Day 306 - Bangkok Old Town and Red Light District
Thursday, May 9th, 2019.
What did we do today? Well, it was our first day in Bangkok and because we are not thrilled with the hotel where we are staying, we decided to take the BTS Skytrain to go see an alternative. Just the experience of the Skytrain was cool. We climbed on the modern train and it was fun to see the city from far above the ground. It reminded us of the nice metro stations in Dubai. When we got off, we still had to walk for a while to get to the hotel.
We made it to the hotel, which wasn't nearly as nice as it looked on Booking.com, where it was rated 4 stars. We came this far, so we wanted to see a room, anyway. At first, the lady at the front desk asked us to come back tomorrow because they were cleaning the rooms. I got a little upset and said no. I explained that it had taken us an hour to come and see the room. She was kind enough to show us a room (which was perfectly clean) but it wasn’t much better than where we are staying. Actually, the location was not as good so we said no. We then walked to a narrow street full of food vendors. It smelled really good but it was so hot that I was just looking for a place with AC.
We found an awesome cafe called Better Moon that had organic food at decent prices and (more importantly) AC! The place was awesome: they sold all kind of recyclable utensils for eating. They also had big containers of body lotion, shampoo, conditioner and more to fill up your own jars. I told Gregory that I would love to own a business like that. Sunshine got excited as well and I know we live in the right town but I'm not sure it would make money. It's complicated.
What did we do today? Well, it was our first day in Bangkok and because we are not thrilled with the hotel where we are staying, we decided to take the BTS Skytrain to go see an alternative. Just the experience of the Skytrain was cool. We climbed on the modern train and it was fun to see the city from far above the ground. It reminded us of the nice metro stations in Dubai. When we got off, we still had to walk for a while to get to the hotel.
We made it to the hotel, which wasn't nearly as nice as it looked on Booking.com, where it was rated 4 stars. We came this far, so we wanted to see a room, anyway. At first, the lady at the front desk asked us to come back tomorrow because they were cleaning the rooms. I got a little upset and said no. I explained that it had taken us an hour to come and see the room. She was kind enough to show us a room (which was perfectly clean) but it wasn’t much better than where we are staying. Actually, the location was not as good so we said no. We then walked to a narrow street full of food vendors. It smelled really good but it was so hot that I was just looking for a place with AC.
We found an awesome cafe called Better Moon that had organic food at decent prices and (more importantly) AC! The place was awesome: they sold all kind of recyclable utensils for eating. They also had big containers of body lotion, shampoo, conditioner and more to fill up your own jars. I told Gregory that I would love to own a business like that. Sunshine got excited as well and I know we live in the right town but I'm not sure it would make money. It's complicated.
We ate delicious chicken with Thai sauce and brown rice. Sunshine had a Japanese tofu salad. She has really become a vegetarian. After lunch, we bought fresh fruit on the street for dessert.
We were trying to decide what to do. The options were: pagoda or old town? We all voted for old town. We took Grab, it was very far away but at least the car had AC and we got to see other parts of the city. I’m not very impressed by this big city. Although it's not as noisy as other cities and people don’t honk like they do in so many places that we have been.
The driver dropped us in what was the old town but to me, it only looked like streets with many shops. Some people were sitting on the sidewalks selling their stuff (to me it looked like junk) Maybe it was too hot to notice more and appreciate. The temperature was around 90 to 100 F. No wonder people hide and nap at this hour!
We walked down one street where all the stores sold musical instruments, another street were they sold army uniforms, boots and more. When we saw a pagoda, we saw the stores nearby selling many statues of Buddha.
We also checked another hotel that included breakfast but it was more expensive and not a great location.
By then, we all were done. Gregory wanted to see a pagoda that we never found. Instead, we visited a small Chinese temple. At first, we were hesitant to go in, but then, I went in and everyone followed. Thank God we didn’t have to take off our shoes. The temple was old and the interior was very smoky from all the incense. I didn’t notice many statues or images. People knelt to pray and before lighting the incense they shake a bunch of joss sticks. They bowed, moved the incense in a circle and then stuck them in a pot.
We didn’t spend much time because the smoke was burning our eyes. Daniel stepped outside right away. There were some Buddhas behind glass and some antique murals.
After that, we continued our search for the pagoda that was supposed to be worth seeing but we never found it. We were tired of walking in the heat and really done. I told Gregory, who was in challenge mode to find the pagoda but luckily he gave up when the kids told him that they were done as well. He booked Grab but before the car arrived, his cell phone died. I wanted to cry but instead I said a little prayer to my special angel and the car arrived. It works every time, no one believes me but it works every time I need or ask for something! [Gregory's note: or maybe it was just Grab. Whatever.]
