Second Day in Bangkok

Today we feel more normal and awake after sleeping for approximately 10 hours. This morning Fred & Jane played bridge so we were on our own for the morning. We took the sky train to the Amarin Center to shop. We saw beautiful Thai silks, in an amazing array of colors. Joyce loves the look and feel of fabrics, so she really enjoyed the experience. We bought fabric for a dress and will probably return later for more. We also shopped in the government store of Thai handcrafts, Naria Phand, where they guarantee the authenticity of the craft. We saw hand woven textiles, dyed and woven silk scarves, jade jewelry, various Buddhist statues, Benjarong, wooden bowls and many other things.. Benjarong is a traditional Thai craft of hand painting china. The various bowls, boxes, vases, pitchers, tea cups etc. were all exquisitely detailed.

Fred & Jane met us at the shopping center where we had lunch. Joyce had eaten and enjoyed tom yam soup at Exotic Thai in Lafayette, so decided to have some with a sandwich. The soup was delicious, but VERY SPICEY. She was able to eat the mushrooms and shrimp in the soup, but her mouth was too on fire to sip the broth! After tearing up and much nose blowing, she had to leave it. However, the smoked tuna sandwich that both Alan and Joyce had was wonderful.

After a quick stop back at Fred & Jane’s apartment, it was on to Chatuchak, a weekend market. Everything imaginable as well as many things I had never seen or imagined were for sale. It was indescribably huge with people everywhere. Did I mention that there were people everywhere? We were there for 1 ½ to 2 hours and were able to see about 1 ½ aisles. We made several purchases, including Benjarong china.

We needed to leave Chatuchak to make our first fitting at Sunny’s tailoring shop. We were amazed at what they had done in the approximately 24 hours since we had picked out the fabrics and ordered our clothing. The pants were basically done and the jackets and vests were started, without sleeves, lining, etc. Joyce decided to have the material we purchased earlier made into a dress. We discovered the more you order, the better the price. Alan’s pants were supposed to have pleats and didn’t, so he will keep the non-pleated pants and get a second pair of pleated pants for half the cost of the fabric. Joyce was able to add a second pair of pants for the same price. Sharon was originally committed to not buying any clothes, but the quality, price, and experience has caused her to change her mind. We go back for a second fitting next week.

The area of the city around Sunny’s tailoring shop is a crowded, busy, noisy place. Khao San Road is evidently very famous at the Thai new year for the wild revelry and throwing talcum powder on everyone. Thankfully it was only noisy and crowded when we were there. Backpackers stay in this area so there are young people of every nationality. Street venders pack the sidewalks in front of every store and in every alley, selling food, trinkets, clothes, shoes, and everything imaginable. As the day turns to dusk the street gets more crowed and is blocked off for people and an occasional moped. Women from the hill tribes walk the streets selling hand made jewelry.

In spite of the constant traffic, and the apparent disregard of traffic signals, lane changes, pedestrians, tuk-tuk’s, and vendors spilling into the streets, we’ve not seen any accidents. Well there was the one pedestrian-moped incident on Khao San Road, but that was relatively minor, which was amazing in itself, considering just how many people were there at the time.

Tomorrow will be a day for church, lunch, and shopping...we might even get a Thai massage.