High Noon, Bangkok

"High Noon, Bangkok."  This is what Diel and Luzi (my dear Swiss/Thai friends – see blog archives Oct 2009-July 2010...hahaha) and I have been saying to each other for nearly two years.  We began joking about meeting up in Bangkok in January 2012 when I was living in Switzerland.  The stars aligned and what started as a joke, as a “wouldn’t-it-be-fun-if...” became a real plan.

We met up in Bangkok with Diel and Luzi and some other Swiss friends who had been traveling with them as well.  We stayed in what’s got to be one of the most touristed (and tourist-y) districts in the world.  The narrow, winding streets were packed with festively light cafes, food stalls, massage houses, street vendors selling everything from fried grub (in both the figurative and literal sense) to knock-off RayBans, and drunken beach-clad tourists who acted like there were on spring break in Cancuun.  In short, very charming aside from the Phalangs (Thai for “white people”).  But, the hotel was nice and the watermelon shakes (blended frozen watermelon...why didn’t I ever do this in the summer before??) at the cafe below were divine. 

While Diel and Luzi spent more time with her family, Lauren and I bopped around Siam Square and visited some of the city’s most stunning temples.  We spent hours wandering around the vast grounds of Wat Po (Wat is Thai for “temple.”  I think it’s pronounced “vot,” but I was with a group of native German speakers, so that might not be entirely accurate.)  By the end of this trip, I will have enough pictures of temples to wallpaper a small house.

Just a Bangkok street view.

Wat Po.

One of hundreds of pictures of the inside area of Wat Po.

Many beautiful Buddhas.

Monks chanting in the evening.  Mesmerizing.

After two and a half hectic days in the city, we flew south to the beach to relax and hang out with Diel and Luzi and Sigal and Daniel. 

Arriving at the airport, trying to figure out how to get where we're going.

It was perfect.  The beach was gorgeous.  You could get watermelon shakes and cold beers at the bar and manicures and Thai massages at the massage hut.  I spent hours reading and lounging punctuated by dips in the water to jump in the waves.  Every evening after we would shower and walk into “town” to have dinner together. 

Low tide at the beach.

Book + Beach = Yes Please

Lovely ladies enjoying an "apero" on the beach.

Perfect ending to a wonderful vacation.

I got to spend another fine (that’s for you Luzi) adventure with Diel and Luzi and make two wonderful new friends, Sigal and Daniel.  They made me miss Switzerland and remember with fondness how lovely my year there was.  I got so lucky to meet the people that I did and, in addition to planning a future trip to China, am counting the days until I can visit La Suisse again. 

And, speaking of getting lucky to meet people, as we were waiting for our luggage in the airport in Bangkok on our way back from the beach, I heard someone behind me say my name.  I turned around to see Lisa, one of my best friends from high school, and her husband Ryan!!  Neither of us had any idea that the other was in Thailand, so the shock (and then glee) rendered us nearly incapable of having a real conversation.  What a delightful stroke of chance!  

In the end, it's a small world.

Unexpected

This blog post for one… 

Also, the lovliness of Hong Kong.  I spent my glorious weeks at home over Christmas doing many things.  One of them was to mentally gear myself up for sprawling Asian mega-cities. 

I’m not a big city gal.  Paris, of course, has part of my heart.  And I do have a certain soft spot for Chicago as well.  But other than that... I’d rather be with the bugs and the birds – out aways somewhere. 

And so, I expected to dislike Hong Kong.  So many people, buildings, cars, chaos.  Even though all those things were present to some extent, the city still managed to charm my socks off.  It’s shockingly calm.  I swear I never heard a car honk or a siren sound (the sound-track of D.C., Paris, New York, you-name-it).  The public transportation system is brilliantly engineered and a breeze to navigate.  The city is full of green spaces, water views, quaint cafes, and tiny art galleries.  And it has one of the most beautiful night-time skylines I’ve ever seen.  Just lovely.

I’ll fess-up here to the fact that I may have had a different experience of Hong Kong than the average Joe.  Lauren and I arrived without a guide book, any plans, and really no idea what there was to see or do.  Our only committment was a lunch rendez-vous with one of Lauren’s aunt’s former colleagues who’s from Hong Kong.  During the scrumptious lunch of sauteed pea shoots and other dishes I can’t name, Martin asked us what our plans in Hong Kong were.  We said we were hoping he’d have some advice.  He said he wasn’t using his personal driver the next day, so how about we just make an itenerary with his assistant.  We said ok that sounds fine.  Just kidding.  We said REALLY?!! That would be amazing!!  And began giggling like schoolgirls.

It was amazing.  Thanks to Martin’s unreserved generosity, we got to see places on Hong Kong island that we would have never gotten the chance to see otherwise.  We visited several breathtaking beaches whose horizons were dotted with misty islands.

We went to a rambling market that was filled with trinkets, art, knock-offs, books, watches, dragons, jade, and scarves.

We ate lunch at a small cafe and walked along this beautiful pier.

We visited an old, cozy temple by the sea (thereby starting an “oops-I-just-took-270-photos-of-this-temple” trend).

We finished the day at a vegetarian cafe in Hong Kong’s dazzelingly charming SoHo after wandering around the too-cute boutiques and even a night-time produce market.

And, if the day weren’t spectacular enough, we accidently ended up at the harbor for the nightly Lights Show.  On a scale of 1-10 it was cheesy (family joke), but fun.  Lauren took a short video that really does it way more justice than this photo.

Hong Kong was the perfect christening for the second half of this trip.  After a difficult goodbye to Adam and my family and friends, it reminded me of why I love to travel.  Hong Kong was so different from what I expected.  It surprised me.  It captivated me.  It changed the way I imagine Beijing, Shanghai, even China in general.  And, it made me excited for all the adventures and imagination-altering experiences to come.

Nice photo.  Unfortunate framing.

Fin.