Jim Thompson was an American who volunteered for the Army during the second World War, and ultimately ended up working for the Office of Strategic Services (what ultimately became the CIA). As the war ended, he became station chief in Bangkok, and ultimately fell in love with the place and the people.  Thompson, when discharged from the Army, headed to Bangkok and became well known for revitalizing the silk industry (to this day, they make beautiful products!). He revived not only the artistry of silk, but the craft.

Jim Thompson became an incredible collector of Asian art, which he placed in his beautiful home and grounds.  With amazing teak structures sitting on a canal, his home is a tranquil space in the middle of bustling Bangkok. There are lots of fountains and lots of turtles!

If you are interested in Southeast Asian art, Jim Thompson’s house is a must see. Thanks to his family, visitors can enjoy his home and vast collection.  The tour takes about 45 minutes, and is well worth your time. Despite the stifling heat of Bangkok, the classical Thai structures have a constant breeze and cooling interior. There are sketches, paintings, silk, statues, and more. Neither of us are “into” art, but we both really enjoyed the tour.

But the mystery of Jim Thompson: he disappeared in Malaysia in the late 1960’s, never to be seen again (who doesn’t love a mystery?)…there are lots of theories out there about what might have happened, though no evidence has ever been found.

And….after the Jim Thompson house, we’d highly suggest hitting up the restaurant/cafe! It’s a hugely popular place for expat business meetings. Yes, it is “expensive” for Thailand, and yes, there is fresh street food right outside the gate. But it was very, very good. Plus, if you are craving desert–and I don’t mean Thai desert–it has an incredible selection of cakes and pies. The photos prove it!

The Jim Thompson house provides a glimpse of the history of silk, of Bangkok, a view of much incredible art, and of an American who truly fell in love with the people and the place. It’s definitely worth a stop if you are in Bangkok!

Visit notes: if you are planning to eat, do it early or late or make reservations. You can easily spend an hour looking at the art, silk, etc. in addition to the tour of the house. It’s a pleasant place just to stop and wander around!

Everyone says you can’t go to Bangkok without checking out a rooftop bar. So we checked out a rooftop bar. Not because we like to listen to what everyone says, but because we (like many visitors) wanted to see the Bangkok skyline and grab a drink after another hot day of being a tourist.We chose the Banyan Tree for one reason only: because it was next door to our hotel. If nothing else, we were consistently lazy after a day of sweating profusely and seeing Bangkok.  Fortunately for us, the Banyan Tree was just around the corner.  Unfortunately for us at the time, it was raining. In fact, it rained each night we were in Bangkok, which cooled off the city for just a bit in the morning. Considering it was still “rainy season” we counted ourselves as extremely lucky, and the respite from the heat in the mornings was also welcome!

We wandered over to the Banyan Tree hoping that it wasn’t enough rain to close the upper deck, but it was closed.  Good news, though– they have another bar on the 52nd floor called Latitude, which is covered, but where you can still see the view. I have no idea if the view is “the same”, though they said it was.  Everyone talks about the Moon Bar, but you never hear about Latitude–I’m sure the Moon Bar is better, but seeing as it was closed, we were happy there was an alternative. The view from the 52nd floor is definitely still impressive, and you can see the miles of Bangkok lights.

We were warned by our guide that drinks at the Banyan Tree were expensive, particularly for Bangkok. She was right. We had 2 drinks and an appetizer, and rang up a bill of $36.76 in US dollars…which is close to 1100 baht.   That’s an expensive set of drinks, even if we were at home in the US of A.On the upside, the drinks were large and good. I had a mojito, since that’s about the only cocktail I love to drink, and DH had a mango margarita, which he reported was also tasty. The food is not noteworthy. The appetizers/canapés at the bar on the 52nd floor are worth skipping, and there isn’t much to choose from. Yes, yes I realize that no one goes there to eat. You go there to party! Yea well, we were too exhausted.

We wandered over around 6:15ish. At the time it was not busy but seats were rapidly filling up as we were leaving.The staff was friendly as they pointed us down from the Moon  Bar to the 52nd floor, though our server down there didn’t really speak English, which I found odd (not bothered, it was just a bit strange) for the Banyan tree. No worries though, with some pointing (and some confusion on the food front), and all was fine. They were also quite indulgent of taking what must be hundreds of pictures a night of guests.

