With impeccable, and totally coincidental timing, my mom and dad arrived in Bangkok on Sara's final day of orientation. They took our advice and flew in on Korean Air, with twenty hours in the air split between Chicago, Seoul, and Bangkok. The day they arrived, I'd been staying alone in various guesthouses and hotels all over the north side of town and was elated not only to see them for the first time in six months, but to have a bigger sense of day-to-day purpose than finding the best deal on a bottle of Coke Zero.
I'd arranged to meet them at their hotel, the five-star Vie Hotel in downtown Bangkok. The hotel was beautiful, modern, just a short walk from the main shopping district and, in their own words, way too nice for my parents. When I arrived around noon, my mom was already up and out exploring their neighborhood. My dad, who is usually awakened at five A.M. by the cats he borrowed from Sara and I, was still trying to recover from the long flight. When everyone was ready, we hit the streets and my duty as tour guide began.
I eased them into Thai food by taking advantage of Bangkok's selection of Western food, and we had bagel sandwiches for lunch. The biggest piece of advice I'd give to anyone traveling in a foreign country would be to start looking for a place to eat an hour before you are hungry—even in Bangkok, you never know when you'll find something you really want to eat, as opposed to something you're not entirely afraid to try. About halfway through lunch it started to kick in that my parents were in Thailand, and it was a very exciting feeling.
The good vibes hit another peak when we did some shopping at MBK, a downtown mall with a famous electronics floor with hundreds of booths selling (relatively) cheap IPods, IPads, phones, and any accessory you can think of. The high point of the trip came early for my dad, as he bought himself a beautiful pair of black market Beats headphones. He got plenty of use out of them for the rest of the trip, and the price was certainly right. I hope they're still working, as you’re always taking a risk with Thai electronics.
After the mall, we rode the train down to the waterfront and took a river taxi to Wat Pho. The river taxis are my favorite way to travel in Bangkok. Although they only cover the waterfront, you get access to a sizable portion of the city along both shores of the Chao Phraya river, and depending on the time of day it can be either a relaxing and comfortable way to see the city, or a window into daily Thai life during rush hour, when the maximum occupancy of the boats is tested and strained by hordes of commuters. My parents and I experienced both within a few hours.
We did a little exploring of the waterfront market near Wat Pho before visiting the temple. After the temple, I took them to the Deck, a waterfront bar recommended to Sara and I by Eric our first day in Thailand six months ago. When Sara and I had visited, we were nervous about getting back to our guesthouse in the dark, so we missed the sunset. This time I had all the confidence in the world, and we enjoyed watching the sun go down behind Wat Arun before catching a taxi back to the Vie. Our taxi driver was quite a character; drunk, on drugs, wildly histrionic, and quite grabby. He had a special interest in my belly, which he would grab and poke at before cackling like a madman and returning his interest momentarily to the road. We survived the trip and I spent a few hours helping my parents find a new (cheaper) hotel to switch to next morning. After we'd settled on Wendy House, a cute guesthouse just a few blocks away, I took a taxi to meet up with Sara at our (even cheaper) guesthouse near Lumphini Park. Though unremarkable in literally every way, this guesthouse will forever be remembered as the one Sara forgot her phone at.
The next morning, Sara joined the tour guide staff and we had more bagels before moving the entire show to the Wendy House. All four of us wound up staying for the next four nights, as we split time between seeing the city and planning our next move to Phuket. We took several more trips to MBK, checked out Chinatown,
toured the Jim Thompson house,
dropped off my parent's at the Grand Palace for the tour, and helped them take a more in-depth river cruise.
My dad recovered from a cold by eating nothing but steaming hot green curry, Sara and my mother spent hours figuring out our trip to Phuket, and in the blink of an eye we were leaving the Wendy House for the Don Mueang Airport, bound for the beach.
