Back to Bangkok

Welcome back to Thailand! Upon leaving the sunny shores of Palau Perhentian we decided to end our Asian getaway with a food frenzy in Thailand's capital, Bangkok. With limited resources we planned our route and soon realised we were in for a long haul. We had to get to the South Eastern border town of Narithawat in Thailand for a midday flight to Bangkok. Missing this would mean an overnight train or possibly a flight from a town approximately 5 hours east. With the thought of missing all the weekend markets we put our running shoes on and decided we could do it! We got the first ferry out at 0800 and arrived into Kuala Besut on the mainland 3 hours later then decided to take a taxi to the Thai border and avoid the risk of unreliable public transport and its many possible delays. Halfway through the 1 ½ hour trip and asking the driver to kindly put his foot down we were told that there was a time difference we were oblivious to! With the addition of an extra hour to the mad rush  we eased ourselves into the journey. Luckily we arrived with plenty of time to spare and eagerly began to anticipate our time in Bangkok that was soon to come.

We stayed at Lub D (meaning a good night's sleep in Thai) where I had stayed a few years ago in their sister hostel. I had made friends with the ladies that ran the place and they gave us a great discount on a private room. Situated in Siam Square - we were in the perfect location to delve into the city.

So began our food safari of Thailand! We were told about some backstreet hawker food stalls named the Suanluang Markets. It was a hard choice but we decided on one place, sat on the street, pointed to some mouth-watering crispy skinned pork belly served with Thai basil.... welcome back to Thailand, I was in food heaven!

Not satisfying our hunger we took ourselves to the bustling Sukumvhit with plans to have a night out. Excited and hungry we stumbled upon a restaurant called Cabbages and Condomns! This unique restaurant's concept was to promote a better understanding of safe sex. Upon entry we became surrounded by mannequins, ornate christmas trees and all sorts of other decor, all donned head-to-toe in condomns! 

Knowing our pennies were going to a good cause, we ordered up a storm. Grilled pork neck, deep-fried soft shell crab in a thick yellow curry sauce, and the in-house specialty - Kai hor bai teoy – Chicken in herb leaf bikini (Deep fried Chicken wrapped in a pandanus leaf served with a sweet and sour sauce, need I say more!). A few cocktails later I decided Naomi needed to see and experience the famed Patpong road and see the ping pong show.... all I can finish that experience with was that even Naomi was shocked!!

Time to hit the markets. Bangkok is all about the weekends and their amazing markets. First stop was the famous Chatuchak markets. Opened on Saturday and Sunday it has around 5,000 stalls. Although you can buy almost anything, what we were most interested in was the massive array of vintage clothing brought from the US to Bangkok where it was to be dispersed world-wide. Fighting the trawls of western shop buyers we handpicked our way through the piles of clothing and battered our way to a new stylish and super cheap wardrobe! 

After spending hours in the hot humid heat we were pooped and needed a break away from the madness. So we stopped in for a sumptuous meal of prawn and enoki mushroom tom yum. Yum yum indeed! Sweating our way through this beautiful and flavoursome dish we mustered up the energy to head on our way to a new market I had heard of down the road. It was opened up by a vintage stall owner that used to sell his wares at the Chauchak markets who then decided to open his own market in an abandoned train station. Talad Rot Fai, translated in English means the train market. More of an antique, vintage collectable market it was more people watching for us. We felt like the only whities amongst the crowds of young Thai hipsters who flock here when the sun goes down. We were drawn to another hawker food spot packed with all the young locals so we decided this is obviously the place to eat! Again pointing to a large bowl of fragrant smelling soup we were delivered what we aptly named “Special Combination Soup”. Fresh yellow egg noodles, pork wontons, roast chicken drumettes, fish balls, 1000 year old eggs, crab claws, char sui roast pork and tasty asian greens. Whatever you were looking for, you were bound to find it in this bowl of goodness.

We woke the next day with the plan to tick off some tourist sights. After our daily Breakfast Pad Thai (the only breakfast choice in Thailand!), we decided to catch a Tuk Tuk and head to the Grand Palace. I had visited these amazing temples years ago on my first visit to Thailand but thought Naomi needed to see these wonders. In the heart of Bangkok the Palace is the official residence of the much loved King. We arrived in the blistering heat and upon entry were told that our shorts were too short and our exposed shoulders were a no no! We looked at the wiggling line to the scarf hire and decided we actually did not care for any sights right now - let the food safari continue!

Next to tick off the list was a newly-opened sustainable restaurant opened on the outskirts of Bangkok by a Sydney born chef. With a list of confusing directions we decided to give it a try! We caught the skytrain to the end of the line, jumped in a taxi 10 mins down the road to the pier, hitched a longtail across the Chao Phraya river where we arrived and trekked our way through a beautiful lush jungle-like scrub where we were told the restaurant was closed for the day!! EPIC FAIL we thought the world of Bangkok was against us for the day! We persuaded them to make us an ice cold mango smoothie for our efforts! 

Bitterly disappointed we caught the ferry across the river where we realised we were so far removed from any other tourists, we couldn't waste the opportunity. What better way to explore the local culture than through our bellies! Duck soup and liver Kuay Tao Soup... I know every duck soup in Asia is my all time favourite BUT this wins hands down. The stock had so many flavours running around my palette that I was in total food heaven bliss, and all for a measly $2.50 I could not believe it! The day was not a total fail after all!

We decided we were total pigs at breakfast when Naomi said “Do you think we eat too much?” So it was time to actually do something that did not involve eating! Finally it was time for so some sights! I read about this city on the outskirts of Bangkok called Ancient Siam. It was about 1 hour south of central Bangkok. We caught the buses with the locals and upon arriving were met with a downpour of rain! Running our way to the ticket office we waited it out and were presented with sunny blue skies and no tourists to be seen. The whole place was ours! The cool thing about this huge outdoor museum was that all the sights were spread out and as part of your ticket you got a bike. Surrounded by bejewelled temples, gleaming golden stupas and gigantic statues that rose from immaculately manicured lawns and lakes layered with gliding lillies, I was chuffed and had a great feeling of succeeding in actually seeing some history and culture.

Last day and night in Bangkok - what better way to end it than with a Thai feast! I had read about this famous Thai pink noodle soup, so in search of the pink noodle soup it was! It was a hard feat to find the so called 'famous' hole in the wall cafe that served it but when we discovered it I was once again taken to a food coma heaven! 'Yen ta fo', the widely adored dish is pink in colour which comes from the fermented tofu paste and served with wide ribbon noddles, tender squid and what translates to english as 'swamp cabbage'. I was also intrigued by the lady who sold slow roasted pork knuckle... how could anyone resist!

The food frenzy was not over and we ate our last meal at a local recommendation named Soul Food Mahanakorn, their motto “Wholesome food. Honest cooking. Serious drinks” I can vouch for that! The food was a knockout. For starters, butterhead lettuce leaves, chopped chillies, fried garlic, roast peanuts, ginger, shallots and toasted coconut and grilled pork jowl with tamrind jam to get the taste buds kicking. Followed by smoked duck larb which is a dish that originated in Laos. It is a mixture of raw minced meat mixed with chilli, mint and roughly chopped roast rice. Sticky tamarind ribs with house made smoky BBQ sauce and caramelised pineapple, and to finish the eating extravaganza, durian ice-cream and my all time Thai favourite sticky mango rice.

Thailand - I think I gained a few pounds!
August 2012