Monday, February 23 – Bangkok

Back to salmon eggs Benedict this morning!

(As you may have inferred, breakfast has become my main meal of the day since I arrived at the Volve Hotel!)

Today is going to be a kind of travel admin day. On Wednesday, I’m taking the overnight train to Chiang Mai. I booked the trip through the agency 12Go.Asia, and I have to pick up the ticket at their office in Metro Mall here in Bangkok. In addition, I’m hoping to kill two birds by also buying a new hair clipper at the mall. (I’m getting a little scruffy!)

The mall is part of a combined BST/MRT station, so that will make the journey pretty simple. Since I was visiting the area, I did a search to see if there was anything worth checking out nearby (off-the-beaten path, of course!). A couple parks looked interesting…

The first park is right next to the BTS station.

Chatuchak Park is one of the oldest public parks in Bangkok. It was built on land formerly owned by the State Railway of Thailand, in dedication to former King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), on the occasion of his birthday on December 5, 1975.

A nice bit of greenery amongst the urban sprawl of Bangkok.

Noticed this fella swimming in the lake!

It’s not very busy because I’m visiting in late morning. The locals will be here either early or late in the day, to avoid the heat.

I think the heat is causing the sunflowers to droop!

The heat was getting to me a little too! Time for a break in the shade.

Right across the street is Queen Sirikit Park, a botanical garden which is part of the larger Chatuchak Park complex. It was established in 1992 and named after Sirikit, Queen of Thailand, to celebrate her 60th birthday.

Well, this was a nice diversion! Time to pick up my ticket at the mall…

Some more Chinese New Year advertising.

I think is New Year related as well.

New Year’s resolutions maybe?

And here’s my train ticket pickup location.

Unfortunately, Metro Mall is just a little underground strip with mainly food options. Finding a replacement hair clipper here wasn’t going to happen. I ended up using Google Gemini to find a mall near my hotel which would have a store that sells hair clippers.

I was directed to Gateway Mall, and…

…the store Home Pros (their sign is ahead on the 2nd level).

Success! I ended up spending more than I wanted, 2,190 THB (71 USD), but this was the only type of hair clipper that Home Pros offered, and it was the last one they had! (I tried getting a display model discount, but no. I needed Matt the negotiator with me!) I suppose I could have tried finding a less expensive one at a different store, but I didn’t really feel like searching all over Bangkok to save a few dollars.

One thing I like about this clipper is that it charges via a USB cable. I was worried that it would have a Thailand plug; that would result in my having to find a Thailand-to-U.S. adapter in order to charge it when I got back to Madison; and on the rest of this trip, for that matter. (A U.S-to-Thai adapter would be easy to find, not sure about the other way around. I’m guessing they’re out there though!)

(After getting back to the hotel I did a search to see how much I would have paid to buy the same thing in the States. It was around 60 USD. Not that much more, thankfully. And I think I remember seeing this same clipper at the duty-free shop at the Brisbane airport. I thought about buying it then, but didn’t. Probably would have cost a little less there too. Oh well…)

After my exorbitant purchase, I decided to save some money and walk back to the hotel! (only one BTS stop away!)

Cool street art

A short walk from my hotel is Mae Varee, a shop known for selling Bangkok’s most famous Mango Sticky Rice. I had to try it!

160 THB (5 USD). A little pricey for Thailand, but I think it’s a popular item with tourists. (Can’t believe I’m buying this!)

Besides the mangoes, there are three types of sticky rice, roasted mung beans, and sauce (sweet milk).

I had to ask the staff at the hotel how I was to prepare/eat it. I ended up basically throwing it all together. Not sure if that was correct, but it tasted pretty good!

Tuesday, February 24 – Bangkok

I’m starting off the day with Salted Caramel Banana French Toast and a couple of fried eggs. Yummmm!

This is my last full day in Bangkok. I asked Gemini to find me a less visited hidden gem. Let’s see where it led me…

Some Bangkok street scenes as I make my way from the BTS station to my destination…

The Bangkokian Museum (also known as the Bangkok Folk Museum) displays what upper middle-class homes looked like in Bangkok during the early to mid-20th century.

The Main House (ca. 1937)

The property was donated as a museum to the city in 2004 and the interiors are arranged in the style indicative of the World War II era.

Library

Living Room

The teak flooring is beautiful.

