“Why are you going to Bangkok for a month?”

We got this question often when talking to others about our travel plans. I hated having to explain my life decisions to someone, let alone a person I’d barely met and had already forgotten their name by the time they forced the question upon me.

I’m not a “big city gal” but there’s a ton to do in Bangkok! Also, we’re not just on a quick holiday. Traveling is our life right now. And sometimes you just want to do nothing, catch up with friends, or watch television. Plus there’s stuff like paying bills, booking future travel, and writing blogs.

Speaking of blogs, our time in Bangkok will be written in a four part series. Welcome to Part 1.

Our Apartment

We booked a month long rental in the Asok neighborhood through Airbnb. It was a really nice complex and a bare bones – but clean and modern – apartment. The best part is that we were on a quiet stretch of street, yet close to the subway, skytrain, Terminal 21 mall, and some famous sois (the Thai term for side streets). Our rental ended up being about $40 USD per night.

We spent the first few days chillaxing in the air conditioning and enjoying the rooftop pool. We were still in “relax mode” from all of our beach time and it took us a few days to embrace city life.

In fact, the previous month we were hanging by the beach wearing nothing but swimsuits and sarongs with the occasional workout outfit or sundress. So it had been a month since we’d laundered our clothes and even after a week in Bangkok we hadn’t caught up on all the loads of laundry! A small washing machine and an even smaller drying rack also slowed us down.

And honestly we were behind the ball on mapping out our plan for exploring Bangkok over the four weeks. Planning while traveling is hard work!

Nightlife

In the evenings when the temps cooled down we walked around our neighborhood and explored Soi 11. One night we walked northward and sat for dinner at a tiny place on the sidewalk with no tourists around, and just one woman cooking and taking orders. It was the cheapest meal and quite delicious!

I had signed up for Bangkok event emails and saw there was a craft beer “event” happening the first weekend we were in town. De Garde Brewing, a small brewer out of Tillamook, Oregon, was having a tap takeover at the Mikkeller Brewing outpost. So at night we decided to walk to that establishment and grab dinner along the way.

About 15-30 minutes later we found another tiny restaurant operating out of a shack that used the sidewalk as a dining area. It looked perfect and we found a table for dinner. Our food was spicy, authentic, and cheap!

We then continued walking but we were sweating profusely and the path for pedestrians was difficult. Bangkok is not a pedestrian-friendly town! At times there are no sidewalks, and pedestrians share tight road space with scooters, tuk tuks, and cars. About halfway to our destination we gave up and ordered a taxi using Bolt. We enjoy walking but when it’s too hot and dangerous it zaps the fun out of it!

We eventually arrived at Mikkeller for the beer event and it was not much of an event at all! But there were five De Garde kegs available, and it was an opportunity to try this quirky Pacific Northwest brewer, at a Danish beer bar located in Thailand. We shared a sampler of all the De Garde beers, all of which are fermented using wild yeast.

They did have a nice wrap-around porch for outdoor sipping. The beer was pricey (around $5 USD per small pour) and the night young, so we headed out on foot again to explore a nearby watering hole.

A restaurant owner in Hua Hin had recommended that we visit a gin distillery called Iron Balls. It had a lovely little garden on the patio while the indoors was basically a club. They poured excellent cocktails and we enjoyed the vibe. After two drinks (around $20 USD/drink) we walked to the nearby skytrain station, Ekamai, and rode four stops to get back to our street with a short walk home to our apartment.

Bang Kachao (or Bang Krachao)

Our first daytime outing was to what’s known as the “green lung of the city” to visit the Bang Nam Phueng Floating Market. This part of Bangkok is a little south of the oxbow in the Chao Phraya River.

Our journey started by taking one of the low-cost “red” public buses: open-air with wooden floors. After a short walk to the river, we then took a small long-tail ferry boat across.

While there were cabs and tuk-tuks available, we decided to walk to the market from there. It was a hot and humid three-mile walk on a series of concrete boardwalks and small streets.

Along the way we saw more giant lizards and loose barking dogs, and questioned our life choices as the sweat poured out of our bodies.

Bang Nam Pheung Floating Market

We arrived at the market looking like we had been dunked in a sweat pool. We downed some water and tried to dry ourselves off so we didn’t look so gross.

Most people rent a bicycle from the boat ramp or take a taxi so we were the only foreigners around that were sweating like we had been standing on the sun.

