Bangkok

The Royal Palace

We are here in Bangkok for the final week of our 5 months traveling through Asia. While our time exploring Nepal, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand has been phenomenal, we are also now looking forward to our return to Europe. To that end, we have used our time in Bangkok to plan the next steps of our journey, and take advantage of the endless shopping opportunities offered in this great city, to replace worn shoes and tattered clothes. Like all Asian cities Bangkok has its street stalls and night markets, but this city also boasts an overwhelming number of modern multi level shopping malls. These malls along Sukhumvit road and the Siam Center are connected with above street pedestrian walkways and further linked by a metro system and elevated sky-train. 

Now to be quite honest, I hate shopping, but I was dazzled by the experience of walking through these vibrant shopping centers which are also entertainment venues and food courts. They offer first class restaurants, coffee bars, and gourmet markets with all manner of upscale products. At the risk of sounding like an Iowa farm boy on his first visit to the big city, I was really impressed with the scale of these mega malls and the abundance of goods and services on offer.

After months of Asian street food this Mall stop was heavenly

 In addition to shopping and riding the sky-train, we also hopped on and off the boats which ferry passengers up and down the Chao Phraya river and several of the connected canals. These waterway services were a spectacular way to view the city and honestly just plain fun.

This deckhand swiftly handles docking while communicating to the captain using his whistle:

https://youtube.com/shorts/Km9DjaRVrFo

We did of course find time to visit a few of the required sites, including the spectacular royal palace grounds, and the Wat Pho Temple, with the impressive 150 foot (46m) reclining Buddha covered in gold leaf.

Rest assured, we will come back to Thailand.