Bangkok Day 2

Friday was designated our cultural day, which happend to fall on Vesak (the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha). We got up early to visit the Golden Temple and the Reclining Buddha temples, both of which were walking distance from the OBI. One thing to watch out for in Thailand are all the touts who hang out near the temples, harrassing tourists for visitng shops, going on tours, etc. A go-to move they use is telling you the temple or sight is closed until the afternoon for some religious ceremony, so they'll take your around shopping until its open and then bring you back. In reality, the major temples are open every day of the year, even on Buddhist holidays like Vesak. Anyhow, the Reclining Buddha is an impressive sight, as the statue dwarfs any person standing next to it. As we were finishing up at the temples we got caught in an instant downpour, but it was actually nice to huddle under a shelter and listen to the rain falling in such a peaceful setting.

After the temples we headed home to change but again a downpour came through, so we chilled for a bit at OBI. When the rain stopped we headed back to the water taxi to pay a visit to the Jim Thompson House. The story of Jim Thompson is fascinating. Jim Thompson was an American stationed in Asia for world War II as an engineer/architect. He actually never got called to duty, but after the war was over he fell in love with the Asian people and culture, and chose to stay in Thailand. He also fell in love with the traditional textiles on silk, and consequently singlehandedly revived the dying Thai silk industry. Being an architect, Thompson designed and built a beautiful home in Bangkok, composed of 6 traditional Thai bungalows strung together openly with hallways, surrounded by a jungle-like garden. He did a great thing for Bangkok in reviving the industry, and seemingly his life was great. On a summer day in 1967, however, he went to Malaysia for a walk in the jungle and was never seen again - disappeared into thin air. Of course there are several theories of his disappearance, including the CIA abducting him, or a tiger eating him. Whatever it is, he's left an enchanting and mysterious legacy behind in Bangkok. We took the guided tour of his house, which uncovers several cool architectural delights, and had lunch at the JTH cafe which was actually quite good.

After the Jim Thompson house we headed over to Siam Square to check out some interesting shopping - and because we were in the area. We then made it back to OBI right before a huge downpour to take a nap to rest up for the evening. For dinner we headed to Ko Saun Road (KSR) - the backpacker's paradise of BKK. This road is known for all the cheap eats, drinks, and guesthouses. We had a great time peoplewatching while sucking down a Singha in a bar. Nima had some kachi (sour) mango off the street, while I was happy to find a street falafel. We spent a couple hours chillin on KSR before deciding to head over to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar for some shopping.

The night bazaar is where Nima bought some good souveniours during her last trip to Bangkok, particularly a set of candlesticks my mom liked. The bazaar is set up pretty cool, with a central area for eating and watching a big screen TV, and tons of market-style shops on the perimeter. We first went back to the shop where Nima got the candlesticks where amazingly I bumped into Shannon, an Accenture colleague with whom I worked a few years ago in DC. She just finished up a role in Kenya and was in Bangkok for ADP training before heading home to the US. Its really quite amazing to run into someone you know from the U.S. at a place like the night bazaar. While I chatted it up with Shannon, Nima picked up some cool gifts for people and we continued on through the market. I didn't buy anything else, however we finished the night with a memorable experience of a Thai foot massage. It was one of those experiences like the Seinfeld episode where Elaine was in the nail salon and felt uncomfortable with all the Vietnamese women chatting it up and laughing in their language. The massage itself was good, but the boys doing the massage seemed to be having a little too much fun with it. Anyway, we capped off the night with the massages and headed home for some much needed rest.