Wat Traimit was our first stop this morning, once we had some hostel coffee in us. The temple is known for its gigantic, solid-gold Buddha. The five-and-a-half ton statue was discovered when a crane dropped it and broke its stucco-and-mosaic-glass exterior. This facade is believed to have been placed around it to protect the golden treasure from Burmese invaders. The gold it is composed of, alone, is worth over 250 million dollars. So, yeah, that’s a big ol’ golden Buddha.
Wat Traimit itself was sort of nondescript. The biggest draw is definitely the enshrined Buddha, who sits at the top of a newly-constructed, white building with several sets of stairs. Unluckily, we arrived at the same time as at least two large tourist groups, so we were stuck behind them on the stairs, and vying for views of the Buddha at the top. It was exactly what it says on paper: a very big, very gold, very Buddha, statue. This was probably the most touristy of the temples we’ve been to. I saw nary a monk, and the only locals were tuk-tuk drivers waiting for a fare. Aaron and I did a short, distracted meditation on some steps behind the building, then we got out before we could be trampled by the hordes of tourists.
It was, as always, a very hot day, but Aaron and I decided to walk through Chinatown to the boat pier on the Chao Phraya. After asking a local police officer (I think–maybe he was like… dock security?) a lot of questions about which boat we needed and how to pay, we took a short boat ride to the neighborhood of our chosen lunch spot, Shoshanna.
Shoshanna is a Mediterranean place just off of the main backpacker strip. It’s a small place without much in the way of decor, but it has air conditioning, the prices are better than reasonable, and the food is incredible. Our hummus was creamy, our babaganoush was salty and acidic, and our falafel balls were crispy and perfect. Aaron and I bided our time here for a couple of hours, and no one bothered us. I’d really been missing Mediterranean food, too, so I was happy to find it in the middle of Bangkok.
The reason we were biding our time is that we were waiting for Mitramit Teahouse to open. It’s a very classic-looking teahouse, decorated with dark wood, marble, and jade. We were the only ones in there for afternoon tea. The owner was absolutely lovely, and did everything she could to make us feel welcome. She talked us through our tea choices; Aaron went with a chocolatey black, while I tried milk oolong (it’s non-dairy, but has a milky taste). Then, she brought us an assortment of bites to pair with our tea: a couple of cookies with purposefully charred tips, some fresh and dried fruit, sweet sticky rice cooked with pandan, a coconut and pandan gelatin, and a palm-sugar-and-coconut-milk biscuit. Aaron and I read and sipped and nibbled away at our trays. It was a delightfully quiet afternoon.
After our usual afternoon rest, we met for dinner at Mango. The food was way too sweet (a common issue we keep finding with the curries here), and I couldn’t actually eat most of it. One of my biggest pet peeves is when food that should be salty or savory is sweet. They did have a cool cat who came and sat next to me while I pushed the food around on my plate, though. We ended up grabbing a sushi roll after, because we were both still hungry. Aaron, too, dislikes sweet curries.
The next day we had some errands to run. I needed more doxycycline (for malaria prevention), we needed to buy tickets for our upcoming bus-and-catamaran trip to Koh Tao, and I needed contacts because my glasses broke. So, of course, we went to the mall. Yes, for the fifth time in a week, we went to the mall.
Errands were run, and we even managed to squeeze in a showing of Portrait of a Lady on Fire (three-and-a-half out of five stars, but the song written for the movie gets six out of five). Then we walked to a nearby artisan coffee shop and got fancy coffees. We spent our downtime at F.A.C.T. cafe this time, rather than the hostel.
Once the sun set, we headed to Lumphini Park. It’s sort of Bangkok’s version of Central Park, and it’s a great place for people watching. We took a short stroll past it’s large ponds and statues, eyeing the joggers, gigantic dance aerobics class, and other tourists like us. We briefly stopped to look at a couple of Buddhist shrines on the outside of the park before we headed out to find dinner.
Burgers are what’s on the menu at Arno’s Wireless. I have no idea why it is named this. There was nothing about it that appeared to be internet or cell-phone related. But it did have good burgers and seasoned curly fries served in a chic, all-glass building. Aaron and I shared a cheeseburger and a Caesar salad (that I loved because of its authentic, whole anchovies and Aaron hated for the exact same reason) while we took turns asking each other questions from one of those “how well do you know your partner” quizzes. Turns out, we know each other pretty dang well.
Hanoimoon 