Grandmother’s Room

The Ancestor’s Room

Mother’s Bedroom

The Big Bedroom

The Original House (ca. 1929)

Bedroom

Office

View from second floor of the Original House, with the rear of the Main House ahead.

The Bangkokian Museum is hard to find and isn’t well known – there were only 6 other visitors while I was there. It’s a simple, discreet museum with a bit of a ‘frozen-in-time’ vibe. Perfect!

Admission Price: Free entry (Bonus!)

I enjoyed my visit to the museum. Well worth the time and effort!

Spotted this Toyota Land Cruiser FJ25 (ca. 1955-60) on my walk back to the BTS station. Very cool!

(Based on the condition of the tires, I guess it’s a permanent fixture on this side street. Somebody keeps it spotless though!)

Wednesday, February 25 – transit from Bangkok to Chiang Mai

For my last meal at the Volve Hotel, I went with the full breakfast (wanted to fill up for the long trip ahead of me!)

Checkout was at noon, so my morning was rather leisurely.

My train didn’t depart until 6:40pm; after checkout I took advantage of this nice space at the hotel to work on my Journal.

Travel Note: You will be seeing the Volve Hotel on my list of favorite accommodations. Not only is the breakfast amazing, but it has all these other things going for it:

• Friendly and helpful staff
• Close to the BTS
• Fast WiFi
• Good A/C
• Great shower
• Comfortable bed
• Complimentary snacks & drinks in the room, replenished on a daily basis
• Noon checkout

The only drawback was the noise from the adjacent road. I have my earplugs though, and slept great.

Sidenote: Today marks 2 weeks since my last correspondence with the Vanuatu airport security officer regarding the theft of my hair clippers. I decided to send him a follow up note, checking on the progress of his investigation. We’ll see what happens…

I ended up leaving the hotel around 3pm. A little early, but I was taking the BTS and MRT to the train station, and wanted to avoid rush hour (especially when taking a bag with me).

I arrived at Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Station around 4pm.

This new station opened in January, 2023.

The station is nice, but rather sterile. St Pancras it is not!

There’s a nice little food court in the station.

Food is allowed to be taken on the train (no alcohol though), but I thought it would be fun to check out the dining car during the ride to Chiang Mai.

The overnight route: bottom to top

The boarding area for the train (beginning at 6:20pm)

At 6pm on the dot, a pre-recorded song was played over the PA system at the train station. I guess it was the Thai National Anthem, because all of the locals stood up. So I joined them!

Travel Note: I think I’ve mention this previously, but it’s worth repeating: A great source for worldwide train travel information is the website The Man in Seat Sixty-One.

I booked a seat in the 2nd class air-conditioned sleeper car. This particular train is relatively new; entering into service in 2016. Cost of the ticket: 48 USD.

When I first visited Thailand 20+ years ago, I took the overnight route from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. I’m trying to remember what that train was like, but sadly, can’t. (and have no digital photos to refer back to)

(I do recall my 2012 overnight train ride in Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang. That was much more rustic than this!)

Berths are arranged open plan, on either side of a central aisle.

During the evening and morning part of the journey, there are face-to-face pairs of seats on each side of the aisle. The young woman who sat across from me might have been from Germany. We didn’t talk much; her traveling companion sat across the aisle from her.

My duffel bag was stored under the seat.

We departed Bangkok at 6:41pm (1 minute late!).

Shortly after, I made my way to the dining car.

Passengers could also choose to have meals delivered to their seats. I guess many did that (or brought their own food), because this car wasn’t very crowded.

(A few people attempted to sit in here without ordering anything. They got the boot!)

I ordered one of the set menu options. This one consisted of:

• Thai Jasmine Rice
• Red Curry with Roasted Duck
• Clear Soup
• Spring Rolls
• Watermelon
• Water

190 THB (6 USD)

It was good! And it was nice to chill for a while in the dining car.

Just as I got back to my seat, the attendant arrived to make up the sleeping berths.

The first steps were to pull together each pair of seats to form the lower bunk, and to fold the upper bunk out from the wall.

He then arranged a mattress, pillow and fresh clean bedding on each berth, and hooked up the curtains on each bunk for privacy.

I had the upper.

Getting ready for bed.

This screen in the car displays:

• Train: 09
• Car: 9
• Estimated Arrival Time: 7:20am
• Time of Next Stop: 8:15pm
• Train Speed: 12 km/hr
• Outside Temperature: 32 degrees C
• Inside Temperature: 23 degrees C

Okay, time to hunker down for the night! See you tomorrow…