Anti Hangover II
Put a couple of bored American guys in Bangkok, and you get… something really boring. After settling into our hotel, we headed to a nearby restaurant for a little grilled cuttlefish.
Since we got into Bangkok a couple of hours later than expected, it was dusk by the time we finished our early dinner. We did make the most of it and headed to the (in)famous Patpong. It was meh. I suppose growing up in New Orleans kind of reduced the shock value of some of the sights and peddling in Patpong for us.
We did, however, find a (legitimate) massage parlor. An hour long massage cost just 500 baht or $13 USD. At first, I wasn’t sure if the masseuse was trying to kill me, but I walked out of that room feeling absolutely amazing.
It was pretty late by the time we made it back to the hotel. Before turning in for the night, I checked email and text messages. My heart sank when I saw an email from American Airlines with the subject line “Important Information About the AAdvantage Program”. I immediately opened the email, and saw one of my biggest fears had come true. American had dealt the AAdvantage program, which funds the vast majority of my leisure travels, a thousand blows. Like any good millennial, I vented on social media.
While I wasn’t thrilled about the change, I can’t say I wasn’t expecting it. Anyways, I slept fitfully for the rest of the night, and got up early to take advantage of our only full day in Bangkok. After breakfast, we hired a tuk tuk to take us down to the river.
At the river, we hired a long tail boat for a two hour river cruise, which cost 3000 baht. Which wasn’t a bad deal.
Our cruise also included a tour of the floating city, which required going through a series of canal locks to reach. My friend who works in the shipping business back home was naturally fascinated with the process. I was too intrigued as I have never gotten to experience this before.
The floating city was pretty cool.
While the floating city was cool, the floating market… not so much. The floating market consisted of a lady in a kayak, paddling up to the long tail boat demanding insisting we buy at least 500 baht. We did end up picking up some really crappy trinkets and some drinks.
Hey… It’s five o’clock somewhere.
We were let off at a dock down river, which required another couple of baht for “docking fee” :rollseyes:
The reclining Buddha was the next order of business.
Afterwards, we headed to the Grand Palace. Though it is technically across the street, we had to walk around the massive block to the entrance.
Shorts aren’t allowed to be worn on palace grounds. So we paid a 100 baht deposit to borrower some coverups for our visit.
By the time we finished the palace, it was late afternoon. Famished, we found a spot for lunch before hitching a ride on a boat back to Silom.
No concept of max capacity. Just pack ‘em in.
We ended up missing our stop, and got off at the next stop. That said, it was a pleasant and interesting walk back to the hotel.
The next day, our flight was mid-afternoon, so we just stuck around Silom.
Nothing like beginning the morning with fresh coconuts. The vendor asked if we were Americans, and then proceeded to grab two ice cold coconuts from an ice chest. I was so excited about it, that I forgot to pay the vendor, who naturally started yelling at me when I walked off. I was a little confused until my friend said, “Dude, you forgot to pay”. Oops. A little embarrassing, but no harm, no foul. Anyways, the coconuts were delicious.
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 7, 2016 at 9:53 pm