Our flight to Phuket was quick and comfortable, unlike the torture and terror of our nearly three hour minibus ride to Chalong Pier. Between the unending traffic jams, our driver's taste for unbearably loud and atonal Thai music, and the absurd mass of illegally parked cars and confused wandering throngs of tourists blocking the road to the pier itself, I was ready to jump out of the van and swim to our island. But, like all annoying experiences in Thailand, it all became just another funny thing that happened once we made it to "our" beach.
The guesthouse Sara had found, Baan Mai, picked us up with their own little boat, and piled us in for the fifteen minute ride to the island.
The scenery was unbelievable, and things only got better when we landed to find we were the only ones staying at our guesthouse that night. Our cottages were also fantastic, with a comfortable bed and an outdoor bathroom whose view from the toilet was much beloved and oft mentioned.
We were also lucky beyond words to find the guesthouse had its own cat, who Sara and I still talk about on a daily basis. We named her Sandy Claws, and for the next three days, if we weren't lavishing attention on her, we were wandering around the island looking for her so we could. She was a pretty smart cat though, as she would follow us back and forth between the cottage and the beach, and even came inside to spend some time in the air conditioned splendor of our room. Just look at these pictures! I'm telling you, it doesn't get any better than this.
We all went swimming multiple times, kicked back in the hammocks, and did a tremendous job of generally lazing about our beautiful beach.
The only downside to our guesthouse was the cost of the food - about ten times the cost of a meal in our village. In other words, the same cost as in America! The food was so good that we were actually OK with spending that much, and we had some great, relaxing dinners at the end of our lazy days.
Although it was a different experience than Sara and I had on Koh Phangan, we both had the same feeling of freedom and peace, like a never ending sigh of contentment that seemed to suggest our troubles (if we'd ever had any) were, in fact, over. It was extremely satisfying to share it with my parents, both of whom work hard and more than deserved a vacation like the one we were on. I didn't think the time could fly more than did in the frenzy of Bangkok, but in two shakes of Sandy Claws's tail, it was time to say goodbye to our beach and Baan Mai. I could tell how much everyone had enjoyed our time there by how hard it was for everyone to leave. With a heavy heart and an eye to the future, we loaded back into the little boat and headed back to the airport, bound for the Bangkok airport train station and, if it ever showed up, a train north to Chiang Mai.
I'd arranged to meet them at their hotel, the five-star Vie Hotel in downtown Bangkok. The hotel was beautiful, modern, just a short walk from the main shopping district and, in their own words, way too nice for my parents. When I arrived around noon, my mom was already up and out exploring their neighborhood. My dad, who is usually awakened at five A.M. by the cats he borrowed from Sara and I, was still trying to recover from the long flight. When everyone was ready, we hit the streets and my duty as tour guide began.
I eased them into Thai food by taking advantage of Bangkok's selection of Western food, and we had bagel sandwiches for lunch. The biggest piece of advice I'd give to anyone traveling in a foreign country would be to start looking for a place to eat an hour before you are hungry—even in Bangkok, you never know when you'll find something you really want to eat, as opposed to something you're not entirely afraid to try. About halfway through lunch it started to kick in that my parents were in Thailand, and it was a very exciting feeling.
The good vibes hit another peak when we did some shopping at MBK, a downtown mall with a famous electronics floor with hundreds of booths selling (relatively) cheap IPods, IPads, phones, and any accessory you can think of. The high point of the trip came early for my dad, as he bought himself a beautiful pair of black market Beats headphones. He got plenty of use out of them for the rest of the trip, and the price was certainly right. I hope they're still working, as you’re always taking a risk with Thai electronics.
After the mall, we rode the train down to the waterfront and took a river taxi to Wat Pho. The river taxis are my favorite way to travel in Bangkok. Although they only cover the waterfront, you get access to a sizable portion of the city along both shores of the Chao Phraya river, and depending on the time of day it can be either a relaxing and comfortable way to see the city, or a window into daily Thai life during rush hour, when the maximum occupancy of the boats is tested and strained by hordes of commuters. My parents and I experienced both within a few hours.
