Chinatown and a breathtaking view

During the night I had a very good sleep. Probably because I was so tired yesterday. I had breakfast at the guesthouse and then went to the pier. I took the Chao Phraya express to the pier that is nearest to Bangkok's Chinatown. The Chao Phraya express is the best way to travel to places near the river in Bangkok. No traffic jams and no discussion about prices ;-). I wanted to see Chintatown, because I didn't have a chance to do so last year.

Chinatown turned out to be one big market. Small alleys with merchants on both sides, all selling the same stuff, stretching out. The place was very crowded. Not so much with tourists, but with Thai people. Motorbikes and people with big loads of merchandise try to make their way through.

 At the start it's all fabrics and stickers and stuff and in the end it's more like a food market selling everything from fish to ducks (with some interesting smells ;-) ). The temples in Chinatown are crowded with people lighting incense and definitely had big Chinese influences (I'd call Chinese marks everywhere and Taoist-like rituals " big"...).

For lunch I went to a noodle place in the middle of Chinatown called: Hong Kong Noodles. I was the only non-Thai there. It kinda made me nervous using chopsticks for the first time in a year with all the Thai people watching me ;-)

In the afternoon I took a taxi to Lumphini park. The park is quite big and surrounded by highrise buildings, but lacks the charm of some other big cityparks I've been to.

I spent some time walking around and reading there. I got a Bangkok Post newspaper from an American; in the weather forecast it said that with 34 degrees Celsius it would be "cold" today!?! :S

My other target in the area was to go to the moon bar at Vertigo during sunset. This bar is on top of the Banyan Hotel which is 59 floors high. The hotel itself is probably one of the more luxurious places in Bangkok, so it was weird walking in there. After getting to the 59th floor with a very fast elevator and getting up three more stairs, I was awed by the view (if you disagree: take in mind that this is the first skyscraper I've been inn). The entire roof is a restaurant and bar. I had a couple of beers while the sun set (and the lights of the city came on) and enjoyed the scenery (I wouldn't have complained if they had switched the kind of music from jazz to something else though). If you intend to go there keep in mind that long trousers and closed shoes are required...

After getting a taxi back to the Banglamphu area I had dinner at a street stall in Ram Buttri Road while being entertained by a guitar player across the street. Now, I'm going to get some drinks at a bar at Kao San Road.