Day 39: Bangkok (February 15, 2011)

Bangkok is very comfortable, and my hotel even moreso.  I took advantage of the hotel to catch up with sleep and people over the past few days.  And to figure out what the hell I'm going to do in Cambodia.  :)  Also, I am 12 hours away from East Coast time, which in a way made it easier to stay in touch because I didn't have to think about what time it was in the U.S.  But it screwed up my body clock even more, because I started to forget if it was morning or night for me.  Oh and my hotel room, while really nice, doesn't have any windows, which adds to my lack of time awareness.

From a park in the rich part of town.

Once again, I went exploring today, this time in a very upscale shopping district.  Lots of beautiful and sparkly things that I cannot afford (and aren't really me anyway).  I picked the destination in part because I could take the Skytrain there and the Subway back.  Although I don't like commuting by public transportation every day, I do like public transportation in general, and I knew Bangkok had a pretty good, but not very extensive system from my Transit Maps of the World book.  (Nerd alert!)  I am pleased to report that both systems are clean and efficient, and have a very easy touch-screen system for buying tickets.  DC's Metro should upgrade to the same system; it beats the current way of having to look up the cost of every single trip.  I had a fair amount of walking between stops too, which I enjoy.  Especially when there are sidewalks, which most of my previous stops did not have.

I also visited this charming little museum dedicated to traditional Thai village and home life -- the Kamthieng House Museum.  It's made as a reproduction of northern Thai house, which sits on stilts, and contains artifacts and displays from rituals and the home.  Although it was a museum only, I got a taste of Thailand outside of Bangkok (and outside of the 21st Century too).

Photos of textiles, for my mom.

I did find one item while shopping today.  A simple red circle pendant.  I have been looking for a necklace like this for at least three years (no exaggeration) and until today, I never found a single item like what I had in mind, despite wanting something really simple.  So I found my souvenir from Thailand.

Seriously.  It took me 3 years to find a red circle.

Finally, I tried an iced coffee today, at Robert's suggestion.  I was surprised to discover it does not taste like thai iced coffee in the U.S.  Instead, it tastes like those cold and sweet Starbucks drinks that come in glass bottles.  So, tasty but different, unlike all the other thai food I've eaten, which was tasty and the same.

I head to Cambodia tomorrow.  I have a 6:30am start time, but at least I'll be sleeping in a bed tonight and not an airplane.  Final thoughts on Bangkok coming soon, maybe tomorrow.  My tomorrow, not necessarily your tomorrow.