The market was massive and filled with fresh produce, souvenirs, restaurants, various tropical desserts, and one of our newest favorite snacks: stuffed peppers, filled with a spicy ground meat.

My second favorite newly discovered item was frosty cokes!! They jiggle the glass bottles of Coca Cola around in an ice bath until the Coke is just above the freezing point, and then they pour it over shaved ice. Not typical of how drinks are served around Thailand. Americans are known around the world as people who like ice in their drinks and I felt so American ordering this and loving it! Granted it was 100 degrees F, with high humidity, so it was a popular item for locals as well!

We picked up some awesome custom made souvenirs, had a great lunch that cost less than $5 USD, plus bought some leafy greens from a family farm to stock our fridge for later.

Leaving the market we decided to call a taxi to take us home. It was much faster and cooler.

Thai Labor Museum

Our next outing was our first museum visit in Bangkok. It was a little closer to “home” and entry was by donation. The reviews online were quite high so it seemed perfect.

We ended up walking to this museum and again we were sweaty messes once we arrived. It seemed like we were the first customers of the day since all the lights and fans were off. Yes, fans, as there is no air conditioning in the building. The staff quickly went around and turned everything on and provided us with two bottles of water each. The museum has several small rooms filled to the brim with signs, exhibits, and memorabilia, all from the labor perspective. This walked guests through the centuries and recent decades of the labor movements in Thailand, from the serf-based farm society to urban industrial factories. It was an interesting history and anyone in town long enough should add it to their list.

The oppressive heat in the building really helped bring home the experience of those who had to toil in locked-door sweatshops. As we left the building, the door opening greeted us with a refreshing breeze! Even though it was over 100 degrees F outside, that was actually colder than inside the museum! We then walked down the street to catch a bus to our next destination.

Jim Thompson House

We first learned about our friend, Jim, back in Malaysia. He has a very interesting story that is a mystery to this day (we write about that mystery here). This was one of my favorite museums in Bangkok!

The compound is lush and much larger than I expected. Jim had six teak houses moved and reconstructed at this canal-side location so we could be close to the Thai silk vendors. Mr. Thompson became known as the Thai Silk King.

The museum offers tours in English and other languages throughout the day and each tour lasts about 45 minutes. There is no self-guided option. Jim’s beautiful handpicked treasures are still on display in his home.

We enjoyed a cool glass of local mead at the terrace afterward to plan out the rest of our day.

Sunset

We decided to follow the canal on foot until we reached a canal boat station to take us to the end of the line. Once on the boat, we discovered that the canal stop had changed, so we ended up several blocks away from our intended target. So we were back on foot again after a quick boat ride.

While walking around the old town area we were chatted up by two locals that each separately tried to convince us it was a (different) holiday and that we should get in a tuk tuk to go see the Giant Buddha. It was late in the afternoon and the stories did not make sense. Additionally, we were warned about scams in Bangkok in which tuk tuk drivers try to tell tourists that attractions are closed and tempt you away to other locations so that they can make money on tours. It’s a lame but prominent scam and honestly it was interesting to just listen to their tales. “Did you hear the news on TV?” “No, what is it?” “It’s a holiday! Big Buddha is free for all foreigners! Today only!” …..”oh, wow!” ::eye roll::

We continued on our way to Fortress Phra Sumen for sunset. It was slightly underwhelming. There were not many benches facing Chao Praya River and many folks were blaring Facetime calls, games, and music from their phones. Nobody wants to sit on a bench in the park and listen to someone else play a game on their phone. People, use headphones. Seriously!

So we walked around and decided to follow the path around the river. This path led us to the taxi boats that travel up and down to the various piers along the Chao Praya. We decided to go north and enjoy sunset from the boat. It was beautiful!

On one side of the river there was the golden sun setting and on the other pink and purple hues painted the sky. We passed by a beautiful temple with a golden spire that was partially surrounded by a modern office type building. It was so cool!

After about 45 minutes, we chose to exit at a pier that was easily connected to a metro station, and then we took the train home. Easy peasy! Our first week in Bangkok came and went swiftly!

The Weather

You may have noticed I talked about the heat a lot. It was no joke! Thailand went through a record breaking heatwave while we were there and it was not pretty.

The AC in our apartment worked great! But trips out during the day were more difficult. Instead of batching multiple places into one day’s outing, we were forced to stick to one or two items per day.

We just got too sweaty and tired. We also spent some days just by the pool and lounging indoors to beat the heat. Bangkok’s malls are another great place to escape high temps.