For those interested, that’s:
1.
Seattle
2.
Los Angeles
3.
Beijing
4.
Shanghai
5.
San Diego
6.
Hong Kong
7.
Taipei
8.
Macau
9.
San Francisco
10.
Bangkok
11. Guangzhou (as of April 8th)
It’s not that many so far but considering my total equaled a
big fat uno back in 2008, I’d say eleven is respectable. I'm curious to find out how many you have been to, dear readers? Anyway, I spent a couple
days in city number ten with my girlfriend for a part of my Easter holiday.
As you probably know, Bangkok is absolutely massive—even bigger than HK—so
spending two full days there was only enough to get a brief taste. Speaking of
taste, upon arriving in the hotel, I almost immediately threw up the airplane
food. It wasn’t a great start to the trip, but from there on out, Bangkok
treated us well.
The first full day was spent navigating through the many
golden temples in the historic district of Rattanakosin Island. After climbing up to see the panoramic views from the temple known as the Golden
Mount, we made our way by auto-rickshaw (known as the onomatopoeic 'tuk-tuk') to the Grand Palace.
The Grand Palace is the main attraction of Bangkok and was obviously a highlight of the trip. The Palace was founded by the king of then-called Siam 230 years ago
and contains some of the most amazing, elaborate architecture you can find in
Asia. Also, inside the palace grounds is the Emerald Buddha, generally regarded
as the most famous statue in Thailand. I enjoyed hearing from the tour guide
about how this 2,000-year-old statue was found inside a building that was
struck by lightning, leading to the belief that this particular statue was
given to the Thai people from the heavens. This is one special Buddha, so much
so that they even change his golden clothes with the seasons.
That evening, we went on a nighttime tour of many of the
other temples and attractions in the area. It was a totally different
experience being alone beneath these giant golden spires in the dark compared
to the hordes of hot sweaty tourists in the daytime. Despite being in one of
the larger cities on earth, you could hear crickets chirping around the Wat Pho
temple when we were there at around 9 pm. The temple was home to many sleeping cats and dogs as well, something I found rather charming though I'm not sure why.
The next day was a bit less sight-seeing and a bit more
vacation-style luxury. After a brief trip to a temple close to our accommodations,
my girlfriend and I found a massage spa that her friend recommended closer to
downtown Bangkok. After that relaxing new experience, we went to a French
restaurant for a nine-course dinner that served as an early six-month
anniversary celebration. Heading back to the hotel that evening, we saw the
ritzy, westernized side of Bangkok that included the multi-story Siam Plaza. It
turns out Hong Kong isn’t the only east Asian city with an obsession for
international-style decadence.
As I mentioned, the trip wasn’t long but just long enough to
see that Bangkok is a one-of-a-kind city, albeit with an old heritage meets new
fashion feeling similar to China. Our trip was given another memorable twist by
the fact that our hotel was on Khaosan Road, also known as Bangkok’s “backpacker
ghetto.” Almost everyone we saw there was a foreigner who looked like they hadn’t
bathed in a week. It may sound kind of gross but it made for some fantastic
people watching. My personal favorite was a man with dreadlocks down to his
ankles.
Back in Hong Kong now, I leave for Guangzhou to visit my
friend Henry early tomorrow morning. It will be the third city with eight
million or more people I’ll have visited in as many days. Hong Kong will surely feel like a village after this. I shall post again
once I return to the Kong about my travels through old Canton.
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| Khaosan Road, known as the 'Backpacker Ghetto' |
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| Part of the Royal Palace |
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| Wat Pho at night |
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| Victory Monument in downtown Bangkok |
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| The Erawan Hotel and Shrine (needless to stay, this was not our hotel) |
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| Bang a Gong (Get It On) |
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