It was an evening, when we stepped out of the terminal into a hot, humid and completely different climate, which we were used in our country in winter days. This feeling is always something special when you arrive in tropical place, when you smell the moisture in the air, the heat and the clothes in your luggage are short and you are wearing long pieces of clothing.
We took a taxi from a really huge airport complex, drove to our accommodation on a motorway that was directly driven to the city center. Through the window of the car, we watched the city’s nigh life. Many streets were filled with food stalls, and through the half opened window we could smell the real Bangkok. Late in the evening, when we arrived at Loog Choob Homestay, we were very enthusiastic and completely tired after a long flight. But Ana was still full of energy. We could hardly wait to see this metropolis and let ourselves fall into the charms, that will be offered to us in the upcoming days.
Loog Choob Homestay is a very small hotel owned by a family, very friendly and helpful people, where we felt like at home. We had a modest but beautifully equipped room, with a comfortable bathroom. In front of the room we also had a shared kitchen, with everything we needed for our little family. Every morning we were waiting for butter croissants, pastries and also tropical fruits were not lacking, even though we did not have a breakfast included in the room price. For our first night in the city and despite the time difference, we slept very well and were very excited about exploring the city. We went straight along the canal to see around a little. Then we got into a tuk tuk, where our eight-month-old Ana drove for the first time in the most coolest way of transport.
We drove to Lumpini Park, a green oasis in the middle of the city. We walked along the well-arranged streams with green surfaces. We observed people passing during recreation and numerous flowers. Among them many kinds of orchids that grow from small baskets on tree trunks.
After a relaxing early afternoon walk, we headed back to the big door of the park, where we found a tuk tuk, which became the best way of transport. Even in the afternoon when the roads were full. The drivers here, however, were very smart and could often find some shortcuts. Even for transport prices it was very good to negotiate. Sometimes the driver is able to seduce you into the unknown street, claiming that you are at the finish. But because we did not let him go like that, we got angry and rushed to the next driver and showed him where to exactly drive with the mobile application Here, so he knew that there was no joke with us.
That afternoon, we slowly drove a little more north of Lumpini Park, to a more modern part of the city. Tuk tuk stopped right in front of the Gaggan sign, the name of the restaurant of the owner and the main chef Gaggan Anand. He has been at the top of the best restaurants in Asia and the world for several years now. Since we had some time until dinner, we strolled around the area. We watched the huge buildings of the major world companies that shadowed the main street and showed us the magnificence of modern Bangkok. Gaggan Anand started writing his great story in 2010, renovating the 19th century town hall and opening the GAGGAN restaurant. Because of India’s nationality, he was born in Calcutta, his kitchen is Indian. He introduced modern techniques from times when he was in the research team of the famous Spanish restaurant, ElBulli.
Let’s keep the feelings of dinner at Gaggan like this: it was as if we were eating in the 19th century in the perfect ambience of wooden white walls, looking through the window to the absolute veranda of the torch restaurant. With all this, Ana fell asleep on a comfortable chair, but we simply enjoyed the food and dinner “for two”. In Bangkok, we really fell in love because it can show you a thousands of beautiful faces of the city, from many temples and markets, street food to beautiful views from the top of the buildings. Or from a boat that sails on the river Chao Phraya and its side channels. Best of all, it was tasty, well-prepared food on every corner. Many times in the evening we went to the nearest street, where we tasted delicious dishes and soups, we even got things for Ana. We really liked to go to China town, more specifically Yaowarat Road, the main street adorned with large red neon signs and chinese inscriptions. There we cheerfully lost ourselves in the side streets of a variety of different stalls and shops of various things. We also noticed some restaurants that offered the main soup specialty from the shark fins. In the late afternoon, this street turns into one of the best locations for street food in the city. The most beautiful and indescribable was to sit and chat with people from all over the world, eat omelette with oysters and toast with Leo beer. We also visited the large shopping center, Siam Paragon. The reason was to visit a large marine aquarium that is worth seeing. Especially the children enjoy it very much. The most interesting is the main, huge aquarium in which the largest sea animals are swimming in a company of larger and smaller fish. This big shopping center is full of stores of all world brands and restaurants that offer a rich selection of dishes for hungry visitors.
Since we do not like too much air-conditioned rooms, we preferred to go to the temple of the lying Buddha (Wat Pho). The lying statue of Buddha is the main point of this temple and is really special with its 46 meters of length. As we walked through the interior of the temple, everything was so calm and relaxing to stay in it for quite a few hours and enjoy the shade of the trees while watching the people around us. According to the positive experiences from the previous visit of the temple (Wat Pho) we also, with good faith, went to the most famous city palace complex (Grand Palace). At the entrance we were very disappointing to see all this crowd of tourists. Despite the heat and the crowd, we broke through, but there was a high entrance fee and we did not have proper dresses, long sleeves and trousers. On the last day of our tour around the city, we decided to visit another restaurant. Is on the list of Asia’s 50 best restaurants and we were delighted that we went because its chef is one of the most recognizable Thai chefs in the world, Ian Kittichai. He also participated in the most popular cooking show in Thailand and opened restaurants around the world. In 2013 he opened the Issaya Siamese Club restaurant and until now very successfully runs in a hundred years old renovated Thai villa with a beautiful tropical garden. We ate in a spacious dining room, in a beautiful ambience that takes you far back into the past of the Siamese Kingdom. We really enjoyed and wondered if there was anything better to eat.
After all this time that has passed from our visit to this city, we do not think of anything else but the food. And it’s not just food, but the best food we’ve ever eaten before. Whether this is street food or in the best restaurants in this city.
