A Tuk Tuk Here and a Tuk Tuk There

Bangkok’s known for its wonderful food, temples, traffic, and tuk tuks.  And we experienced them all in one night.

We hadn’t been to Bangkok before and Julie started looking onto tours to find something different for us to do, something to “experience” the city as only someone in their late fifties could do.  (When asking younger people at work everyone listed their favorite bars and clubs—not our scene).  She found a great 4-hour nighttime tuk tuk tour though Viator.

We needed to meet at the Krung Thonburi BTS station in central Bangkok.  This meant, for us anyway, that we had to walk to the MRT the underground subway) then transfer to the BTS elevated subway to our meeting place.  And while this took a while, it was much better and faster than taking a taxi because Bangkok can be (and was) wall to wall gridlock.

At the station we met up with our guide, Net.  We had a group of about 10 or so and she led us to where our 5 tuk tuks were waiting.  Now when I think of tuk tuks, I think of the utilitarian ones that I have seen in Mumbai that were originally designed in post war Japan to fulfill a need with limited resources.   But these were a different breed of tuk tuk.

First off, they were quite open and could hold the three of us comfortably.  These 3-wheeled buggies were loaded with bling.  LED lights that pulsed, flashed, and changed colors continually.  It was like being in a mini-disco on wheels.  And yes, IT WAS FUN.

Our gaggle of tuk tuks headed out to the Klong San Market , a bustling market (what market in Asia isn’t bustling?).  This is a “typical” night market with stalls selling clothes from which you can buy a complete outfit, including shoes, for about $15USD.  That is unless you are someone my size in which there is virtually no place in Asia that you can buy clothes that fit.

The market was also filled with aromas from a line of food stalls running down the center of the marketplace.  We tried sausages with an unknown meat filling (don’t EVER ask) and samosas with a mung bean filling.  A tasty snack to start the night.

Satiated for the time being, we hopped in our tuk tuks and sped to Wat Prayoon.  This temple is known for two things, its large white pagodas and holding funerals.  As Net explained about the role this temple played in Buddhism, we passed around and ate pieces of steamed bread that we dipped in a Thai coconut and panda leaf custard dip called sangkhaya.  I hardly remember what she said it was so good.

The tuk tuk parade then head to a site known and the Giant Swing – I had no idea what it was.  Turns out that this tall (21 meters) swing is a Brahman religious structure, and was originally used as part of a ceremony during a Brahman Festival. Men swung themselves as high as they could in hopes of reaching a bag of gold coins that would be hung at heights of around 50 feet. Those who succeeded could keep the treasure, though many of them did not. The festival took place in December after the main rice harvest, but the rite was canceled in 1935 under the reign of King Rama VII, after several of these attempts ended in accidents and even death.  Today the swing portion no longer exists, but it still makes a wonderful backdrop for photos at night.

Across from the Giant Swing is the official name of Bangkok (Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit ) which, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the longest name in the world.  Our guide and the tuk tuk drivers sang a song made popular by a pop singer a few years ago that was the whole name.

Now it was the time for the highlight of the night, food0!  We headed off to Thip Samai, a well known Thai restaurant.  What was fun about this restaurant is that it’s kinda upside-down.  It’s a different type of sidewalk café as they cook on the sidewalk and you eat inside.  It’s also very popular so the tour company had a “line stander” that ensured we were seated quickly when we arrived.  Pad Thai was their specialty and quite good.

The toilets in the restaurant were all squatty potties.  Our guide told us they used to have western toilets but took them out because patrons kept standing on them and breaking the seats.  When in Rome….

We crossed the busy street in the safest manner possible—All of us clumped in a large group moving at a steady pace.  Back to our tuk tuks for the drive past the lighted Grand Palace to the Wat Pho Temple.

This temple is adjacent to the Grand Palace and is well lighted (and cooler) at night.  The temples and stupas are covered with mosaic tiles.  These were originally pottery shards from broken shipments of porcelain from China (the pottery served as ballast).  It was very different from Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda that is covered with gold bricks, but no less beautiful. 

There is a Reclining Buddha here which is closed at night, but still plenty to see.  There are pavilions that  were some of the first teaching institutions in Thailand.  You can still see the stone tablets inscribed with massage points (evidently Thai massages go back a long ways).  This education was started by Rama III.

We also learned about how Rama IV ended slavery in Thailand in 1905 by buying all of the slaves from their owners and freeing them—a good way to prevent a civil war.

Back in the tuk tuks we went to our last stop of the night—the Flower Market at Pak Khlong Talat.  This flower market is open 24 hours per day and is bustling.  We walked past stalls in which workers were stringing flowers into colorful garlands that would be used for offerings.  Most of the work is done by immigrants, many of which are from Myanmar (as evidenced by the Thanaka on their cheeks).  I am not sure that I have seen so many flowers of all kinds.

The last stop of the night was in a loft above the flower market where there as an end of the night spread of mangosteens, hairy fruit, ice cream, and mango with sticky rice.  A nice way to end the evening.

It was back into our tuk tuk for a Mr. Toads Wild Ride type of trip back to our hotel on the other side of Bangkok.  Zipping along elevated freeways at 80 kph in an open tuk tuk is (hopefully) a once in a lifetime experience.  But we made it safely back to our hotel and now have a night of experiences that will be hard to forget.

               

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