So what did we think? Here are our Cliff Notes from Latitude at the Banyan Tree in Bangkok.

Cliff Notes: Glad we went, but probably wouldn’t return
-Great view, even though we weren’t on the very top
-Ridiculously expensive
-Good-sized and delicious drinks
-Cool menu (it was back-lit…I’m easily amused)
-Blah food choices, blah food
-Friendly staff
-Not obnoxiously loud music

We wanted to see most of the sights you read about in things entitled “Top 10 Sights of Bangkok”.  It would be a bit of a long day, but totally worth it.

What made it all easier was hiring a guide for the day.  Her name was Mandy (@Mandyguidesmile), and she was awesome (totally unpaid endorsement…we hired her)! She’s a registered tour guide, and helped us navigate the insanity of Bangkok with ease. No haggling with taxi drivers about turning on the meter, no getting lost (though DH is admittedly fantastic with a map…I….not so much), no wondering where to go in each of the temples, and with plenty of information and history to go along with each stop.

Our itinerary for a day-tour of Bangkok:
-Wat Arun
-Canals
-Grand Palace
-Lunch! (Most important spot of the day when Thai food is to be had)
-Wat Pho (including the Reclining Bhuddha)
-Flower Market
-China Town
-Stop for dim sum & awesome shakes! (Food always deserves exclamations)
-Wat Traimit (including the Golden Buddha)

Wat Arun: We stayed at the Metropolitan by COMO, which was fantastic (more forthcoming). Mandy met us at the hotel in the morning, and we took a cab over to Wat Arun to start the day, which was about 20 minutes but cost us about 60 baht…i.e. $2 or so (oh, Bangkok cab fares are to die for).  Wat Arun has the steepest steps, but a great view!  It was fun to be able to see so much of the city, and in particular, the Grand Palace.

Canals: The canals were a fun way to spend an hour or so.  There is an insane–I mean insane–amount of catfish in the very dirty canals, and they look very well fed.  I’m not sure what all catfish eat, but I’m guessing pretty much anything.  There are many homes that are on stilts directly over the river…so…well…draw your own conclusions on what sustains all of those fat catfish.  You can buy bread at the various temples to feed to the catfish; fish feeding never seems to get old, no matter how old you are.

Grand Palace: The Grand Palace was really crowded. Mandy helped us navigate to the most important locations, but there were people everywhere and most were trying to keep up with a tour guide. Never, ever, stop and wait for one person to go in front of you, because before you know it, there will be a stream of pushing people, shoving you to the side of the doorway, to all get through because I’m sure someone has gotten left and/or lost in the Grand Palace (shaking head).  This happened more than once. After experiencing similar things from large tour groups from particular nations at Angkor, I really should have known better.

Lunch: We had Pad Thai and Tom Yum Goon for lunch. It was delicious, and started the great food journey that was our two weeks in Asia. We also tried our first Singha, which was refreshing.  Fortunately–very fortunately–for us, it was overcast nearly our entire time in Bangkok. Thank goodness, because it was plenty hot+the humidity, without any sun to add to our pain. I still ordered lots of soup, though. Too good to pass up.

Wat Pho: The reclining Buddha is as cool in real life as it is in pictures. In fact, I think it even looks bigger in real life.  Wat Pho is also the birthplace of the Thai Massage, with inscribed drawings demonstrating the practice.  The incredible detail, of each of the temples and all of the stupas, is simply amazing.

Flower Market: We really enjoyed a stop in the flower market, which Mandy suggested but which wasn’t initially planned.  Flowers are typically purchased each morning as an offering, so going to the flower market is a routine affair. Orchids? Literally entire bunches sell for pennies (not pennies…but for approximately 30 baht, which is a little less than a dollar). Marigolds galore, and all kinds of other tropical flowers.

Chinatown: Chinatown was overwhelming. Busy, crowded, with more plastic sh*t than I’ve ever seen anywhere in my life. Hundreds of different stuffed animal keychains…hundred of different color hair ties…hundreds of thousands of iphone covers…just crazy amounts of stuff. There are also lots of different food stands, including those selling shark fins, which remains quite popular in that community.  I particularly enjoyed gawking at the crazy amounts of dried mushrooms. Plenty of whole ducks and chickens, too.

