Back in Bangkok (after 4 previous visits while visiting the rest of Thailand 7-8 years ago), I had just enough time to swing through my favorite snacking neighborhoods and have a nice Thai massage.
On my first day I felt like a zombie due to hardly catching any sleep on the redeye from Colombo. Fortunately my hotel let me check in early so I could take a nap in the afternoon. On my second, rested day, I hopped the skytrain to the riverboat to cruise up northwest of the main temple region so I could stroll along the roads with countless food tables selling everything from fresh squeezed fruit juice, coconut flavored popcorn, fresh fruit, homemade candy, and every kind of Thai dish imaginable. My aim was to walk back through Chinatown to the main train station where there was access to the subway line.
Unfortunately, Bangkok is one of those cities with a road network that twists around and doubles back like a plate of spaghetti. I ended up getting very lost and walked much farther than I had to due to my disorientation.
I decided to recover by having a 2 hour Thai massage at my favorite place “Let’s Relax”. A proper Thai massage is actually quite painful and includes a lot of deep tissue work and elbowing, but you definitely feel very revitalized afterwards. At times it feels like they are trying to pry the meat off your bones, but it is definitely worth it. A 2 hour massage costs around $25. Cheap!
Otherwise, I spent most of my time running errands around town getting ready for being back in the 3rd world for the next few weeks. Bangkok has a population of about 14 million and is very modern compared to most Asian nations. It has excellent public transportation in the form of skytrains, subways, river boats, canal boats, and buses, taxis, and tuk tuks. It is also full of big modern shopping malls that the masses seem to enjoy hanging out in, probably to get out of the tropical heat.
