Not temple of doom Hunnybear.

Five-star hotel

The bed was not Heavenly but I slept dreamily nevertheless. Mike and I decided to go for a long walk and try the recommended lunch buffet at the Sukhothai Hotel. We asked the concierge for directions and headed out. It still hadn’t rained since I had arrived and showed no signs of starting, but it was somewhat humid and we sweated as we walked. Walking in Bangkok is challenging. It is not a pedestrian-friendly city. Traffic is constant and drivers are not fastidious about obeying traffic laws. It’s not unusual for cars to run red lights or motorcycles to take a shortcut by driving on the sidewalk the wrong way down a one-way street. Cars use leaded gas and do not have pollution controls, causing noxious clouds to hang over the busy streets. Many people wear surgeon’s masks and a few even gas masks.

We walked for over an hour and finally found the Sukhothai. The feeling of entering the beautiful lobby of this nine-year-old hotel, air conditioning cascading over us like a cool waterfall, was like a well-deserved reward for the long walk. We headed right for the buffet and tore into it. They had a wide variety of excellent food including fresh sushi, 15 different vegetables, stir-fry and pasta made to order, several Western meat dishes, and a nice assortment of desserts, which I don’t eat as a rule but since they were nice enough to put them out I didn’t want to insult the chef. A smiling busman refilled our water glasses constantly. The price was the same for lunch or dinner, 680 Baht each ($17).

This hotel was right next door to the fabled Westin Banyan Tree so Starwood loyalists should know about it if you’re staying there. It was so nice that I went op to the desk and asked, “How much does it cost to stay here?” Rooms started at $240 year-round. A clerk showed us a standard room and a suite. Both were beautiful.

We took a taxi to the Oriental Hotel so that Mike could see it and also to rent a boat to take us up the river. This is the most famous hotel in Bangkok but it doesn’t do anything for me besides pick my pocket. We found the Normandie Grill, which Mike had heard was a great restaurant, and thought we might have dinner there one night. I told him about the disappointing and stunningly overpriced Chinese food I had eaten at another of the Oriental’s famous restaurants, China House. He said he thought this one might be overpriced too but perhaps worth the experience.

We asked the concierge about renting a longboat and he said the price was 400 Baht ($10) per hour. We figured we could hire one ourselves for about a tenth of that so we went outside looking for a public pier. The first one we found, right next to the hotel, quoted the same price. So we went in search another one but found ourselves dead-ended in a Catholic girls’ school where the students were outside having their P.E. class. At this point we gave up and returned to the hotel and paid the 400 Baht.

We told the pier attendant we wanted to go to Wat Arun for about a half-hour, then proceed up to the Royal Palace, where we would finish and take a taxi home. The ride was fun. It took about 15 minutes to get to Wat Arun, where we paid a 20 baht (50¢) landing fee and another 20 baht each for admission. The temple was interesting in that it was completely covered with porcelain china. We walked up the two flights of stairs that were open to the public, took some pictures, and went back down where our longboat driver recognized us and pulled up to the pier.

It was another 10 minutes or so up the muddy river to the Royal Palace. Several people and a sign warned us not to talk to strange people giving false information, so we didn’t. We had 45 minutes left in which to buy a ticket but we spent the entire time looking around at the free parts of the grounds and the ticket booth was closed by the time we got there. The highlight was the museum of gifts to the Emerald Buddha, chiefly because it was air conditioned. I also liked the throne room where I imagined the meeting between Anna and the King took place.

By the time we realized we had screwed up on the tickets and couldn’t see the Emerald Buddha, it was too late. We took a taxi back to the Sheraton and had a round of overpriced drinks in the air-conditioned lobby bar before parting to clean up for the evening. It finally rained for about an hour when we were indoors. I got on line and read about the latest developments in the Clinton Administration’s attempts to destroy Microsoft, then took a cab to Patpong where I met Mike at a sidewalk bar he had found with 49-baht ($1.25) drinks until 9 p.m. We had a few rounds and watched the people walk by, then headed over to Bobby’s Arms for dinner.

Bobby’s Arms, an English Pub off Patpong with a typical ridiculous Thai entrance up the ramp of a parking garage, was inexpensive but good. I had New Zealand sirloin for 340 baht ($8.75) and Mike had Steak Diane. They had wine by the carafe, which Mike said took a while to come because every time you ordered it they sent someone down to the supermarket below to buy it. We enjoyed the meal then headed out to the theater district to watch some ballet. Business was slow, being a weeknight in the low season, and the ballet dancers had plenty of time to mingle with the customers. We hit Queen’s Castle I, Supergirls, and Pussy Galore, all on Patpong I, before calling it a night around midnight. Such ballet! There were steps I’m sure they never taught in ballet school.


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