After three weeks in Tonsai, we were ready for a break from climbing (believe it or not!). We headed to Bangkok on the 20th to meet my mom and Maureen (long-time family friend) who were escaping their busy lives for the shopping, food, sights and culture of Thailand. After surprising them at the airport for their late night arrival, we went to bed and woke up to a day of sightseeing in the baking, humid heat of BKK.
Our first stop: Jim Thompson’s House. Jim Thompson was an American architect who started importing high-end Thai silk back in the 40’s or 50’s. He fell in love with Thailand while there with the military, and never went home! He celebrated Thai culture by building this beautiful house that was put together from various traditional Thai houses. He tweaked things here and there to make it more comfortable and Western, but the result was a gorgeous teak wood structure. He loved the outdoors and on a trek in the Malaysian hills, he disappeared. No one knows what happened to him, but his house as well as his company still stand as a memorial to his love for Thailand. The best part of our tour, however, was not the house itself, but our sweet tour guide who made many practiced jokes in English and had the group giggling here and there!
Afterwards, we headed onward to the Grand Palace, which occupies ________. The Grand Palace encompasses a small city of temples (or so it seems when you wander around this maze of ornate gold leaf, mosaic, and Buddha-oriented structures), a museum showcasing various swords and jewels of the Royal family, and the old palace building itself. We managed to get through the museum and enough of the temples - especially the emerald Buddha, which is actually tiny and heaped on top of a tall gold structure! The best part about this tiny green Buddha was its wardrobe which changes with the seasons!
Feeling faint from heat and hunger, we hopped in an air-conditioned taxi and made our way to Cabbages and Condoms, a restaurant that aims to educate people about safe sex and STDs. ________ As you might imagine, the restaurant itself was decorate with condom-covered mannequins, sex literature, and free condoms instead after-meal mints. The food was delicious (especially after our diet of cheap street food!), and we felt rejuvenated. The highlights were my favorite dishes: deep-fried fish with tamarind sauce and green papaya salad (som tum).
We rushed back to our hotel and caught a cab to the train station where we eagerly anticipated a good night’s sleep in our first class cabins. We were sorely disappointed to find that the bathrooms were disgusting (as in hold your breath until you’re outa there!), the air-conditioning was set at an arctic temperature, we were required to eat in our cabins (I guess first class can’t mingle with the others!), and there was a mixed aroma of cigarette smoke and toilet wafting through our AC ducts. What’s worse, we woke up and Mamma had come down with a sinus infection, and the train arrived three hours late.
Maureen and mamma decided to fly for their return trip not wanting a repeat experience, and we rushed my mom to the hospital to get her meds before her cold got worse. The hospital was the opposite experience from the train. We were in and out in 30 minutes, the building was immaculate, and the doctor thorough. Oh yeah, and the whole thing cost 1,000 Baht (about US$30!).
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