Tutti frutti >> Travel: Laos, Myanmar, Thailand 09

Oct 4: Afternoon, Bangkok

It has been raining on and off every afternoon since our museum visit two days ago. We are glad to have packed a light umbrella.

The water level in the Chao Phraya remains uncomfortably high. Floods in other parts of Thailand had made over 150,000 families homeless, the Bangkok Post reported today.

The Thais seem to like many of their foods in dainty portions. The you zha kueh (fried stick dough), hum jing peng (also deep-fried, round-shaped dough, sometimes with sweet fillings) and other fried pasteries all come in piping hot and bite size. One or two mouthfuls and you keep going back for more!

We had some strange roots in our hot and sour vegetable soup last night. It was an interesting titbit, like chewing thin stalks of... I don't know... something! There was lots of vegetables (besides the roots) in our soup and noodles. Everything was expertly-cooked and fresh, the vegetables wonderfully crunchy without an overpowering raw taste.

We found Chinatown expensive. Guava retailed at 50 baht per kilogramme (We bought some elsewhere at B25/kg.) and Chinese pears at B100/kg. So, window shop and check the prices before you buy.

In one shop, the lady wanted 1,020 baht for a hat. We found another stall willing to sell a similar version for 150 baht! We didn't want to spend so much on something whose quality we could not appreciate, so we finally settled on two utilitarian cotton ones (made from excess strips of cloths) at 10 baht each.

Oct 5: Night, Bangkok

Arrgh! Choppy waters in the Chao Phraya. We had to hop in and out of the river express boats while the pier was heaving up and down in the restless waters. Not recommended for the faint-hearted or physically uncoordinated (guess who?). Helping hands from the boat guys were very appreciated.

Just as they have the right to seats by the bus door near the driver, monks also have reserved space on one side of the boat.

Many of the boat stations, such as the one near the Grand Palace, open out to bustling markets selling cooked food, fruits, vegetables and all sorts of knick-knacks.

It was fun to browse through the makeshift stalls (sometimes just a mat on the pavement) selling amulets, second-hand goods, cheap T-shirts and tacky souvenirs. We were particularly happy to eat our way through the variety of fruits on sale. We have eaten guava, custard apples, jambu (red or green and pear-shape) and pomegranates so far. And the lemon is very tart and refreshing in tea with honey.

We have collected our visas. We'll be flying to Yangon tomorrow.

Budget (for two in baht)

Oct 4
Room >> B520 + Breakfast (prata) >> B55 + Bus (to Chinatown) >> B7 + Hats (2x) >> B20 + Lunch >> B226 + Dinner >> B156 + H20 (6x) >> B20 + Internet >> B19 + Photocopy >> B2

Oct 5
Room >> B520 + Breakfast >> B60 + Chao Phraya Express (Tha Banglamphu to Tha Tien) >> B16 + Across-river boat (Tha Tien to Wat Arun and back) >> B8 + Coffee >> B15 + Fruits >> B35 + Postcards (8x) >> B16 + Lunch >> B70 + Laundry >> B46 + Dinner >> B220 + Internet >> B19 + Bus (to airport, for next day) >> B160

Next... Yangon touchdown