Wats and Woks in Bangkok

After arriving back in Bangkok, I took it easy for the afternoon and then went out that night with a few young Canadian guys, a British guy and an American guy.  We went to the Sky Bar on the 64th floor of the landmark State Tower where they filmed The Hangover 2.  It may seem like a bit of a cliche, but the views of the city were completely amazing and it was cool hanging out on the top of the city's second tallest building.  I was the only person to actually order a drink and one small glass of the house white wine later, I was $25 poorer.  Yes that is $25 in US money.  I'll never make that mistake again.

The following day, I walked to the riverfront and went by boat up the Chao Phraya River to the infamous Khaosan Road backpacker hub, which is known for its non-stop parties at night.  I was basically looking to buy a cheap pair of sunglasses after losing my previous pair in Cambodia.  After making my purchase I walked east to check out the Democracy Monument and then went back south along the river past the National Museum, Wat Phra Kaeo (the Emerald Buddha Temple) and the Grand Palace.  I decided not to go into the wat and palace mainly because it was pretty pricey, but also because I couldn't really find the entrance.  I did go into the Wat Pho next door because it was much more affordable.

The Buddhist temple is one of the oldest and largest in Bangkok and is also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage.  Sadly I did not get a massage, but I did check out the giant 46-meter-long bronze Reclining Buddha that has taken up residence in one of the temple's large halls.  The sculpture is covered in gold plating and mother-of-pearl inlay on the eyes and feet.  The temple itself is home to more than 1,000 images of the Buddha--the most of any temple in Thailand.

On my third day in Bangkok, I had one of the most unique experiences yet.  I took a class at a cooking school down the street from my hostel.  We first went on a tour of the local market where we bought chicken, prawns and all the vegetables we would need for our dishes.  Then we went to the school where we first made homemade coconut milk, which we used in all of the dishes that we prepared.  The first course was a Tom Yum soup, followed by sweet and sour chicken, a red curry, a green curry and mango and sticky rice for dessert.  Aside from all the chopping and prep work, all of the courses only took several minutes to cook up in our high-temperature woks.  It was so much food that I had barely enough room to eat all of it.  Luckily we got a recipe book to bring home with us so I can pathetically try to replicate the results in my tiny NYC kitchen.

On my last full day in Bangkok I got a bit of a late start.  I tried to take a water taxi back to the center of town, but it wasn't running because of military exercises on the river.  Instead I just started walking until my SECOND pair of flip flops broke in less than a week.  That led to an emergency sandals purchase before I continued walking up to the Chinatown area before heading back.  There was some sort of Hindu festival taking place over those few days so I got to witness a small procession just before my shoe broke.  That night I went out an Irish pub with some guys from my hostel where we listened to a Thai Beatles cover band sing their versions of "Hey Jude," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and other classics.

That Saturday afternoon I had to catch a flight to Hong Kong, which I almost missed after frantically searching in vain for my cell phone on the train platform to get to the airport.  I raced back to my hostel figuring I had left it there.  They didn't have it either so I started to panic until I finally found it buried deep in the back of my backpack.  Between losing my room key (and thus my deposit money), trying to sort out my accommodations in Hong Kong, nearly losing my phone and having to race to the airport, it was not a very good day.

I'll post more photos off my camera tomorrow!