It's great to be back at the blog, cataloging another adventure.
After we landed in Bangkok (and at a reasonable time no less because of the flights mix up) we collected our bags, changed some money over and taxi'd it to our hostel. By the by,nth currency here is the Thai Baht, and it's about 30 baht to one USD, so your money goes a ways. We're talking 40 baht meals, hostels for 300 baht/ person/night, the ferry across the Chao Phraya river is no jokes: 3 baht. But I'm getting off track. The first night we ate at a night market and then basically just walked around absorbing it all. We made it to Khao San road where all the backpackers go to drink, party and pay too much for stuff. It's jam packed with people selling stuff, bars, food stands. One woman was selling grilled scorpion on a stick. I did not take a picture because I did not want to part with 10 baht for the privilege. We're talking 33 cents people. We really didn't hang out there long, too touristy!!
The next morning at 5 am I was rip roaring ready to go. For those of you that know me, you know I am most certainly not a morning person and this had Jared quite shocked. Blame it on the jet lag. So we decided to set out early and see the monks on their morning alms run. The Buddhist monks here do not have much for possessions of their own, and they live communally in Wats (temples). Every morning they go out and collect alms (food) from the Thai people (mostly shopkeepers and housewives). They carry around silver bowls and the food gets dropped in there and then the monk says a prayer for them. The monk then brings back his 'bounty' and shares it with the other monks in the Wat. What's crazy is this happens every single morning, it's not like it's a Sunday's only deal. It's like Buddhist trick or treating.
See their bowls?
Also while out on this early morning adventure we came across this little side street- Soi Thesa. Wedged in this tiny little back alley lies the 'Trok Mor' market (translates to narrow alley). At the time we had no idea what we were seeing, we just thought it was totally crazy and ventured inside. We found shops of all descriptions; mostly food but also clothes, souvenirs, flowers. And even the food stalls hadX many subcategories. There were piles of fruit, curry dishes, hanging entrails, fish for days, buckets of shrimp, deep fried treats. Add all the smells of these things cooking, people squabbling in Thai over prices, and essentially no personal space and you've got Trok Mor market.
So why did I think this place was so cool and Khao San was so lame? Well for starters Jared and I were the only white people on Trok Mor. We were basically just observers as the rest of the world went by. It was just regular Thais going abouts their daily business. Restaurant owners come here early every morning to get fresh ingredients. People do their grocery shopping here. It's a social gathering too. And it's all done and dusted by 10 am.
We continued to wander the streets of Bangkok. We ambled around a park, saw some huge lizards in a pond. We also accidentally wandered into a temple (it looked like the opening to a side stree, honest mistake) where there were a bunch of Thais running around with burning incense sticks in their hands. They were all placing them at the front altar, bowing and saying prayers. We realized we were probably interrupting something and made our way back out onto the street again.
Next blog: the Grand Palace
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