Bangkok: Mar 15: Arrival, Lumpini Park, and Food

Our trip to Bangkok began in Hong Kong when we awoke at 5am and took a shuttle to the airport. Our plane was mostly empty, likely due to fears the large protests in Bangkok (by a group commonly referred to as the red-shirts) would turn violent. (They did not, at least while we were there, but people were worried they might. For instance, the Hong Kong government issued a "red alert" against travel to Bangkok, suggesting that its citizens not visit the city during the protests.)

We grabbed breakfast at the airport and on the plane. I had a baked bbq pork bun in the airport and ate on the plane a lychee pudding, chicken-flavored peanuts, and a bready thing (with ham) that looked like a croissant but didn't taste like one. The plane food wasn't particularly good; the peanuts were remarkably nasty.

When we touched down in Bangkok, I took out my camera and took my first of what would be the day's many pictures. Di Yin also took pictures. The latter link goes to her first picture from her album for this trip . When you see a picture captioned "the ferry lights up at night" (picture #90), you're done with her pictures for the day. I'll link to the next day's pictures in the following post.

We took the airport shuttle to the public bus depot, the bus to the skytrain, the skytrain to another skytrain (transfer) to a ferry dock, and our hotel's short distance ferry service to our hotel (it's a short ride across the river). I took lots of pictures from the skytrain and from the boat.

We checked-in and enjoyed our hotel room's amazing view. It really makes one feel like king of the world, or at least king of the river.

After settling in our hotel, Di Yin and I ventured out for lunch, which we had at some street food stands we found. Next, we went to a bank to withdraw more local currency. In the process, we noticed that Lumpini Park, one of Bangkok's largest and supposedly most pleasant parks, was right across the street. We took a winding path through it, pausing often in the shade. (It was a hot and sunny day.) The park's a pleasant place, with a variety of small gazebos with interesting architecture. There are also animals, including crows and pigeons. The water was dirty, so it was hard to tell if there were fish. We also saw some people exercising. I can't believe they do it in this heat. On the other hand, it makes it easy to build up a sweat.

On the way home from the park, we wandered into the Silom Complex mall for an air-conditioned break, only to find a food festival on the ground floor! :) There was lots of strange stuff, things I didn't recognize, and no English labels. I would've taken a ton of pictures, but photography was prohibited and the security guard was actually enforcing the rules. :( Nevertheless, I had fun wandering and looking and occasionally trying.

Then, we headed back to the skytrain to the ferry to our hotel.

In the evening, the four of us emerged to take the ferry to a taxi to Chinatown, which is known as one of Bangkok's good street food areas. We walked down its main street, Yaowarat, ate, and stopped by a temple that surprisingly remained open at night. On the way home, we got taken for a ride by a taxi (so to speak), but we got out (not in the right place) without paying so it wasn't so bad.