morning was an easy morning. We went to the Golden Mount Temple, which was a modest Temple on a hill. So we climbed lots (I mean lots) of stairs to get all the way to the top. But it gave us a bit of an introduction to the Thai Temple culture. For example, there were lots of bells to ring, which we don’t know why we were doing that.
We then took a water ferry down the river, which was chaotic since this long boat was powerful in the very small river that we went down. We were taking the boat to a mall to get our Thailand phones. We didn’t have time to shop as we ran through the mall. At the same time, it was incredible just to walk through. Malls are way less organized as they are in the US. Shops are all over and not nearly as enclosed. It was almost like an indoor market. This foreshadowed lots of mall time in our return the Bangkok at the end of our trip
The highlight of the day was our cooking class. Months prior to leaving for Thailand, we had signed up for a cooking class at Silom Cooking School. We started our time with them in a market, where the cooking instructor showed us a bunch of different foods and plants that were native to Thailand. Then, with full baskets, we jumped into Tuk Tuks to go to our cooking school. The school itself was beautiful, it actually took place in someone’s home. We were with a few other groups, mostly Asian friends and family. We cooked quite a few dishes and made everything by hand, including coconut milk! We started with Tom Yum Goong (spicy coconut milk shrimp soup). For each dish we met in a circle and prepared our trays with all of the ingredients. We then brought these trays into the kitchen area where we followed the instructors directions to fry it up. This was the best type of cooking because everything was fast, someone set it all up for us and cleaned it up for us. As soon as it was done, we left the dirty dishes and immediately went to the dining room to eat what we made. We did this for all five courses! The other things we made were: Pad Thai with Shrimp, Red Curry with Chicken, Green Curry with Chicken, and Mango Sticky Rice. This was a great introduction to Thai food, as we ate these dishes the rest of the time in Thailand.
After this cooking class, we were both zonked. So, we went back to our hostel where we pretty much immediately went to sleep to prepare for a long day ahead.
After this cooking class, we were both zonked. So, we went back to our hostel where we pretty much immediately went to sleep to prepare for a long day ahead.
January 4th 2019 - Ayutthaya
Our morning started with a train ride out to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand. We set out to see lots of ruins and a few temples and maybe learn some history. The train ride was relatively uneventful, until an engine blew out. We still aren’t really sure what happened, but the car that we were in started to get all smoked up, so we exited the car and found a different seat to go to, with everyone else in our car. Eventually the train started to run again. We think they just pulled the broken car with us the whole time, but who really knows.
Upon arrival to Ayutthaya, we walked down to the river and jumped on a passenger ferry across the river. As soon as we got across the river, we rented bikes from a few ladies to use for the whole day (pretty sure it was only a few dollars to rent the bikes). We biked to a couple of sets of ruins and a few Temples. The ruins were pretty remarkable and we learned a bit about culture along the way. There was one Buddha head that a tree’s roots had grown around it. We learned that we can never be taller then Buddha, so to take a picture with it, you had to sit down. And there was a guard there to make sure that you sat down in front of Buddha.
For lunch, we went across the street to a restaurant that I had read about online. They served one dish, and you could either get it with beef or pork. It was called boat noodles and was essentially soup with meat and some dumplings. It was actually incredibly delicious. Interestingly, you kinda ordered them like tacos, meaning that one wasn’t enough for a full meal. Which is actually great for snacking along our day.
We then took our bikes to the next place. We ended up in a Temple that we weren’t supposed to be at, we think. We got lost quite a few times on the bikes. But, one happy mistake is that we found our way into a market where there were lots of Thai tourists. We found the snack that was local to Ayutthaya, which is this cotton candy like sugar strings that are dusted in bread crumbs. Then they give you these pancakes to eat the cotton candy like sugar in. This was not a dentist recommended snack, but it was a great sugar boost to get us through a few more sets of ruins. We saw the grand palace of Ayutthaya, which was one of many BIG BUDDHAs that we’d see throughout our trip. We also biked around a park.
