TRAVEL
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Our favorite destination was always Siam Square. We chose to stay at the home of a sweet Thai lady instead of a hotel. Although she didn't speak English, we managed to understand each other and she told us that Siam Square closed around 9:00 pm. She recommended that we go to Khaosan Road or Patpong instead. Since we never liked Patpong for its poor quality, we chose Khaosan Road instead.
It was known as the backpacker's paradise, but we had never been there before to avoid meeting blonde tourists with dirty hair. Instead, we found a big street full of bars where young and beautiful Thai women were having fun. Khaosan Road has improved over time, and we later found out that it had been cleaned up by the government. If we had arrived earlier, we would have seen stalls with counterfeit products and stands by young designers from Bangkok, but we didn't need it because the next morning we would visit the famous weekend market. We liked the Rabuttri Alley area more, behind Khaosan Road, quieter and more elegant. We entered a small street called Susie Walking Street and found restaurants, bars, and cafes with a cozy atmosphere and wooden lanterns hanging from the ceiling. After passing Rabuttri Village Inn hotel, we found our favorite restaurant, Madame Musur Bangkok, at the last street of the alley. The kitchen was open until 11:00 pm. After dinner, we chose the cutest massage shop and had a one-hour foot massage for 250 baht each (about 6 euros) to relieve tiredness. To get back home from Khaosan Road, we used the Bolt and Grab apps in a race because it was very crowded and there was a lot of traffic on Friday night. Grab made us wait a long time and told us to walk a long way. When we called Bolt, a private car arrived quickly and cleanly and took us home. |
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We stayed in the Bangkok Noi area, far from the metro or the Skytrain, but very close to the river and the Prarak pier. After having breakfast in a small café with a view of the river next to the pier, where we tasted different variations of coffee (hot/cold, with honey, mint, orange, pistachio), we took the Chao Phraya tourist boat to go to the Chatuchak weekend market. After a journey with a panoramic view, we got off at the recommended stop. Searching on Google Maps for public transport options, we discovered that the bus waiting right in front of the stop would go to the market. Before getting on, we confirmed with the driver and then traveled the streets of Bangkok to reach the market. After a scenic boat ride, we got off at the recommended stop. Looking at Google Maps for public transportation options, we discovered that the bus waiting for us right in front of the stop would go to the market. Before getting on, we confirmed with the driver and then traveled through the streets of Bangkok to reach the market. Since we had always used the subway or the Skytrain before, we had never had the chance to see the different neighborhoods of Bangkok. So, taking the bus was very enjoyable and made us feel less like tourists. But no one recommends taking the bus for long distances during weekdays due to heavy traffic. The Chatuchak Weekend Market has everything you could want. It is ideal for buying souvenirs and is also a good opportunity to try different Thai dishes, with many food stalls side by side. Everything is fresh and tasty, but it may not look inviting to those who are not used to it. After the weekend market, we went to Jay Fai, one of the two street restaurants in the world with a Michelin star (the other is in Singapore), which we saw in a documentary about the chef on Netflix and were very curious to try. Although we had called and sent an email to make a reservation, we did not receive a response, so we did not have much hope, but we decided to try anyway. Fortunately, we were able to get in and there wasn't much of a line. We were only number 56, and the last person who got a spot was number 36. After waiting for two hours, we enjoyed our Michelin-starred dinner on the sidewalk, surrounded by the smoke of garlic and the wind of the fan that lifted the napkins. We tried the crab omelette and the "drunken noodle," the dishes that earned them their star, and then we asked for the bill amid the excited looks of the people in the long line that had formed after us. Each dish cost about 1000 baht (25-27 euros) which is considered expensive in Bangkok. The portions were large, and the dishes were fantastic, but Thai cuisine is already fantastic in itself. Will we go back? No, but at least we satisfied our curiosity. You can take a look at Jay Fai page for more information. Near Jay Fai's shop, there are some very famous temples. The Golden Mount Temple - Wat Saket and The Metal Castle - Loha Prasat - Wat Ratchanatdaram are considered among the temples worth visiting. We walked for 5-10 minutes towards the Wat Saket Temple, criticizing our Michelin-starred meals. We bought tickets for 50 baht each to climb the famous temple stairs. Although it looked like it was 344 steps, it was not. As we climbed, we were distracted by the exotic plants and surrounding flowers. Halfway up, we saw the Golden Mount Cafe and some young Buddhist monks dressed in orange drinking something, so we stopped for a break. We already love the flavored iced coffees in Thailand, so we immediately ordered a coffee and sat in front of the monks, watching them unnoticed. Then we couldn't resist and socialized with them and asked permission to take a photo together. In reality, they were not real monks that we had seen. We knew that in Thailand and many Buddhist countries, men spend a certain period of time inside temples living the monastic life as