The Second and Last Full Day in Bangkok

Today, July 5th, was our day to explore Bangkok on our own, and it turned out to be very adventurous. We started off by heading towards the skytrain in order to go to the weekend market. On the way, we ran into a smartly dressed man who claimed to be a policeman and showed us his badge. He said the weekend market didn't open until 1 pm and gave us recommendations for alternative activities. While we were talking to him, a tuk-tuk drove up. The policeman negotiated a price for us and told the driver the direction in which we would like to head. We ended up on a dead end street where a woman tried to sell us tickets for a longtail boat to the floating market. Having already taking the boat trip the day before, we put our heads together about what to do next. 

We then attempted to get the tuk-tuk driver to take us to the Jim Thompson House, a local museum. The driver insisted on taking us to a silk tailor, where he said he would get a stamp for gas. After repeatedly saying no, we ended up there anyhow. It turned out to be a legitimate business, we looked at different fabrics, and ordered Dad three nice, tailored shirts. 

Attempting to get the driver to take us to our destination once again proved futile, and we ended up at a gemstone business. The driver promised to negate any cost as long as we spent 15 minutes in the establishment. We walked around for a while, looking at shiny, sparkly pieces of jewelry. Made of semi-precious gems and 18 carat gold, the pieces were sadly over-priced, but it was fun to see the jewelry making process and variety of designs.

The showroom at the gemstone store (Photo credit: Emily)

In the end, we made it to the Jim Thompson House. Although not well known in the United States, Jim Thompson was an architect turned OSS officer (that's the old name for the CIA) who moved to Thailand after his divorce. He promoted the art of silk weaving and started his own company, which became very successful. Deciding to make Bangkok his permanent home, he combined six small, traditional Thai houses to make one western-style home. Today the house is a museum. At just 61, Jim Thompson disappeared into the jungles of Malaysia while on a vacation with friends. He was never seen or heard from again, and no one knows to this day what happened. The house was nicely decorated, with many Thai antiques and ancient images of Buddha (some over 1000 years old).

Obtaining silk thread from the cocoons of silk worms (Photo Credit: Emily)

A peek of the teak and painted roof of Jim Thompson's house in Bangkok (Photo credit: Emily)

Lotuses in the water at the Jim Thompson House (Photo credit: Becca)

Raw silk after being dyed (Photo credit: Becca)

We then headed to the weekend market, where we had lots of fun browsing shops, buying souvenirs and eating coconut milk ice cream. A bonus, Emily also got stopped and interviewed by Thai teenagers! They were doing a project on tourists and asked her about her impressions of Thailand, what she thought of the weather, and whether she would return again. Then, they all preceded to take photos and selfies with her, as well as with Sarah!

After the heat and time spent at the market (the place was huge), we decided to return home on one of the last modes of transportation we hadn't tried. The metro was very clean, and the long ride home was spent laughing at the weird commercials in the metro car. Getting off, we attempted to visit the serpentarium, which ended up being closed. We then spent the rest of the evening catching up on writing, eating phad Thai and the spiciest basil chicken, and preparing for our early day tomorrow.

-Becca