We did a little exploring of the waterfront market near Wat Pho before visiting the temple. After the temple, I took them to the Deck, a waterfront bar recommended to Sara and I by Eric our first day in Thailand six months ago. When Sara and I had visited, we were nervous about getting back to our guesthouse in the dark, so we missed the sunset. This time I had all the confidence in the world, and we enjoyed watching the sun go down behind Wat Arun before catching a taxi back to the Vie. Our taxi driver was quite a character; drunk, on drugs, wildly histrionic, and quite grabby. He had a special interest in my belly, which he would grab and poke at before cackling like a madman and returning his interest momentarily to the road. We survived the trip and I spent a few hours helping my parents find a new (cheaper) hotel to switch to next morning. After we'd settled on Wendy House, a cute guesthouse just a few blocks away, I took a taxi to meet up with Sara at our (even cheaper) guesthouse near Lumphini Park. Though unremarkable in literally every way, this guesthouse will forever be remembered as the one Sara forgot her phone at.
The next morning, Sara joined the tour guide staff and we had more bagels before moving the entire show to the Wendy House. All four of us wound up staying for the next four nights, as we split time between seeing the city and planning our next move to Phuket. We took several more trips to MBK, checked out Chinatown,
toured the Jim Thompson house,
dropped off my parent's at the Grand Palace for the tour, and helped them take a more in-depth river cruise.
My dad recovered from a cold by eating nothing but steaming hot green curry, Sara and my mother spent hours figuring out our trip to Phuket, and in the blink of an eye we were leaving the Wendy House for the Don Mueang Airport, bound for the beach.
Our flight to Phuket was quick and comfortable, unlike the torture and terror of our nearly three hour minibus ride to Chalong Pier. Between the unending traffic jams, our driver's taste for unbearably loud and atonal Thai music, and the absurd mass of illegally parked cars and confused wandering throngs of tourists blocking the road to the pier itself, I was ready to jump out of the van and swim to our island. But, like all annoying experiences in Thailand, it all became just another funny thing that happened once we made it to "our" beach.
The guesthouse Sara had found, Baan Mai, picked us up with their own little boat, and piled us in for the fifteen minute ride to the island.
The scenery was unbelievable, and things only got better when we landed to find we were the only ones staying at our guesthouse that night. Our cottages were also fantastic, with a comfortable bed and an outdoor bathroom whose view from the toilet was much beloved and oft mentioned.
We were also lucky beyond words to find the guesthouse had its own cat, who Sara and I still talk about on a daily basis. We named her Sandy Claws, and for the next three days, if we weren't lavishing attention on her, we were wandering around the island looking for her so we could. She was a pretty smart cat though, as she would follow us back and forth between the cottage and the beach, and even came inside to spend some time in the air conditioned splendor of our room. Just look at these pictures! I'm telling you, it doesn't get any better than this.
We all went swimming multiple times, kicked back in the hammocks, and did a tremendous job of generally lazing about our beautiful beach.
The only downside to our guesthouse was the cost of the food - about ten times the cost of a meal in our village. In other words, the same cost as in America! The food was so good that we were actually OK with spending that much, and we had some great, relaxing dinners at the end of our lazy days.
Although it was a different experience than Sara and I had on Koh Phangan, we both had the same feeling of freedom and peace, like a never ending sigh of contentment that seemed to suggest our troubles (if we'd ever had any) were, in fact, over. It was extremely satisfying to share it with my parents, both of whom work hard and more than deserved a vacation like the one we were on. I didn't think the time could fly more than did in the frenzy of Bangkok, but in two shakes of Sandy Claws's tail, it was time to say goodbye to our beach and Baan Mai. I could tell how much everyone had enjoyed our time there by how hard it was for everyone to leave. With a heavy heart and an eye to the future, we loaded back into the little boat and headed back to the airport, bound for the Bangkok airport train station and, if it ever showed up, a train north to Chiang Mai.
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