Wat Traimit: We decided to go to the museum at Wat Traimit, in addition to just seeing the Golden Buddha. There is an interesting museum on the junk ships that made the trade route from China to Thailand, carrying things like porcelain and spice. It was a very elaborate and well-done exhibit (though the life size Chinese sailors were a bit creepy).  The Golden Buddha, which was covered in plaster to hide the gold, is truly incredible.

Guide: Hiring a guide was a great way to maximize our time, and avoid wandering any farther than needed in our sweaty-tourist state.  Could we have done it all ourselves? Absolutely!  But in this case, the easy way was the best way, and we enjoyed Mandy’s company all day to answer or silly (and not silly) questions about Thailand. Mandy charges $7/hour.

Cost: Entrance fees to all of these places do add up–we spent approximately 3000-3200 baht for the day, I think, which includes entrance fees for two, all transportation (taxi, tuktuk, metro), and also a private boat ride (which is the bulk of that cost–1800 baht). Lunch for three was a whopping 625 baht (about $20).

Clothes: You will have to either wear or carry appropriate clothing to enter the Wats; women’s shoulders must be covered and they can be strict about no flip-flops at the Grand Palace (like the super cheap plastic ones…I did see some Havianas there). Just to be safe we wore our Toms. I had a cardigan to throw on as needed. And pants for men and women, of course…capris are ok, but nothing more than about ankles can be showing. A long skirt would also work.

For the Germaphobes: After going to the temples in Cambodia where you were not allowed in with shoes OR socks, I assumed the same here. False! Most temples in Thailand do allow you to wear socks. OH HOW I WISH I KNEW. I sucked it up (yes…some of you will be shocked…completely), and took off my shoes at the temples and went inside, cringing every step. There was too much to see to stand outside gazing in. Yes, I wet-wiped my feet profusely that afternoon. Yes, it still bothers the crap out of me. And no, I didn’t get a contagious ailment. If you are germ-phobic, bring socks.

I can say, without much hesitation, that we’ll be back to Bangkok (and….we’d probably stay at the Metropolitan again, too). It’s a fascinating city, with many beautiful sights, and with so many dichotomies of a developing country megatropolis. There is so much left to see!  We very much enjoyed our time in Bangkok.

Wat Arun

Reclining Buddha

Wat Pho

Flower Market

Wat Traimit

]]> 43 http://www.travelingsaurus.com/2014/09/queen-saovabha-memorial-institute-bangkok-a-k-a-the-snake-farm-not-really-a-snake-farm/ Sun, 21 Sep 2014 18:55:00 +0000 http://www.travelingsaurus.com/1/post/2014/09/queen-saovabha-memorial-institute-bangkok-aka-the-snake-farmnot-really-a-snake-farm.html

When we were in Bangkok, we had briefly seen a mention of a snake farm. I mistakenly assumed that this was probably a farm, for snakes, since I didn’t know whether snake was a delicacy (or just an edible commodity) in Thailand, or perhaps for export. Or for skin for shoes, purses, ipad cases, whatever. Probably complete with cobra charming…Not interested in a snake farm for these purposes. At all. For many reasons.*ETA:  These types of attractions do exist in Bangkok, too.

Fortunately, I picked up my guide book and happened to be reading something else that was near the “snake farm”. So I stumbled into the brief description…What a misnomer! If anything, you could call it a “venom farm” or an anti-venom farm. And I guess in relation, it’s a snake farm since they “farm” (I don’t know if I would say farm…but I digress) snakes for venom. But it’s actual a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for research on venomous snakes and the production of anti-venom, named the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute.

UM, SIGN ME UP.

I’ve always been fascinated with snakes, particularly poisonous ones. I only have one irrational fear (truly irrational) in life, and that is of the yellow-bellied sea snake. I had books growing up that were compilations of snake-bite survivor stories! Not only that, but I think it’s so interesting what the various venoms do to the body, and simultaneously, how they work so effectively on prey. It’s really such an incredible evolutionary mechanism.Then I read they do a snake milking demonstration session every day at 11am. SO COOL. SO COOL.Logically, they focus on Asian snakes, and produce anti-venom for hospitals throughout Asia. I can’t remember how many die or are permanently disfigured from snake bites each year, and I realize that in comparison to the myriad of infectious diseases, it’s really not many. However, venomous snake bites are still a concern, particularly for those in rural areas that are working/living in the fields or forests. The more venom that is available, the more chance they have that it can be acquired and transported (either the patient to the venom, or the venom to the patient).

