Liz and Chris Take a Trip

Bangkok

Adios to Bangkok for now. We stuck to our plan and stayed in Bangkok long enough to get on the time zone and do a bit of planning, but no more.

We both did some cleaning and sorting of bags to try to lighten our packs and make sure they were efficient as possible. When packing and moving it was often easier to pack some duplicates to be sure we had the things we wanted, instead of having to buy new things.

In Bangkok, we didn’t end up doing too much, but we did get to see the Flower Market right around dawn (about the busiest time) and get to see some of the continued growth of the shopping areas in Bangkok. We had the chance to meet up with some of my old BKK friends that I haven’t seen since college, and enjoy some great eats from Nant, Poom, Jang and Ap (great pasta guys!). I had never done the full Jim Thompson House tour, so we walked over one day and took the hour or two to learn some more about Jim Thompson, silk production and his particular oasis in Bangkok.

The quick summary for those not familiar with Jim Thompson is:
Jim Thompson was an American born in 1906. He studied as an architect before enlisting in the military and serving in Europe. He then was sent to Thailand for a period of time when he was part of a pre-curser organization to the CIA. He returned to the Thailand and was impressed by the silk production of his neighbor (an industry that was waning at the time in Thailand) and brought samples to New York to fashion houses. He managed to build a large silk industry off of the international exposure and also the exposure from Jim Thompson silks being used in the movie ‘The King and I’. He built and impressive home in Bangkok that is today owned and maintained by the jim Thompson foundation. It was donated to them by his nephew after his mysterious disappearance in 1968 while vacationing in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. There are many theories about his disappearance, the most popular theories are that he was eaten by a tiger that was so hungry it swallowed him whole which explain any signs of an attack or killed/disappeared by the CIA for his increasingly vocal dislike of US politics. I go with a hybrid theory personally, that he was eaten by a tiger because of his political views. That tiger was from Texas (since everything is bigger in Texas) and that explains the swallowing without spilling any blood bit.

Back to Liz’s and my journey; we are catching a night train to Chiang Mai tonight where we will get a chance to slow-down and enjoy just being here. Liz got her first Thai street food outside the train station (grapow gai sai kai dao/minced chicken cooked with garlic, basic and chilis with a fried egg on top over rice) and I got one of my personal favorites that I have never found a good version of the in the US (Mama phad kii-mao/Drunkard noodles). Both of us were very happy with the meals and are excited about much more street food in our futures. It was still in the mid 90s when we were eating at sunset, here is to hoping it will be a little bit cooler sometime soon. Temperatures around 100F everyday has been a bit of a shock to our systems. That isn’t looking too promising though, so hopefully we acclimate to the temps quickly.

Leaving Bangkok

For Liz’s take and photos from our first days in Bangkok, see her post at PHOTOS: Belated Bangkok Pics