Way from Wisconsin: What's the capital of Thailand?

Sorry, I couldn't resist. But yes, I did just return from Thailand, and my first stop was glorious Bangkok. Known as a fast-paced city, Bangkok certainly lived up to that reputation. It always seemed to be awake and always bustling with activity.

First stop for many young travelers in Bangkok is Khao San Road. The name has become common on the lips of travelers worldwide as the place to go in Bangkok, especially for backpackers. It has accommodation, plenty of restaurants, bars and food stalls, merchants galore and all the usual tourists claptrap. I certainly checked it out, but I'm quite glad I chose to stay a little farther afield. My hostel was fantastic. It may have been a little more expensive than some of the dives on Khao San, but it was relatively quiet, had great food stalls just across the street from it and had a good mix of fun guests.

Two of those guests and I decided to head to the Chatuchak Weekend Market on my first full day in Bangkok. A slight rain was annoying but not unexpected for the rainy season. JJ, as it's often called, was a blast. It was hard not to get lost in the 35-acre browser's paradise. They had everything from household goods and clothes to souvenirs and of course food and drink. I didn't want to do too much souvenir shopping early in my trip, but I was able to pick up needed things like sandals, sunglasses and the like. I even got my pair of cliche, one-size-fits-all Thai fisherman pants, which actually came in handy the following day for temple hopping where long pants are a requirement.

Bangkok was street food central for me. I think I ate maybe one meal at a restaurant the whole time I was in the city. Considering that, I was incredibly lucky to have a gaggle of food stalls just across the street from my hostel, including one serving up some of the best pad thai I've ever tried.

The next day I began my serious temple exploring. If you've never been to Asia than it's hard to explain how common temples can be, but each country has it's own little twist. In Thailand it seems to be glitter and gold, which makes for some stunning scenes. Many people burn out on temples (wats in Thailand) pretty fast, but I'm not one of them, so for me it was great.

The first stops on my itinerary included the holy trinity of Bangkok temples: Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho and Wat Arun. I got a pretty early start and bucked through the light rain to get to the always busy Wat Phra Kaew (the name means home of the Emerald Buddha) and the adjacent Grand Palace. Unfortunately I was too dimwitted to change the setting on my camera and many of my pictures turned out too dark with the gray skies overhead. The place is huge though, and it's architecture stunning. I just wish it had been a sunny day. Even still the place was packed with tourists.

Emerald Buddha

I trudged on after the big temple and palace to the famous Wat Pho, which is home to the reclining Buddha. It was worth seeing, but it was one of my least favorite temples because of the crowd and the pushy atmosphere it spawned.

Then it was time for something eat and to venture across the river to Wat Arun. The decision to stop to eat became a no-brainer when the skies completely opened up, and unfortunately this postponed my journey across the river, too. But I had a nice long lunch with an Australian guy at a busy little joint near the river and then made my way back toward home base.

On the way I stopped a couple more places, including maybe my favorite temple, Wat Suthat. Outside it is the Giant Swing (Sao Ching Cha), formerly used for monthly religious ceremonies, and while that probably is what catches the eye of most passersby, the good stuff was on the inside.

Inside was a refuge from the non-stop nature of Bangkok. It was exactly what I picture a temple to be: quiet, almost serene, beautiful and awesome. The walls are covered in incredible murals that depict stories of the Buddha. I wish my pictures could do them any justice.

The night view.

I made one more stop on the way back at the nearby Wat Ratchantdarum and its neighbor Loha Prasat. Both places stood out from other temples, which is one thing I enjoyed about Thai temples compared to their Chinese and Korean cousins. It seems to me that Thai temples, in general, have more obvious distinctions.

Wat Ratchantdarum

Loha Prasat

The next day I had big plans to catch a mini-bus for the two-hour trek to the old capital of Ayuthaya. I made it to the area where the buses were supposed to leave from, but seeing no foreigners, no English signs and not knowing where to go I eventually changed courses. Tired, hungry and a bit perturbed, I first dealt with the hunger issue and then made a new plan. I hopped back on the skytrain, hooked up with the metro and popped out in Chinatown. Best decision ever.

Bangkok's Chinatown is sprawling with back alley commerce rich in food, most importantly, and seemingly any kind of household good or clothing you could desire. I spent a good deal of time oogling all sorts of culinary concoctions and trying a fair number as I crosscrossed the area. I even had a bowl of expensive, but tasty, bird's nest soup (google it; it's not gross at all but really good).

Bird's Nest Soup and Ginseng Tea

Then I hoofed it over to the pier to ferry over to Wat Arun. Thankfully the skies were mostly clear as I hit the last of the trinity of Bangkok temples.

The temple is speckled with tons of Chinese porcelain.

At that point I had done almost everything I had wanted to do in Bangkok, so it was nice to have the following morning just to relax. In the afternoon I checked out a couple of final places before making one more stop to Khao San and packing up.