if they were going for military service. This tradition, established to protect and ensure the continuity of Buddhism, also serves to learn meditation and personal control. Although spending a few months of summer as a monk is no longer as popular among children and youth as it used to be, this tradition still continues. Most families do not give their daughter to men who have not had experience as monks because they believe it makes them mature. We appreciated both the interior and exterior of the Wat Samet Temple, along with its scary stories. When it was completed in 1877, the temple was the tallest building in Bangkok, built on a hill just outside the city walls. Everyone climbed here to enjoy the view of Bangkok. When we left the temple, we came across an area that told of how during the cholera epidemic at the end of the 1800s, corpses that were not burned were abandoned there and vultures poured onto the bodies. However, in a book we read by Kamala Tiyavanich's "The Buddha in the Jungle," we were told that there was no modern cremation plant in Bangkok until the end of World War II, and this temple was used as a jungle cemetery. People who left testamentary provisions for their body to be given as a gift to animals once dead were brought to this temple, where their body was dismembered by staff, and the meat and internal organs were thrown to crows, dogs, and vultures who fought each other, while the remaining bones were burned with logs. Although it seems very wild to us, this behavior is perceived as a sign of superior generosity and an important step for their reincarnation. These scenes, which teach us that everything is transient, did not seem as terrifying in the Buddhist world of then as they are now. However, young people who are accustomed to modern cremations must find it just as wild as we do, which is why we sensed a slight distortion of the truth in the writing of the temple. After visiting Wat Saket, we could have also visited the nearby Wat Ratchanatdaram, but when you visit too many pagodas in a row, they all look the same and you no longer feel the same sensation. So, we decided to change the scene, getting a massage in Siam Square and going to dinner. We toured all of Siam Square, including the streets called "soi" and the surrounding shopping malls, entering every store one by one to check prices, looking for an ideal, clean, but cheap massage parlor. We found a place called LEK, located on a street behind the Novotel. Actually, there are many LEK shops everywhere and they all seem cheap and low-quality. However, we found the 16th LEK shop that had just opened. Much more elegant and clean, the prices and menu are the same as other branches. We paid 600 baht per person for a 2-hour aromatherapy massage. Normally, the price of such an elegant place would have been for a foot massage for an hour. After feeling refreshed from our massage, we went to our favorite restaurant in Bangkok, the Ban Khun Mae restaurant, which we visit every time we are in the city. However, the last time we were here at the end of 2019, we had a surprise: the restaurant was no longer where we left it! After doing some online research, we found out that it had moved to the second floor of the famous MBK shopping mall. Although we are happy that it did not close due to the pandemic, we were a little disappointed that it is now inside a shopping mall. Ban Khun Mae, which means "Mother's Kitchen" in Thai, brought its warm and welcoming atmosphere inside the shopping mall. We no longer saw the girls dressed in sarongs playing the traditional Khim musical instrument, but the dishes were still delicious and the prices were slightly lower than our last visit. |
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Last day and we still haven't eaten durian. This is unacceptable. The famous Durian, known as the king of fruits, is often talked about. It is considered a fruit that people either love or hate because of its bad smell, which is believed to never go away. It is not allowed to eat it in hotels or enclosed places, and even carrying it on a plane, train or bus is prohibited. It is not easy to find durian; usually, it is found on the street from street vendors. Some supermarkets sell it sliced in the fruit sections, while some night markets have specialized stalls selling durian. We usually bring it to Italy in our suitcase, but dried and packaged. When we are at home, we eat it either dried or wet, by cooking a durian rice pudding with coconut milk. But bringing fresh durian to Italy is forbidden.
I had discovered a place a long time ago where I can eat fresh durian to my heart's content, China Town. So it's a good opportunity to taste durian and explore China Town better. In the past, one could only reach China Town by boat. You just had to get off at Ratchawong pier and walk straight through the crowded markets. Recently, a subway station was built closer to the center of China Town, called Wat Mangkon. Going to China Town in Thailand may seem strange, but here you can find the best street foods in Bangkok and a lively atmosphere, except on Mondays. Since we happened to be there on a Monday, we ate at The Canton House, on Yaowat Street instead of street stalls. Yaowat Road is the main street of China Town, and the side streets are full of markets and temples. Then we went to Wat Traimit, where the world's largest (real) Buddha statue made of gold is located (40 baht for admission). Given Bangkok's traffic, we had to leave at 5 pm not to miss our flight at 11 pm. We returned to our accommodation by ferry at sunset, admiring the panorama of Bangkok. We thanked to the lovely lady who hosted us and took a taxi to the airport (500 baht) |
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