They do have snakes in an outside exhibit, including a huge number of King Cobras in a sort of chain-link enclosure. Yup, the links are pretty close together, but I was a little nervous putting my eyes to the links. Not so interested in meeting up with a cobra.

Their inside snake exhibit is very well done, with a large amount of educational information produced in a very user-friendly manner. For example, we had fun seeing which snakes lay eggs, and which have live young. I think it’s absolutely incredible there is such diversity, not to mention the shiver that runs down my spine when I think of 50 tiny teeny little snakes crawling from a mother. Not something I’d like to meet, in the wild, thanks.

Of course, we were first in the front row seats for the 11:00am milking (which is held behind a glass enclosure, for obvious safety reasons). There were three King Cobras. Two were docile, apparently used to or resigned to being handled, and generally disinterested in what was going on. The third, though, was not happy. They knew in advance, as they are pretty damn careful even tossing open the lid of the Tupperware they were transported in. That thing was out in a split second, and not amused.

While I’m sure that there are some animal-rights people out there unimpressed with the snake farm or the milking in Bangkok. As a WHO center I trust that their focus is on research as well as producing anti-venom for public distribution, and that these snakes are in captivity truly for the greater good. They also appear to have a strong education mission. Just sayin.

So, if you are in Bangkok, it’s about a 15 minute walk (depending on the wonderful heat, obviously) from Lumpini Park. It’s just past the hospital, and you walk to the rear to the newer building of the complex. I believe it’s 200 baht per person for foreigners.

]]> 44 http://www.travelingsaurus.com/2014/09/dining-at-nahm-by-david-thompson-in-bangkok-i-fought-the-thai-soup-and-the-thai-soup-won/ Thu, 18 Sep 2014 18:55:00 +0000 http://www.travelingsaurus.com/1/post/2014/09/dining-at-nahm-by-david-thompson-in-bangkok-i-fought-the-thai-soup-and-the-thai-soup-won.html We had one very expensive dinner while we were in Thailand, at Nahm in the Metropolitan by COMO. Since we were staying at the Metropolitan, and Nahm has been ranked as one of the World’s Best as well as one of Asia’s best, well, why pass it up?

We decided to do the tasting menu because who knows when we will return to Bangkok again. I’m definitely glad we did as it allowed (errr…forced) us to try some things I never would have ever dreamed of trying.

First, the service at Nahm was great. Attentive, but not annoying. Friendly and helpful, but not pretentious or condescending. Courteous. I’d definitely give it two thumbs up.

Now, on to the food…

Here is what we ordered. For the prix fixe option, you received all the appetizers (canapes, to be exact), one soup each, and then one dish off of every page on the menu (salad, relish, curry, and stir-fry/steam/grill), and then one desert of each diner’s choosing. The portions are generous.  Here is what we chose:

Canapes
Um…bad on us, but we don’t remember all of them.
DH’s favorite was the smoked mussels.
My favorite was a coconut crisp, with crab, ginger, and some pickled vegetables (pictured).

Salad
Grilled beef, with cucumber and mint.

Relish
Fried prawns and vegetables, served with a coconut cream with preserved shrimp and crab.

Soup
Hot and sour soup, mine was with mushrooms and chicken, DH had his with prawns.

Curry
Crab in a yellow curry sauce, with ginger (I think, I’m not good with my curries), served with pickled onions, peppers.

Stir-Fry
Stir-fried wagyu beef, with oyster sauce, Thai basil, and onions.

The stand-out sauce/taste of the night was the stir-fried wagyu beef. The beef in the salad dish was actually more tender/cooked a bit rarer, as we prefer, but the overall flavor of the wagyu was excellent.

Neither DH or I are really a huge fan of curry, but the curry was good. I think we are unqualified to say how good, but for people who don’t eat curry it was tasty.  The relish was interesting…the sauce was a bit overwhelming, which considering the amount of things provided to eat with it, I think was the intention.  The flavor was good, but it was just overpowering.

