Skip to main content

Chatuchak and Chinatown

So far the Siam City is proving to be the worst of the hotels that we have stayed at in Thailand. Full of tour groups, ornate opulence rather than modern style and crappy expensive internet. Advantages: it's close to the Phaya Thai Skytrain and Airport line stations.

It does have a decent buffet breakfast and Alex likes the many fountains, the lifts and the pool so it's not all bad.


Anyway, we slept in this morning and enjoyed that. Then we caught the Skytrain to its northern terminus at Mo Chit, which is within easy walking distance of the famous Chatuchak (Jatujak) markets. Easy walking distance except for the big playground which lies between the station and the markets.

It was great to let Alex play for a while, though some of the equipment was broken and even dangerously so. Others were in great nick.


The Chatuchak markets were not as scary as I had imagined them to be. Yes they are big, but not overwhelmingly so. All sorts of stuff is sold there, not just pirated bags, clothes and touristy souvenirs. There are artworks, pottery and even a posh pet section that seems custom made for the Paris Hilton chihuahuas out there, not to mention performing squirrels and guinea pigs. There are narrow warrens and broad, but busy, streets in the market area.



We bought a few things, ate lunch at one of the many food stalls, and were amazed by how late it was.

Back to the playground for a while, then we went underground to catch the MTR (subway) all the way back the Hualumphong station, the terminus of the service. A bit of a delay first at Mo Chit while Alex used the clean toilets there - twice because he liked the hand dryer.

Bangkok's Chinatown was really buzzing in the evening. All along the busy main road Yaowarat there were stalls selling Thai-Chinese food, like seafood, shark-fin and birds nest, as well as fresh fruit, chestnuts and other goods under big neon signs.


Squeezing into one busy outdoor eatery we had a dinner of grilled prawns, curry prawns with egg (crab being too messy with Alex), fish in a lime sauce, served with a burner underneath and fried rice with crab. Delicious!

Near the end of the meal Alex looked at me and said "Catch tuk-tuk?"

How could we deny him? For 100B we caught a tuk-tuk all the way back to the hotel. Alex was so excited, shouting out with joy and at the radio when it squawked. As we were stopped at one set of lights a young girl came out selling sweet smelling white flowers wrapped in leaves. I couldn't help but buy them, making Alex even happier.


B wanted to explore the hotel area. There wasn't much except for the big King Power duty-free plaza. Just a collection of mega-expensive brand names, but at least Alex caught more lifts, to his delight.

Last full night in Thailand. Tomorrow we'll visit the malls of Siam Square, maybe see Jim Thompson's House again and that night we depart for Fukuoka. We'll be staying well clear of Tokyo, the north and the radiation.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Asagaya and heading home

How can I be happy? I am about to return to a country where the toilets have at most two buttons and no seat warmers. But the tickets are booked and there are no cyclones, typhoons or other disasters standing in our way. It's almost time to go back to my first home. First B wants to do some "local shopping". So we catch the Chuo Line up a few stations to Asagaya, a residential area with a number of Shotengai, covered and uncovered arcades leading away from the station and narrow alleys lined with bars. It is an interesting area for a wander around. We are mainly looking, do some shopping for toothbrushes and sweets from Seiyu, a Wal-Mart owned supermarket/minor department store. We skipped breakfast and lunch is ramen and gyoza at a small restaurant near the entrance to the Pearl Centre shotengai. With the help of a staff member, I manage to purchase tickets at a branch of Lawson to the Ghibli Museum for a friend travelling to Japan in May. There are some...

IKEA Museum

We have a packed itinerary today. Flat packed and assembled with an Allen key. There are patches of snow on the ground that weren't there the previous evening. We are a bit sad to leave the Duxiana after the comfy beds and the breakfast of cold cuts, fruits and hot waffles. I tried the Swedish caviar on my boiled egg. It was... Interesting. I was very disappointed to realise that, after talking it up for months, I had forgotten the Disgusting Foods Museum in Malmö yesterday. Too late now. We catch another Oresundstag train, for a bit over an hour. Past yesterday's Lund, past increasingly white fields and towns to Älmhult, home of IKEA. The conductor warns us that the train will split in two so we have to move carriages forward. Unfortunately, there we no spare sets of chairs for all of us. The IKEA Museum showcases the history of the furniture company, along with temporary exhibitions. One of these was "Hacking IKEA," about using IKEA ob...

To Melbourne on the XPT sleeper

Excited by the prospect of reliving the experience of seeing my very first movie and hearing the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform it I bought tickets to The Empire Strikes Back in Concert in Melbourne back in February. Then I did nothing about actually getting there. Much as I love Melbourne, due to family commitments I didn't want to spend more than the Sunday away. Flights there and back made sense, but  my flight down to Melbourne in late October reiterated the fact that I usually don't enjoy descending into the city. And the concert was in December, a season of summer storms. I really didn't feel like driving the whole route alone and in a hurry, so that left one choice. The train. My very first trip up to Sydney from Melbourne was aboard the luxury Southern Aurora. Or it was supposed to be luxury. I wouldn't know because I spent the whole ride up very sick with the flu lying in the top bunk, unable to stay awake for my whole of night vigil. Now only...