Hi everyone,

We’re moving on from Cambodia to Thailand. Our first stop: Bangkok.

But before we leave Cambodia, I realize that I haven’t mentioned just how much honking there was on Vietnam’s and Cambodia’s roads. This experience hasn't continued in Thailand, where cars are the most common vehicle (vs. tuk-tuks and motorbikes) and traffic lanes are clearly defined. It was a night and day difference.

When we first landed in Vietnam, we thought our taxi driver had a serious road rage problem. He did not. We quickly realized that all the other cars were honking back in some sort of cacophonous conversation.

We later met an Indian couple at a bus stop who explained that when learning how to drive (in India), they were taught how to honk. It’s even on the driving test.

So, based on our 3-ish weeks of travel, we’d like to present to you this 100% unofficial, mostly-inaccurate translation of honking in Cambodia and Vietnam:

• 1 honk = “Hello!”
• 2 honks = Right or left turn.
• 3 honks = Also a right or left turn. (You’d think they would have separate honks for each direction…but no. Gotta keep ya guessing.)
• 4 honks = “You can’t stop me!” or, “I will not be letting you merge into this lane [even though I'm straddling two].”
• 5 honks = "What in the hell was that?"
• 7 honks = Is unprintable in this newsletter, but we commend the drivers for their creative and colorful use of language.

On to Bangkok, Thailand!

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Perry’s Travel Diary

Heading to Thailand!

Departing Siem Reap

We’d like you to know that it is possible to take a bus from Siem Reap to Bangkok…but here’s why we didn’t.

Due to COVID-19, we received conflicting reports about which buses were still running. There are also conflicting sources about whether Americans get a 15-day or 30-day Thai visa at a land border, which would have impacted our plans.

And then to make the bus option worse (trigger warning: death ahead)…

Pete made friends at our hostel’s pool bar with an English guy who told us that his bus from Bangkok hit and killed a pedestrian on the way in.

In Cambodia, whoever calls an ambulance is the person in charge of paying for the ambulance. So after this person was hit, a bunch of people stood around and did nothing while the injured person died.

Holy guacamole. Great poolside conversation, right?

So anyways, a plane sounded great.

I ended up booking flights from Siem Reap to Bangkok. We flew AirAsia, using just over 21,000 Capital One points to cover the $212 base fare through Capital One Travel, but we then had to spend an additional $68 for 20kg of checked baggage each, as our carry-ons were over the size limit. AirAsia charges about half that if you book your checked luggage at the same time as purchasing a ticket directly with them. I’m not sure that I would recommend the hassle of this approach given the relatively low return on your points.

AirAsia provides the service you would expect from a low-cost budget airline. It’s tight on legroom but works for short flights. They didn’t even serve water.

We also found that they played light music and/or advertisements throughout the cruising portion of the flight, which was annoying but could be muted with your own earphones or earplugs.

All that said, we ended up flying AirAsia another two times and would recommend them as a budget carrier.

Let’s Feast

I love Thai food. Our plan for Thailand was to eat, and everything else was just a bonus.

The same day we landed, we headed for our first meal at Ari Cafe and Bistro, an adorable place not far from our hotel. I poured over the menu and decided to order the Spicy Basil with chicken. I was so excited to try this *exotic* new dish.

By the next day, I figured out that this dish was not exotic at all. It is on literally every Thai menu.

It is the cheapest of cheap food.

You are never more than five feet from a dish of Spicy Basil in Thailand.

But you know what? Spicy Basil is delicious. There’s a reason it’s everywhere.

That said, if you order it spicy, it will be so, so, so spicy. In Ari’s cafe, my face was sweating. The rest of my body was sweating. My mouth burned more than it ever has before or since. I almost couldn’t finish the dish because of the pain.

I persevered. (I was also hungry.) And I ate Spicy Basil at least once every couple of days for the next three weeks.

Gourmet Eats @ Siam Paragon

In the basement of the Siam Paragon Mall is an amazing food court with all of the Thai street food dishes you want to try.

The concept works like so: When you enter, you visit the Card Counter and hand them 200 baht (or more) (~$5) that they put onto a card. Then, you can use that card to purchase food at any of the Gourmet Eats food stalls. When you’re done eating, you visit the card counter again to receive a refund of any money left on your card.

We loved this because it was easy to navigate. Gourmet Eats has every Thai street food you can think of, from pad thai and pad kee mao to dumplings to Chinese foods. It was also clean and followed good hygiene practices, so you could eat “street food” without fear of getting sick. (After my experience in Da Nang, we both remain skeptical of actual on-the-street food.)

We could each eat whatever we wanted to eat without having to go to multiple restaurants. Trust me: this is a big deal when you’ve been traveling with only each other for a month.

My favorite was the Hainanese Chicken Rice Stall, Go-Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice, which was a recipient of the Michelin Bib Gourmand award (so you know it’s good). Hainanese food is technically Chinese, not Thai, but who’s really counting. The food was great.

The Pad Thai comes standard with tofu, so I wouldn’t pay the 50 baht upcharge to add just five prawns again. Either way, it’s yummy.

Pete tried a crispy pork and noodle dish and shrimp wonton noodle soup.

Prices here are a bit higher than outside the mall, but I thought it was well worth it for the convenience. Main dishes start at 70 baht ($1.85) and go up from there. We'd usually spend 140-190 baht total per person.

In addition to Gourmet Eats, the Siam Paragon basement has a huge number of other restaurants, both Thai and international. Japanese, Korean, Italian, McDonald’s, even Krispy Kreme… it was all there.

And they also had one of the largest, most interesting gourmet supermarkets I’ve ever seen. We were entertained for a couple of hours just by walking around the basement and a bit of the mall.

What to See in Bangkok

Malls of Bangkok: Siam Paragon and MBK Center

While we wouldn’t describe ourselves as mall people - or even as big shoppers - we highly recommend visiting two of Bangkok’s top malls: Siam Paragon and MBK Center. And they are air-conditioned, a blessed reprieve from walking outdoors.

Siam Paragon is a luxury mall with every luxury brand you’re familiar with - Cartier, Hermes, Coach, Louis Vitton, etc. Our favorite part was the food in the basement

MBK Center is the place for discount goods. Its setup feels much more like shopping on the street… just consolidated into a mall.

You could buy two complete, custom-tailored men’s suits - jacket, pants, shirts, and ties - for $189-199 USD.

We spent almost a full day upfront exploring both and then returned multiple times.

Bangkok’s Historical Sites

The following list could be accomplished in one day if you started in the morning along with a strong cup of coffee. We spread it out over two afternoons instead.

• Flower Market

I love fresh flowers, so when I saw “Flower Market” on the map, I knew we would need to make a stop there. It turned out to be a convenient starting point for our walking tour of Bangkok’s historical sights. The market itself was interesting to see, with lots of fresh orchids and marigolds (a sacred color).

• Tha Tien Community

You’ll walk through Tha Tien when moving from the Flower Market to Wat Phra. It’s a cute village with interesting shops, but people on the street kept yelling at us to watch our belongings. Being heckled by strangers was far more frightening than any actual pickpockets.

(I attracted their attention because I wear a large camera backpack. It’s designed and packed to deter theft, and Pete walks behind me to keep an eye on it as an additional precaution. You might attract less attention if you had a smaller day bag, but the area still has a lot of hawkers and people trying to hustle tourists.)

We ate a delicious and cheap meal here at Hello sit down. (Yes, this was the actual restaurant name and not a declaration that you should literally just walk in and sit down. I think we alarmed the waiter by boldly walking in… and sitting down. Oh well.)

• Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)

It’s a really big reclining Buddha. Like… really big. Probably the biggest we saw.

Wat Pho’s guided tour is available as an app that you can download and view from anywhere in the world if you’d like to learn more about the sight’s history and architecture. Admission is 200 baht per foreigner.

• The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)

The Grand Palace remains the official residence of the King of Thailand. In addition to his residence, the Grand Palace is a collection of historical buildings and temples, including the temple of the Emerald Buddha, a massive historical mural, and a small replica of Angkor Wat. Admission is a bit pricy at 500 baht per foreigner (~$13).

We were only allowed to view the residence from the outside, which looked like a European palace with a Thai-style roof. I thought this was an interesting architectural choice given Thailand's history of avoiding colonization (which is worth Googling).

The Emerald Buddha, Wat Phra Kaew, is considered to be the most sacred Buddha temple in Thailand. The small Buddha at the center of the room is carved from jasper, a semi-precious green stone.

We learned that it is rude to have your feet facing Buddha. When you’re seated, you have to kneel or sit cross-legged with your feet pointing away.

Our favorite part of this stop was the conservation museum which was almost hidden at the end of the complex. The museum’s exhibits focused on how the historic buildings were constructed, maintained, and repaired over time - and although that doesn’t sound interesting, we were fascinated to see just how many of the details were hand-carved wood. Highly recommend - don’t walk past!

• The Poor (Wo)Man’s River Cruise + Wat Aran

After exploring the Royal Palace, we took the long way home via Bangkok’s public water bus. The view of both historic and modern Bangkok along the Chao Phraya river was intriguing.

Wat Aran, another temple, is just one stop on the water bus from the Royal Palace. We might have stopped if we realized how close it was… but if I’m being honest, we were temple-ed out at this point. We were satisfied with the view from the boat.

We took the Orange Flag (Orange Line) boat from Tha Tian to Sathorn and connected to the SkyTrain for the rest of our journey back to Siam. At 16 baht per person ($0.42, or less than a dollar for the two of us), we cannot recommend a cheaper river cruise.
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Itinerary

Hotels

• ​Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Soi Soonvijai - We began our stay in Bangkok at this hotel to use up my small balance of IHG points. At 7,000 points per night (14,000 total for our 2-night stay), you can’t get a much cheaper redemption for a beautiful room. An extensive breakfast buffet was included. The on-site restaurant served delicious and reasonably priced food; we tried the khao soi and a Thai chicken noodle soup-esque dish (around $5 for both dishes).
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  We ended up moving to another hotel due to this hotel’s inconvenient location. They advertised a "free area shuttle" that would take you to the nearest train stations, but upon arrival, we found that their tuk-tuk was “out of service” with no estimated date of return. We had to pay for a taxi; the trains were too far away to walk.
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  This hotel was located near several Bangkok Hospitals and definitely catered to medical tourists. Eating breakfast among people in wheelchairs was a strange vibe for our trip.
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  If you want to stay at the Holiday Inn Express brand, I’d suggest paying extra to stay at the Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Siam instead. It’s next door to where we ended up.
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• ​Lub.D Bangkok Siam - After our great experience with the Lub.d in Siem Reap, we decided to try the Lub.D Bangkok Siam (~$35/night with breakfast). The hotel is in a fantastic location right next to the Siam BTS train station and a short walk from Siam Paragon, MBK Center, and other malls. The rooms are not quite as nice as the ones in Siem Reap, but the space worked for what we needed.
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  Our private double room had an awkward bathroom layout due to its small space. The shower stall exited directly into the room, leaving nowhere to strip in private. The water closet (toilet room) had a large round hole in the door at around head height, presumably for airflow. We’d only recommend that two people stay in this room if you have been married to each other for several years and have lost all sense of modesty. You cannot share this room with a friend, sibling, or - god forbid - a colleague.

Transportation

In order of our personal preferences:

• Trains - With the BTS (Skytrain) and MRT (Subway), Bangkok has a modern and easily navigated train system. There are automated ticket machines if you have the exact change on hand. If you don’t have exact change, both train stations have ticket counters with attendants who can provide change. Both issue an RFID token (MRT) or card (BTS) that you scan at the turnstile when entering the station and redeposit at the turnstile when you exit. Fares are based on the distance traveled, so you need to know the name of the station where you will get off. Use Google Maps for public transportation directions.
• ​Grab - Trains don’t reach some parts of Bangkok’s historic area / central city. Grab is the easiest way to get a ride, but we found that rates were higher than a metered taxi. We also used Grab to get to our hotel from Don Mueng Airport since it was significantly faster than the public transportation options.
• Taxis - Metered taxis are common in Bangkok, but make sure the driver turns on the meter. You do not need to negotiate your fare upfront. Note the driver’s taxi license number, which is clearly posted in the vehicle. We had our hotel call a metered taxi on our behalf when we needed one.
• Busses - The only time we tried to use a bus in Bangkok, it never showed up.

Bangkok has a ton of traffic. It drove us nuts. No matter which method you use, plan 30-60 minutes to get where you're going.

Food

I’ve specified the neighborhood or area of the restaurant in parentheses. We ate most meals at Siam Paragon or along Banthatthong Street due to the proximity to our hotel.

• ​Gourmet Eats (Siam Paragon)
• ​Hello sit down (in Tha Tien Community) - The cheapest option we found in the Tha Tien community for Pad Thai, right across the street from Wat Phra. Try the pineapple fried rice and spring rolls.
• ​Tang Sui Heng Restaurant (Banthatthong Street) - Try the Duck Noodles. They’re listed in the Michelin guide.
• ​TOOKPAK (near Banthatthong Street) - Delicious Thai food. A bit pricier than others on this list.
• ​Hua Kitchen (Banthatthong Street) - Basic but tasty.
• ​Ari Cafe and Bistro (Near Holiday Inn Express Soi Soonvaji) - Adorable cafe. Try the Spicy Basil at your own risk. They also have a collection of tasty pastries and other coffee shop fare.
• ​Harrison Butcher (Near Holiday Inn Express Soi Soonvaji) - Delicious cuts of beef. We had an enjoyable conversation with the head butcher, who was a Filipino man with an American father, a Filipino mother, and a Thai wife. Pete’s cowboy getup concerned the young Thai cashiers (unclear whether it was Pete’s outfit, height, or obvious English-speaking-ness), but the head butcher was unfazed.
• Grab food delivery works well in Bangkok and accepts American credit cards, making life even easier. (Vietnam and Cambodia would only accept cash on delivery.) I enjoyed “House of Clean Food.”

Currency

• Thailand uses the Thai Baht.
• Credit Cards are frequently accepted, but you need cash for taxis/transportation and small local restaurants.
• We used SCB and TTB ATMs to withdraw cash. These ATMs are purple and orange/navy respectively. There are several other reputable local bank ATMs. We use a Charles Schwab checking account that refunds all our ATM fees, making ATMs the cheapest way to access money around the world.
• SuperRich Exchange at Siam Paragon is widely regarded as having the best exchange rate for paper money. It’s located on the 4th floor in an open area around the corner from Baskin Robbins. You’ll see a line of people. Plan at least 30-60 minutes to complete your transaction due to the popularity of this location.
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  You may find other SuperRich Exchange locations around Bangkok, but make sure to really check the brand and business name. We found several different “SuperRich” listings that did not appear to be the same company.
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  We used SuperRich to exchange our remaining Vietnamese Dong since my home bank, Wells Fargo, will not.

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Perry’s Travel Tip of the Week

No More (Inaccurate) Mental Math

Have you ever been confused by prices when you’re traveling? It can be difficult to convert foreign currency prices into US dollars when you’re abroad…especially when you’ve had to switch between three foreign currencies in a month.

I downloaded this simple Currency Converter app to quickly calculate prices on the fly. It works like a charm.

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We need to give credit where it’s due: Our family friend and Thailand native, Wannee, recommended the vast majority of the sights in this email. We’re particularly thankful for her recommendation and explanation of the Siam Paragon food court. Thank you, Wannee!

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If you enjoyed this newsletter, we’d love it if you would share us with your friends.

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All the best,

Pete and Perry

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