Location: Bangkok, Thailand

I have no idea how many ways I can say that I’m excited so let’s just count today instead.

I woke up excited (1) and ready to head out for the day, partly because it was Sunday and we are here on exactly the right day for the Chatuchak Weekend Market, the largest in all of Thailand. That is not an exaggeration- when we finally sorted out the MRT system we jumped into the market fray – taking random turns the entire time and not even once did we come across the same corner. There were different sections to the market and it seemed like we started on food which was perfect since we hadn’t had breakfast yet. We first found pork meatballs with spicy tamarind sauce (weird breakfast I know) which was surprisingly wonderful considering the gray colour and made me excited (2) to try all the food on my ever growing list!

This country is going to allow me to unabashedly live out my dream of eating extremely spicy food for every single meal and I. am. happy. about. it. We sat in a little outdoor umbrella covered restaurant, that was stationed directly outside a different restaurant, for some chicken fried rice (add those Thai red chillies please!) Side bar: do I even call it a restaurant when the kitchen is outside? Food counter? Not a food truck. Stationary food cart?? Picnic???

We entered into the market proper which was a maze of long hallways filled almost every inch with clothes, art, plants, handicrafts, books, jewellery, and antiques. I found it so difficult not to just buy every single thing for my niece Ayla because I could just picture her little face seeing all the cute colourful things. I also couldn’t navigate really at all and just kept shrugging and turning in a random direction because there was not a lot of discernible order to the place. We did stop at one point to get our first Thai massage though. I’m not much of a massage person but I have to say it was really nice to have my feet taken care of after so many days of walking so much!

I found out during the massage that Garrett on the other hand… this was his first ever massage of any kind and my jaw just about hit the floor. Based on the fact that he looked basically high afterwards I think he’s likely to go for one every day after this!

After a good three hours wandering the market we made our way over to Wat Saket: The Golden Mount. I was excited (3) as this was our first official Thai Temple. We entered through a large white gate that walled off the lower part of the temple, but even with the wall in the way the upper half was nearly impossible to miss. Craning our necks straight upward we could see a gleaming gold Pagoda at the top of the hill. In temples here you have to dress modestly (shoulders and knees covered) so I put on a button-up I’d been carrying and sweated my way up with Garrett in tow.

If you haven’t heard um we’re like professional stair climbers now after Elephant Mountain… so this felt like nothing. There were waterfalls coming down every side of the hill and bells being clanged haphazardly by tourists and so many people milling around all the way up to the top. It felt a bit odd to reach the viewpoint and see a monk doing monk things, next to a coca-cola vending machine, next to a dude selling monk costumes. Costumes!!! The view was awesome to see nonetheless but I told Garrett on the way down that I was hopeful they wouldn’t all feel that commercialized. Sometimes it’s kind of necessary though to keep the mass number of tourists in check around these things so… pros and cons.

For effectively my entire travel career I have been hearing about Khaosan Road (pr. Cow-saan) so I was eager and excited (4) to get our butts over there. We passed more wats (temples), dodged a couple of scammy dudes and marvelled at all the yellow and white streamers, lights and bows big enough for buildings still up from the King’s birthday a couple of days ago.

Khaosan Road was exactly the kind of crazy party tourist road I expected it to be but it was wildly fun anyway. Amazing smelling food carts lined the street packed full of bars, playing club music and shining colourful flashing lights all around. Bubbles floated down the street and disco balls hung in more than one entry. Tattoo parlours and cannabis shops peeked out from between the clubs. Garrett and I walked the length of the road, trying a few snack foods and eventually parting ways so he could get his second massage of his life, while I grabbed a Thai Chang beer and people watched from a balcony overlooking the street. I did some writing and research, figuring out what to maybe fill our day with tomorrow. Bliss.

Garrett came back half an hour later with the same dazed and relaxed look in his eye and was more than happy to sit and play a round of crib on the balcony with me. Eventually we decided to meander home, taking the long way to pass by some attractions my map pointed out. Most of them were innocuous enough, but as we got closer to Wat Suthat we heard a chant coming from inside. Excitement (5)!

The doorwoman let us in for free seeing as they were closing up to foreigners 10 minutes later, so we slunk quietly up the stone steps, around a few chanting people sitting outside and into the main hall. We were greeted with a huge gold Buddha, presiding over a large group of loudly chanting people. We obviously had no idea what was going on but we sat down in the same position as everyone else and kept quiet for the next 10 minutes. Intricate patterns and dark murals lined most of the walls, while a red and gold ceiling glinted in the light.

It felt sacred and important and I had a moment sitting there listening to everyone and thought ‘this is why I travel’. I want so badly to hear and see and know everything I can about the world and I couldn’t have imagined when I woke up this morning that I would be sitting in a Buddhist temple, listening to a Sunday chant. It ended up being the perfect end to our first full day, and both of our favourite part.

Sav