Bits of Bangkok

By the end of the week, we had enough courage to use the bus and went on a tuk-tuk once, but mostly we went around on foot. Once, we asked for help and a woman of Chinese origin went out of her way (literally) to help us get back home. She got out of the bus, showed us the bus we needed, and took another bus to go back in the direction she was supposed to go! That is what I mean when everyone gets so down on the Chinese - some of them are really nice, it's their government (and the racist millions that blindly follow it) that worries me.

Anyway, when we went to Sukhumvit, the modern part of Bangkok, we took a taxi to avoid hours figuring out the bus system.

We went there to visit Veronique's (Henri's mom) handsome cousin, Christophe, and his charming wife, Wendy.

They treated us to a gastronomic adventure at the newly relocated Sofitel, and the smile on Henri's face here says everything ;)

Christophe gave us free access to the hotel and we were toured around the spa, the gym and the pool area. We also spent time at L'Appart, which was like walking into a Paris apartment. I know it sounds silly to even bring this up, but they had Hermès soaps in the ladies room! Word.

But one of the best parts about it was seeing the Bangkok skyline. All we needed was roofies and we could reenact The Hangover 2 (shown in France as "Very Bad Trip 2").

Wendy took us to a mall nearby that was indeed very interesting:

The lobby has a Rome theme, the second level was Japan, and the others maybe you can guess...

We also snooped around the luxurious malls in Sukhumvit that reminded us of the world of brands that had been missing in our lives since we arrived in India. It reminded us of how little luxury we need in our lives. That evening, we went on the metro but had to wait hours and hours and hourrrrssss for the bus going to Samsen (where we were staying) because the metro does not go to the historic quarter. Damn.

The next day, we took a bus to the weekend market in Chatuchak, "Wakawak" to Tata Christine ;) The bus fare was very cheap, and the bus conductor was very nice and funny.

I think we spent close to 4 hours in the market, but we only bought food because we both got dizzy from the amount of choices. (And it's not as cheap as it used to be.) Who knew shopping could be so hard? Still, it's cheaper than the night market in Pattpong, where you are distracted by the ping pong shows.

Later that day, we were so full from a day of walking and eating in Chatuchak that we couldn't think of food anymore... but at least it meant we had time to do the thing I'd wanted to do since India: GET A HAIRCUT!

Henri left me at the salon while he ran across the street to the barber shop.

It felt great to finally have all that hair chopped off, especially in this heat. The hairdresser made fun of my disastrous attempt to cut my own hair in Kathmandu, but it was a good excuse to start fresh. With less hair to bother us, we got ready for our next stop in Thailand - Kanchanaburi.