Bangkok

The last stop on my two-week southeast Asian tour with my mom was Bangkok.  I had been here before, but it’s a city in which it’s hard to be bored, so we easily spent four days in the city.  While my last visit to BKK was mostly about eating, drinking and art, this time my mom and I slowed down to take in most of the city’s major sights.  Many of the sights are clustered in the old part of the city, along the Chao Praya river, so we set off the first morning on a short walking tour.

Along the way, we got way-laid by one of the city’s many infamous scams.  I generally pride myself on deflecting the typical con artists, but sometimes I worry that I’ve become a bit too jaded, automatically shutting down anyone who approaches me in fear of being scammed.  For a moment, we let our guard down and engaged a “nice” passerby in conversation, and before we knew it, a tuk-tuk that was driving us to temples was taking us to fake government travel agencies to try to sell us flights to Phuket.  It was harmless, as Bangkok scams go–they wanted us to buy things, but in no way pressured us, so after politely declining many times, we escaped back to sightseeing–but was a reminder that even when I know better, it’s still entirely possible to get caught off-guard.  The silver lining of our tuk-tuk detour is that we got to see several temples beautifully setting up for the beginning of Buddhist Lent, or khao pansa.

Our sightseeing tour of Bangkok took us to all of the “usual” sights.  We visited Wat Pho, site of the Thailand’s largest reclining Buddha (whose toes are bigger than my body), and the Grand Palace (home of the royal family, and accordingly gilded and polished and impressive).  We took a boat to cross the river and see Wat Arun and a view of the city from the other side.  Perhaps the most surprisingly atmospheric site was Jim Thompson’s house, a restored Thai-style house, art gallery (belonging to the late Jim Thompson–silk mogul AND fellow Princeton alum), and garden, which is incredibly tranquil, despite its location close to the bustling Siam area.

No trip to Bangkok (for me) is complete without spending some time in the commercial overload of Siam Square, so we set aside plenty of time to duck in and out of the malls AND catch the Asian premiere of the final Harry Potter movie while we were there.  Before we knew it, it was time for my mom to fly back to the States (3 weeks in Asia goes by quickly!) and for me to fly back to Vientiane, to face a new term and lots of changes in my life here.

It’s hard to believe, but I’m currently counting down to the one year anniversary of my arrival in Asia!  In addition to a much-anticipated update on Trivia Night, I’ll be posting some reflections and images of my life here in Vientiane (which I feel as though I’ve been neglecting lately on my blog) in the coming weeks.