We then took our bikes to the next place. We ended up in a Temple that we weren’t supposed to be at, we think. We got lost quite a few times on the bikes. But, one happy mistake is that we found our way into a market where there were lots of Thai tourists. We found the snack that was local to Ayutthaya, which is this cotton candy like sugar strings that are dusted in bread crumbs. Then they give you these pancakes to eat the cotton candy like sugar in. This was not a dentist recommended snack, but it was a great sugar boost to get us through a few more sets of ruins. We saw the grand palace of Ayutthaya, which was one of many BIG BUDDHAs that we’d see throughout our trip. We also biked around a park.
On our way out of Ayutthaya, we stopped by a market. We didn’t spend too much time in this market, but found a few snacks to eat. We had these pancake balls that were filled with lots of types of fish or cheese. We also got some skewers. It was a good thing we got these snacks because when we crossed the river to go to the train, we found out that our train was full, so we had to wait until the next one. It turned into a good break for us, but was a long time waiting. |
When we eventually made it back to Bangkok, we walked directly into Chinatown. Chinatown was nothing short of overwhelming. This was our first exposure to the extreme pollution on the streets. We walked past shop after shop selling different types of food. We ended up in a Michelin recommended restaurant that sold a pork noodle soup. It was...an experience. Maybe not our favorite overall, a bit too peppery, but was a traditional asian thing to try.
January 5th, 2019 - Bangkok, Thailand
Today was the day we were going to see the Grand Palace of Bangkok! We got there before it opened to get in line, because us basic American girls wanted to get in there before the crowds to get the best instagram photos. And I’d say we did pretty well! We were in awe of all of the buildings and palaces. We also had an audio guide that was super helpful, because without it we’d have missed half of the interesting things that happened in these walls. Some of the highlights was the walls that were constructed and decorated with mosaics of broken plates. Another was the emerald buddha itself, sitting high on his pedestal. We also saw some guards like we did in Europe, except these guards weren’t nearly as disciplined as some of the more intense European country. They were like mostly in synch….This took us a good chunk of the morning, but there was one more Temple to see before lunch.
We next walked across the street to Wat Pho, or the Reclining Buddha. We at first didn’t think there could be more to see after the Grand Palace, but we were wrong. When we went to see the Reclining Buddha we had never imagined how big the Buddha actually was. I am not even sure if I can estimate how big this Buddha was. Maybe a quarter of a football field long? Buddha’s feet were bigger than me! It was remarkable and all bronze! Additionally, the grounds around the reclining Buddha were filled with these structures that were like incredibly decorated pillars. I’m not sure their point, but they were very pretty to look at.
We enjoyed a lunch at a place called Home Cafe right across from the Temples. We had Michelle’s now favorite, green curry, and some noodle dish. We then took the ferry to cross the river to Wat Arun. You might think, haven’t they seen enough temples in a day? But Wat Arun was a gorgeous temple overlooking the river. It was white with lots of mosaic tiles. Unlike the others which we saw Buddha’s or history, this one was pretty much just looking at the pretty architecture. But it wasn’t a disappoint, because it was beautiful.
After a long wait to get back on the ferry across the river, we stopped by the flower market. The flowers were beautiful! One of the interesting things about them is that many of the sellers sold the same flowers. There was little creativity in the flowers being sold. So there must be some traditional ways to make the flowers that everyone buys. There were crowns, decorations and centerpieces. They were all beautiful. We took a long walk back to our hostel to enjoy our last few moments of the city, enjoying a traditional Thai Milk Tea on the way back. The final stop of Bangkok before getting on a plane to Chiang Mai was Thipsamai pad thai. This restaurant is one of the most famous Pad Thai places in the country. I lined up in the take-away line much before the restaurant opened. All of the wait staff and chefs were inside praying together. They pretty much made one dish. It was pad thai with shrimp wrapped in an omelette. They didn’t have a separate kitchen, everything was made right out front in the shop. One person made the Pad Thai. They then passed the finished dish to another person, who picked out all the shrimp. Then a Third person portioned out the noodles. A fourth person then cooked an omelette and wrapped the noodles in it. It was then packaged with two of the shrimp. We brought it with us to the airport and it was some of the best food I’ve ever had waiting for a plane! We boarded and I slept the entire flight to Chiang Mai (as Michelle worried that our not so reputable airline would crash -Thai Vietjet Air). For the record, all of our cheap airline flights were close to on-time and safely got us from place to place!.