When people ask, “what’s your favorite place?”, it’s never easy to answer. I always reply, it depends on what your basing the question on. Nature? History? Food? Culture? So many factors to consider. But having just left Thailand after my 5th visit, it’s becoming easier to answer that question. Thailand is my favorite place. Until now Bangkok was the one thing that stopped me from crowning Thailand as the best, but every time I visit that crazy city, I fall in love with it more and more. My first visit I hated it. I went to Soi Cowboy and did the raunchy chaotic backpacker adventure and saw the under belly of the city. Something I highly recommend you try once. Since then I have learned the transit system and explored new neighborhoods. I’ve learned how the people live and seen everyday life. I finally understand why so many expats love this city. It’s clean, welcoming and full of surprises. The people are the best, the food options never end and the city never leaves you bored. Combine my new love of Bangkok with my long time love of Chiang Mai in the north and the endless beach towns and islands of the south and its official. I’m sorry Japan but Thailand is my favorite place on this planet.
We arrived here worn out and exhausted from India and Bangkok was just what my soul needed. We spent no time relaxing though. We jumped right in. Stuffing our bellies and visiting with old friends. We barely slept the first night and began day 2 at sunrise. One thing we had never done on our previous visits was to check out the famous floating markets so we decided to fix that. We started the day off by taking a train to the “Train Market”. The market is set up on the tracks and when the train pulls through the vendors back up and make just enough room for the train and then as the train leaves they set back up in seconds. It’s quite the site and something you could never pull off in the West. From here we checked out Bangkoks salt pools and then headed to the floating market. First we walked the river side and bought snacks from the women passing by in their boats. Amazing watching a grandma make pork satay and coconut pudding from scratch in a canoe on a busy river. I love this country! After that we took a boat ride, passing vendors lining the shore and countless canoes selling everything from food to beer to t-shirts and souvenirs. So stereotypically Thailand and still fascinating. After a quick break from the afternoon heat we decided to finish the day by continuing our market theme. We headed to the biggest Chinatown in the world and spent several hours going from one food stall to another. From dumplings to banana pancakes we tried it all and in keeping with our adventurous ways we finished the market crawl off with some Shark Fin soup. Yep. The cartilage fin that terrorizes beach goers in a gelatinous broth cooked and served street side. Oh boy that video will be interesting. We came, we tried, we didn’t love it! Would you have tried it?
We spent our last day getting some laundry done and doing some last minute shopping for our Vietnam trip. For lunch we went to Mark Weins restaurant to take his spice challenge. We ordered his signature dish made with Wagyu beef and accepted his level 5 heat challenge. He lives up to his reputation for loving spicey food. It was only second to a Bengal spice we tried in Prague. Delicious! We wrapped up our time by being treated to dinner by some friends. Bangkok has become so much more than a fun city to me. It’s the heart of Thailand. A welcoming, exciting, entertaining home away from home. Actually it’s become something of a home. I’ve spent more time here than anyplace else even the US when not on assignment. Next stop…Hanoi!