At night, the kids stayed in their room while Gregory and I went out for street food. We found a little stand with tables and stools on the sidewalk and we had delicious noodle soup. The best part about sitting there was that we could see all the "action" going on across from us. On one single block, I counted around 22 girls and ladyboys all dressed for action. In other words, prostitutes working. They did not offer, it was the clients who approached and spend some time chatting with them. What we noticed is that most of the clients were old, bald and fat. Not really good looking guys but like Gregory pointed out, they can score in Thailand with a beautiful, young, skinny girl.
After dinner, we walked to the Nana Plaza which is 3 floors of bars where you could see "shows". We didn’t go in but we did go upstairs to check the ldayboys floor where all the women were actually men. I only know this because Gregory told me.
[Gregory's note: OK, hold on. Time out! Before Lili causes a scandal with her creative use of English, let me explain. I actually did some research on where we were staying and found Nana Plaza listed on several "20 Places You Must See In Bangkok" lists. That's where I found out that the 2nd floor was ladyboys. I wanted to skip it and see a ping pong show but Lili wasn't keen on that and preferred to ogle guys in bikinis with fake boobs. Now that you know why we were there, please continue reading Lili's account.]
Some of them had amazingly good bodies, others were scary looking and others were obviously guys. It was interesting to see this area but not my favorite. We didn’t even stay for an overpriced drink. Instead, we walked across to the other side of the bridge which is a Muslim neighborhood. The shop names were in Arabic, and we were excited to recognize the Middle East food and we promised to come back for shwarma.
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped at 7/Eleven to get breakfast for tomorrow morning!
We were trying to decide what to do. The options were: pagoda or old town? We all voted for old town. We took Grab, it was very far away but at least the car had AC and we got to see other parts of the city. I’m not very impressed by this big city. Although it's not as noisy as other cities and people don’t honk like they do in so many places that we have been.
The driver dropped us in what was the old town but to me, it only looked like streets with many shops. Some people were sitting on the sidewalks selling their stuff (to me it looked like junk) Maybe it was too hot to notice more and appreciate. The temperature was around 90 to 100 F. No wonder people hide and nap at this hour!
We walked down one street where all the stores sold musical instruments, another street were they sold army uniforms, boots and more. When we saw a pagoda, we saw the stores nearby selling many statues of Buddha.
We also checked another hotel that included breakfast but it was more expensive and not a great location.
By then, we all were done. Gregory wanted to see a pagoda that we never found. Instead, we visited a small Chinese temple. At first, we were hesitant to go in, but then, I went in and everyone followed. Thank God we didn’t have to take off our shoes. The temple was old and the interior was very smoky from all the incense. I didn’t notice many statues or images. People knelt to pray and before lighting the incense they shake a bunch of joss sticks. They bowed, moved the incense in a circle and then stuck them in a pot.
We didn’t spend much time because the smoke was burning our eyes. Daniel stepped outside right away. There were some Buddhas behind glass and some antique murals.
After that, we continued our search for the pagoda that was supposed to be worth seeing but we never found it. We were tired of walking in the heat and really done. I told Gregory, who was in challenge mode to find the pagoda but luckily he gave up when the kids told him that they were done as well. He booked Grab but before the car arrived, his cell phone died. I wanted to cry but instead I said a little prayer to my special angel and the car arrived. It works every time, no one believes me but it works every time I need or ask for something! [Gregory's note: or maybe it was just Grab. Whatever.]
At night, the kids stayed in their room while Gregory and I went out for street food. We found a little stand with tables and stools on the sidewalk and we had delicious noodle soup. The best part about sitting there was that we could see all the "action" going on across from us. On one single block, I counted around 22 girls and ladyboys all dressed for action. In other words, prostitutes working. They did not offer, it was the clients who approached and spend some time chatting with them. What we noticed is that most of the clients were old, bald and fat. Not really good looking guys but like Gregory pointed out, they can score in Thailand with a beautiful, young, skinny girl.
After dinner, we walked to the Nana Plaza which is 3 floors of bars where you could see "shows". We didn’t go in but we did go upstairs to check the ldayboys floor where all the women were actually men. I only know this because Gregory told me.
[Gregory's note: OK, hold on. Time out! Before Lili causes a scandal with her creative use of English, let me explain. I actually did some research on where we were staying and found Nana Plaza listed on several "20 Places You Must See In Bangkok" lists. That's where I found out that the 2nd floor was ladyboys. I wanted to skip it and see a ping pong show but Lili wasn't keen on that and preferred to ogle guys in bikinis with fake boobs. Now that you know why we were there, please continue reading Lili's account.]
Some of them had amazingly good bodies, others were scary looking and others were obviously guys. It was interesting to see this area but not my favorite. We didn’t even stay for an overpriced drink. Instead, we walked across to the other side of the bridge which is a Muslim neighborhood. The shop names were in Arabic, and we were excited to recognize the Middle East food and we promised to come back for shwarma.
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped at 7/Eleven to get breakfast for tomorrow morning!
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KLvipi7VoGt75Hhx7
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