The salad was also quite good, and I’m a huge fan of the tender, delicious little cucumbers they use in all of their dishes.

Overall, while expensive (particularly for Thailand, not so much for Washington DC), the tasting menu was absolutely worth it and it was so much fun to try all of the different dishes.  While I think both DH and I love cheap Thai food too much to return to Nahm if we end up in Bangkok in the near future, we absolutely recommend the tasting menu and the restaurant if you are looking for a foodie experience.  It’s a fun thing to do once in a while (or, cough, more often than we should). Again, a definite two thumbs up.

(I’m purposefully being a bit vague and not terribly judgmental in describing the dishes. DH and I have gotten to be pretty food-oriented, but neither of us have much experience with Asian cuisine beyond take-out.  I totally did not know what to expect from Nahm and don’t really have anything to compare it to.  That said, good food is good food, regardless of style or influence, and this was definitely good food.)

My Favorite Canapes!

Counterclockwise: 
Bottom–Wagyu beef, then curry, pickled veggies (with the curry), fried prawns and veggies to go with relish, relish dish, cucumber and beef salad in center

Cucumber & Beef Salad

You notice I haven’t mentioned the soup…

The soup was incredibly delicious. DH actually preferred the flavor in other soups we had in Thailand to this one, but I loved this soup.  That stupid damn soup.

The waiter did ask me, when I ordered, if I could handle spicy food. I’m not one of those total wimps. I can handle a tiny bit. But perhaps worse, I like spicy food. Even when I can’t handle it, as I found out on this trip, I still like it. So I don’t have any persuasion to just say “no thank you, please send me the mild stuff”. Nope, I just say SURE, with an absolute sh*t-eating smile on my face.

Idiot.

First, I take one bite and start coughing and spluttering and slurping water (which, I will note, we had still water which was 300 baht, $10 a bottle). Mental reminder–don’t ever order expensive water if you will be chugging it simply to try to counter the fire in your mouth.

The waiter comes to the table and politely tells me how to eat said soup in coordination with the rest of the meal. You aren’t supposed to just eat the bowl of soup before the meal, you are supposed to eat it essentially as a palate cleanser being dishes.  And with a bit of rice.

Awesome, I think. That will make it so much less spicy. I’m sure I just a bit down the wrong pipe–I’m sure I can keep eating.

So I try some more of the other dishes.  And then I head back to the soup. Three spoonfuls.  I am sweating, coughing, nose is running, eyes are tearing, and still trying to have another spoonful. DH is laughing, at this point, and I’m pretty sure the wait staff was amused, as they kindly came over to offer more rice.

Next spoonful, somehow I get a pepper. Not just on the spoon, I actually swallow the thing. And it sears…from my poor little tonsil, all the way down. SEARS. It’s like I’ve swallowed a match, except a match stops burning faster.

I cough some more, and decide to lay the spoon to rest for a bit.  At this point, my mouth is burning to the point where just about everything tastes good. DH reports the salad dish is just a bit spicy…I try it, and report back that it feels like ice. Wonderful, delicious, ice.

You would think, at this point, that I’ve learned my lesson. That I can’t handle Thai spice. That I should just chalk it up to a learning experience, and push my precious, delicious, bowl of soup to the side, despite the fact that I’ve barely made a dent.

Of course not. I continue to try to eat the soup. Literally after every spoonful, I’m stuffing rice down my face intermixed with some $10 water, which must be $1 a sip. The waiter comes over and asks if we want another bottle. I ponder (red, and sweating), and DH just says yes.  I look at him when the waiter leaves, and he’s like–“uh, what are you going to do when you don’t have water? Of course we need another bottle.”  I was too shy at that point to just be like…can we have some normal filtered water out of the pitcher (not sure if it even existed there…but I’m guessing it did).

After about 10 more spoonfuls, intermixed with the rest of the delicious cuisine, I know that I need to call it a night. I’m sweating…and for how absolutely freaking cold the restaurant was…I know that’s not normal. And starting to hear my subconscious…what if you get sick?  Do you know how painful this is going to be if you get sick, Heather? (Obviously, I did not).

So I laid my spoon to rest. I longingly looked at my soup. Seriously. I loved it so much. The taste was perfect, the mushrooms delicious.

But I had lost.

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