We were in Bangkok for two days. It’s always nice when we have an overnight somewhere, as it allows us to enjoy the nightlife a little bit. Here, John and I had a lovely evening date in which we zipped through the streets of Bangkok’s oldest district on a motorized tuk-tuk and enjoyed a traditional Thai dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Chao Phraya River. A tuk-tuk is a three-wheel open-air vehicle that looks similar to an oversized golf cart and is an ideal form of transportation for sightseeing as it offers such an unusual perspective. Before hopping in the tuk-tuk, we walked through the historical Talad Noi district for an up-close look at the colonial buildings, shrines, and shophouses. We meandered through winding streets and alleyways where we saw a glimpse of the ‘real life’ of Bangkok residents rather than just the glitz of main streets.
There were some great murals lining the streets, bright in color and whimsical at times.
Eventually, we found ourselves at our restaurant for dinner. We ate at NAAM 1608, a quaint restaurant set in a charming re-built wood house by the riverside with vintage interior and furniture. It was an open-air place with 180 degrees view of the Chao Phraya River. We had a set menu, which included a very tasty yet spicy dish. We also each had one local beer and a yuzu lemon soda that was quite refreshing.
After dinner we took off on our tuk-tuk ride. It was a lot of fun to whiz around the city in these little vehicles, with neon lights shining.
While driving around, we saw many of the famous sites in their evening glory.
The last place we saw after we got off our tuk-tuk for the night was the city hall, which had a sign featuring the full name of Bangkok. This seems like a good spot for a fun fact. While we might know the capital city as Bangkok, that’s not the official name. The actual, full name of Bangkok is crazy long. Specifically:
Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahinthara Yutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udom Ratchaniwet Mahasathan Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukamprasit.
Roughly, this translates to:
City of angels, great city of immortals, the magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra’s behest.
Given this translation, it makes sense that Bangkok is also referred to as the “City of Angels”. The full mouthful-of-a-name is listed by Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest place name (though they note the official name has 168 letters and the official ‘short’ name has 111 letters and also point out that letters aren’t capitalized in Thai). The length of the name reminds me of the children’s book Tikki Tikki Tembo about the boy named Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo. His name is so long that it causes troubles, of course, and the story concludes that it’s for this reason that the Chinese have short names. Perhaps this is why (along with the fact that it isn’t exactly a name that could be easily fit on a postcard) the locals have their own shortened version, which is Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, or the even shorter Krung Thep (kinda sounds like kroong tehhp to me).
The next morning, Ryan and I took off on an excursion that took us on a tuk-tuk ride as well. While we went our own way, John did his own solo adventure around Bangkok. I’ll speak to Ryan and I’s adventure. Specifically, the fun began with us passing through vibrant Chinatown on the way to Pak-Klong-Talad, the city’s premier flower market. As we walked through the market we could smell all sorts of exotic fragrances wafting through the air.
Along the way, our tour guide bought us some fruit called a rambutan, which is the Malay word for ‘hair’ – a fitting name given that it was very ‘hairy’ on the outside. It was absolutely yummy on the inside, with a mild almost grape-like flavor.
After strolling the market, we hopped into a tuk-tuk (pronounced ‘took took’ by the way) and headed into the heart of the old city.
Eventually we stopped at Wat Pho, known more familiarly as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Wat Pho is the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok. Within Wat Pho is the incredible Reclining Buddha, depicting Buddha having just passed into nirvana for the final time. This statue is 15 meters (49 feet) tall and 46 meters (150 feet) long. That’s just under half the length of a football field! [Go KC Chiefs!]
And the feet… the gigantic feet (each foot is 3m x 5m) have mother-of-pearl inlay on their soles that show the 108 auspicious signs of the Buddha (108 is a sacred number in Buddhism as it’s believed that the road to nirvana is laden with exactly 108 temptations that every Buddhist must overcome to achieve nirvana).
Another fun fact is that Wat Pho is also home to a Thai massage school – and you can get a Thai massage or foot massage right on the temple grounds! We didn’t, but we did see many images depicting how to give a proper massage. Fun aside – John got an hour-long massage for only $8 while he was out and about on his day of fun!
A few additional photos to demonstrate the things there were to do at Wat Pho and the fun we had. These include Ryan banging (gently) a gong, poking a Buddha belly (the bellybutton was worn from so many hands poking it over the years), and me posing alongside one of the many fun statues.
After our lengthy visit to Wat Pho, we headed back to the cruise ship. It was an enjoyable albeit extraordinarily hot day in Bangkok.