After the long flights and time travel into the future, we were already on Day 3 of our trip, but our first real day of vacation wasn’t until Day 4.
Our first stop in Thailand was Bangkok, or Krung Thep, the “City of Angels, Great City of Immortals.” Bangkok is known for it vibrant street life and intricate temples.
Things to Know:
If you’re visiting Bangkok for the first time, here are some things to know to make your trip smoother.
Bangkok is Hot and Humid
Even if you’re used to summer heat, Bangkok can feel intense. Lightweight, breathable clothing and good hydration is essential. You’ll be doing a lot of sweating.
Temple Etiquette
Many temples require modest clothing (shoulders and knees covered) and you’ll often have to remove your shoes before entering. Often times there are places to rent or borrow coverings.
Traffic
I hear Bangkok traffic is pretty bad. We didn’t worry much since we had transfers set up through EXO Travel Thailand, but keep this in mind if traveling without tour guides.
Where We Stayed:
U Sathorn Bangkok | 105, 105/1 Soi Ngam Duphli
We stayed here for two nights. It was a beautiful hotel with friendly and attentive staff. Unfortunately, we were SEVERELY JET LAGGED. We arrived around noon in Thailand time, but it would have been around 11 PM the night before in Utah time (turns out time travel isn’t as fun as I’d hoped). That plus the fact that we’d spent the last 24 hours in airplanes, we were really really tired.
We went to sleep the second we got to our hotel room, and we didn’t wake up until about 2 AM in Thailand time. The staff was very nice, and they brought us drinks in the middle of the night. It was a great experience at this hotel. I imagine we weren’t their first jet lagged guests.
Where We Ate:
We mostly ate from the hotel using room service while we were in Bangkok since we were so jet lagged. We only had the opportunity to eat at one restaurant in Bangkok in our short time there.
The Sixth 6th | 6 Maja Rat Rd
Our EXO Travel Thailand tour guide that took care of us in Bangkok brought us to this restaurant during our Bangkok sightseeing day. He ordered for us. He ordered several things, and though I don’t remember everything we ate, I do remember that is was delicious.
With one exception. He ordered an appetizer. It was Thai Papaya Salad, also known as Som Tam. A papaya salad sounds rather innocuous, doesn’t it?
WRONG. It was the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten! It was even too spicy for Chris, which is saying a lot. I could barely even eat the one bite!
We joked with our tour guide that he must have ordered it for us as a prank, but I think in reality it didn’t occur to him that we would find it too spicy. I found out later that it is customary for tour guides to order for you, and order it how a local would eat it. So he would have ordered this dish as “Thai spicy.”
The dish includes fresh chilies pounded directly into the salad, so the heat spreads evenly through every bite. Keep in mind, these are Thai chilies, which are 5-10 times hotter than jalapenos – I can’t even handle jalapenos!
So now you see why it was so important I learn the phrase mâi phèt – not spicy!
Up Next
Our time in Bangkok was short, but we packed in a lot, despite the day lost to sleeping. We experienced Thai hospitality, tasted local authentic food, and started adjusting to the new environment and time zone.
The next post will detail all the stops we made in Bangkok with our tour guide, and how much we managed to see in a single day.
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