Tuk-tuk, Chinatown, Chatuchak Market and loads of food…

We had planned to start our journey in Bangkok for few main reasons: first, we found a good connection, cheap and at a good hour, second, it’s a great starting point for a further journey to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and third, we visited Bangkok last year, so we could just focus on slow adaptation and tension-free struggle with jet lag 🙂

We had bad experiences with jet lag last year – Maks was one and a half and maybe it was his age that got him really mixed up! At first, we were enjoying the fact that he would go to sleep at 10 pm (oh, he has no problems with the time change!!!), but then, he would wake up at midnight and play until 6 am… For the first couple of days we would have breakfast at 6 am after a sleepless night, and then we would go to sleep. We would start our day at 1 or 2 pm, so we had to prolong our stay to see some of the biggest attractions, such as the Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha or Wat Pho. This time we didn’t have a tight schedule, so we decided to make plans when we get there, depending on our present will…

Once more, we rented a place near the main street called Sukhumwit. I’m quite sure that it’s the longest street in the world – it’s 400 km long and it goes from Bangkok to Trat, near the Cambodian border. We’re staying on one of the Sukhumwit’s cross streets – once more in an area most densely filled with working girls of various ages and old white beaus. Or maybe the entire Bangkok is like this? 🙂 It doesn’t bother us, as we are spending our days away from our locum…

We’re starting with a very very long walk to Chinatown… We have a coconut juice on our way (I adore them and they cost only 30 baht = approx. PLN 3), we go pass street food stalls, but also luxurious hotels and even more luxurious malls – one of the best known is Siam Paragon that contains an oceanarium. We were considering taking Maks, but PLN 90 per ticket is quite a lot, especially that it’s probably less attractive than the oceanarium in Lisbon… Anyway, everywhere you go, exotic fruits, skewers and wieners prepared on improvised cookers are accompanied by screaming signboards of Starbucks and McDonald’s. There’s even a Louis Vuitton, so if you don’t like to distance yourself from the commercial West too much, you’ll survive in Bangkok! 🙂 But we’re escaping skyscrapers and heading towards Chinatown.

We have a tourist map of Bangkok, but nonetheless, every time we go to Chinatown, we cannot find the main street! Is it fate? So, once more we’re wandering around the small, empty streets and the only thing that suggests that we are in the right place are the Chinese names on the shops next to the Thai names… Thankfully, we have a Trip Advisor application, that’s much better than the tourist map of Bangkok, and that has pointed us to the right direction a few times in the past…

CHINATOWN… is definitely our favourite place in Bangkok, and you have to see it! 🙂 It’s best to go in the evening, when the district is most vital. The number of colours, sounds, and scents is incredible… On the one hand, it’s due to lights and huge Chinese signs, on the other hand, it’s due to tuk-tuks and scooters that create the impression that you are in the middle of the world… But the most important elements creating Chinatown’s atmosphere are street vendors and street food… you can find everything there! The most popular snacks are: shark fin soup, cuckoo nest soup, seafood and small skewers (there’s also a homelike version with a wiener!). There’s our favourite coconut juice to drink, but also freshly squeezed orange, lemon, and especially pomegranate juices look delicious…

As I have already written and as I have told you in my Chinatown video report, we eat in the Chinese restaurant/bistor Texas Suki. We have three reasons for this: it’s tasty, cheap and there’s space for the little ones to go bananas! And if there’s space for going bananas, there are usually also companions for this – and that’s most important for Maks 🙂 Just take a look at the picture at the top of this post! What should you eat in Texas Suki? They have a large menu, so you won’t get bored for sure!

We have our favourite dishes (mine are i.e. fried won tons with pork or dim sum), but we always try something new as well…

I think that deserts are the most intriguing dish – unfortunately, pictures don’t quite show their character. We chose a local delicacy called taro in coconut milk (do you remember? I’ve already mentioned it in the film – it’s often used in deserts, here it has the form of small balls dipped in hot milk) and a desert that has greatly and continually fascinated us since the last year – water chestnut (pink balls of funny consistency) dipped in frozen coconut milk. I would have never chosen this desert over tiramisu or chocolate soufflé but you should definitely try it! Here are a few delicacies to encourage you 🙂

Of course we returned from Chinatown in a tuk-tuk! Last year we were a bit disappointed because Maks was afraid of tuk-tuks (they’re windy and loud) and we were travelling around Bangkok on foot or by taxi. But, as it turns out, a year changes a lot and currently Maks would like to spend his entire day in a tuk-tuk! Well, O.K. he’d like to spend time in a “sky train” as well, but I’ll tell you about it in a minute! 🙂

As we were staying in Bangkok also for a weekend, we decided to finally visit the Chatuchak Market. It’s the largest bazaar in Thailand and one of the largest in the world. Apparently it has approx. 15 000 stalls and there’s up to 200 thousand visitors a day on a weekend!! I must say – our expectations were high… a quality bazaar, loud, Asian, local food, but also some souvenirs, something local, something interesting. From the area of Sukhumwit Soi 2 where we stayed it’s best to get to the Chatuchak Market by a Sky Train. We climb the sky station with our buggy and buy tickets – their price depends on the distance – we are going rather far – we pay around PLN 4 per person… We love the journey! Us and Maks! Sky Train is very quick, and the view of skyscrapers nearby is quite astonishing.

We get out directly into the Chatuchak Park – Maks is happy, and the crowd and the arrows take us to the Chatuchak Market, also called the J.J. Market. It’s very crowded, there’s plenty of street food – I’m fascinated by the ice cream in a coconut but I’m a bit afraid of it, so we don’t have it… It reminds me of Stadion Dziesięciolecia, only with Thai food… I think I’ve already experienced it many years ago… socks, shirts, clothes, something for the house, some phone cases and tablets… I was tempted by the so-called cotton balls, or cotton, glowing balls… a nice decoration for a room, especially a child’s room. I found them last year at the night bazaar in Chiang Mai and I was planning on buying them, but I forgot about them, ignored them, and decided to buy them next time. I believe that they’re trendy now, as they cost several tens of PLN (PLN 70-80), and here they cost only PLN 15 or 20. Unfortunately, Maks was sleepy and fussy, and he quickly forced us out of the bazaar and I didn’t even buy the balls. Well, maybe they’re not for me… But if you’re looking for delicacies, Chatuchak bazaar has it all!

What else should you see in Bangkok? We enjoyed a cruise on the Menam river (Chao Praya) in a longboat. You can rent a boat i.e. near the Sheraton hotel, very close to Chinatown… Our hour-long cruise cost PLN 100, and we had the boat to ourselves. We enjoyed the changing scenery… from large, illuminated hotels, to fairy-like temples and small, wooden houses with a boat moored just in front of the house… It’s best to take the cruise in the afternoon after a whole day of sightseeing – you’ll definitely relax! 🙂 We’d like you to get the atmosphere of a tuk-tuk ride, and a longboat Chao Praya cruise, so we’ll have another film for you tomorrow, I hope 🙂 And now, we’re saying goodnight from Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia!