There’s a time of saying hello and a time of saying goodbye – last night we said goodbye to our dear friends Pintuwan and Jan and promised we would love to get back for the winter months next year!
Via Pintuwan we ordered our pick up to drive us back to Bangkok where we would be staying overnight for our flight on Friday. Our driver Mr Prawitt was well on time so we left Makmai Villa well before 9 a.m. Mr. Praait held a sign showing my name and that our destination was Hotel Royal Bangkok in Chinatown!
Halfway to Bangkok, we stopped for coffee and a croissant – and then further to Bangkok where we arrived at our hotel in Chinatown before noon!
The drive into Bangkok was most fascinating – all those high building were spectacular!
Our drive to Bangkok
Time to pay Mr Prewitt – with a generous tip!
Our hotel is situated right in the middle of Chinatown with of course loads of Chinese signs – we were really in China!!
Chinese new year celebration decorations are still abundant – and it’s the Year of the Rabbit !
One of the many gateways in Chinatown
Once we were settled in our room, we waited for Mr Ti who was supposed to come and pick us up with his TukTuk but as he didn’t turn up, we started walking to IFC (International Fashion Company ) where we had ordered various garments including leather boots and a suede jacket for Gerry! We had gone for a fitting before we left Bangkok to start our Thai Travels and we were to pick up everything when we got back prior to going back home!
Gerry was somewhat skeptic whether we would get delivered the goods we ordered! And yes we were pleasantly surprised that we did! I didn’t try on anything as I was too sticky from our walk but Gerry tried in one of his shirts, pants, suede jacket and boots – these were examples of good craftsmanship!
Ram who assisted us showing off the bag with Gerry’s suede jacket and Gerry with one of his new shirts
Gerry wearing his boots and shirt on his way back to NL
As we had quite a number of bags – including free gifts of a cashmere shawl for me and two silk ties for Gerry – we were offered transport back to our hotel in the company car! It seems we’ve been promoted to a “preferred customer” status!
Back at the hotel we rearranged our packing to include the new clothes and then went out to discover Chinatown!
We walked through the older part of Chinatown making our way to the river – actually I hadn’t eaten all morning so was looking for something to snack on. Although most of the food stalls looked interesting with all sorts of – Chinese – food it was completely different to Thai food!!
At one point we walked through a barrow street that only had shoe shops and stalls – and nothing else! Then onto a street where it was full of mechanics!!
All sorts of metal spare parts being sorted out!
Then we passed another alleyway where brooms and dusters were being sold –
By now we were in a very old area of Chinatown – the one storey buildings were similar to those we saw in Chinatown Singapore ( but those were well kept!)
Finally we were down by the river after we passed the Holy Rosary Church which was built by the Portuguese back in the 1700’shttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Rosary_Church,_Bangkok
The Church of the Holy Rosary
We stopped at the Coffee Club as by now I really was famished and ordered a chicken and avocado toasted sandwich. While we waited Gerry rolled a cigarette to smoke but was made aware that this area was non smoking – hence he had to get out of the terrace and move to the street to smoke!
My breakfast cum lunch at 4pm!
We were close to the river shuttle and saw quite a lot of activity on the river.
River scenes at rush hour!
It was time to walk back to our hotel and by this time it was close to 6pm and it started getting busy on the street food stalls – the smells and cacophony of food and people was quite overpowering!
Colourful tables and chairs, colourful people and colourful food too!
Evening traffic, decorations, gateways
As we approached closer to our hotel, all the sidewalks were filled with food stalls and decked with tables and chairs. Too much choice that it’s difficult to make a decision so we decided to have our cocktail and watch the world go by!
Urban jungle in Bangkok Chinatown and the sign to our hotel, Hotel Royal Bangkok, Chinatown.
Our last cocktail in Bangkok – G&T for Gerry and a Margherita for me ( the prices were similar to European prices!)
By the time we finally arrived at our hotel we were too tired to do anything else except to go up to the Sky Lounge and admire the view!
The street views from the 14th floor Sky Lounge at our hotel
We were supposed to try some of our new clothes and go out for a meal but we were too tired, still had to repack and shower that all I could think of was to get into bed – and it was only 9 pm!!
I set the alarm for 6.30 – our pick up was to arrive by 8 a.m. as it would take about an hour to get to the airport. We would have enough time for breakfast! I’m not too sure I am ready to face the cold weather back in the Netherlands !
Good night all!
