Krung Thep Mahanakon

Bangkok, three in one...

Some of you might have seen that the powers that be in the Thai government decided this last month to change the official name of the capital from  Bangkok to Krung Thep Mahanakon (City of Angels) ...but 'Bangkok' will still be officially recognized. This of course caused some confusion much like the ever changing entry requirements into the country. (Vaccinated visitors can now enter again with just one night quarantine and a pcr test upon arrival. But I digress.) And Krung Thep is really the shortened version of the city's much longer full name and still perhaps the longest place name in the world which gives young TCK's bragging rights when they can rattle it off... Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit.

After my initial nine days in Phuket, I have spent the last month in Bangkok Krung Thep back at Innspire, the guest house I spent the three months in last year. Bop the manager is still holding on as well as the ten million cats in the neighborhood. A few more tourists can be seen, some tourist venues have reopened and some didn't survive the six months since I was last there. I've resumed running along the khlongs and through the sois often ending up at a trio of parks that anchor the extended neighborhood. 

Listed as one of the 'Large' trees of Bkk, it's hard to capture how big (and old) this Tamarind tree is... at one of my favorite parks!

In things that might interest particular readers of this blog, I have had two 'bird' encounters. The first occurred when I was running along side the river and a pigeon flew directly into my face (clearly not watching where he was going!?) Never have I been more thankful to be wearing a mask! Yes, masks are still required here and even in 97 degree weather there's a lot less fuss about wearing them than other parts of the world! 

The confused look after being hit square in the face by a pigeon!

My second bird experience (and way cooler than the pigeon encounter) was going with Iven and his three boys to the airplane graveyard - a place I had heard of but never seen - even though I had been very close to it several times and just never realized it. It's actually quite easy to find and if you drive by on the right street, you can't miss it the remnants of a couple planes including a 747 just cut up and parked in the middle of the city. Maybe there were plans at one point - maybe not - but for now (and the past ten years or so) an enterprising family has been 'squatting' on the property and will charge you 200 Baht to come in and explore. Given that they were young teenagers, they took the safety of the boys quite seriously telling us not to go in certain areas as it wasn't safe.  Contrary to some online opinion the family was totally friendly and non threatening - but again we treated them with respect and were quite happy to pay for this unusual and very cool experience. 

I know that I still haven't updated the blog from the three months last year and I had barely introduced Iven and Kashmira and their kids but certainly the point of being back in their neighborhood again was to hang out with the HFam. Our shared story is worthy of it's own post one day as it's truly a remarkable story that I am so grateful for. Neither of us realized how our lives would intersect over the course of this past year. So most/much of my time has been spent with them help as I could as they packed up their lives and returned to the US after living in Thailand for 15 years. As part of their leaving process they spent a week at the Juniper Tree at Dolphin Bay south of Huahin. They invited a few friends (including me) to spend some days with them which was an additional unexpected gift. 

Sunrise - Dolphin Bay

One day we went to Sam Roi Yot National Park specifically to see Phraya Nakhon Cave, which often appears in Thai tourist advertising as it is really quite unique and beautiful and serves as the main attraction. Depending on how it's explained, either the roof of the cave collapsed or it's a sink hole - but either way - it's a mighty big cave and having no roof has allowed trees to grow inside. In the cave, there is a four-gable roofed royal pavilion built in 1890 for King Rama V's visits. It's a pretty iconic and photogenic place to hang out. 

Other days this past month were more mundane - but, really this city is never mundane - it's why I enjoy it so much. And being with the HFam is certainly not mundane. They left this week and one of the gifts of my time with them this time was being able to support them and their kids as an adult TCK who has walked a similar road of leaving a place deeply loved...

Two other non mundane things - 1) meeting up with childhood friend Gordan Ellard after close to 30 years - Gordon was my classmate at Chefoo and is now owns a restaurant and a swimming school/business here in Bangkok. 

And...last and definitely least, experiencing a reverse flow/volcanic squat pot toilet on the banks of the Chao Phraya river...the river was quite high and the waves were choppy and every time I would hear the wave outside, the toilet would geyser up inside. I was thankful to not be squatting!

Until next time...

Duncan