Two Sore Backs

The bus from Koh Chang was as easy as it could be. Door to door service, and not terribly expensive. Maybe not the most scenic, but we appreciated the simplicity.

We were lucky to choose Arie as our home base in Bangkok. It’s laid back and very comfortable, with lots of cool shops, restaurants and cafes. Plus it’s close to the BTS SkyTrain which means it’s close to pretty much everything.

For the first, day Val had arranged an afternoon bicycle tour, so we took the BTS and then a Grab (Asian version of Uber) to Chinatown, which was close to the tour meeting point. 

We had time for a walk before the tour.

This was a vehicle repair shop in the heart of Chinatown. I’m guessing they have a periodic inventory system.

This art installation was nearby.

Then it was off to the bike tour, which I’ll cover in a separate post, followed by a Grab back to the hotel and a bit of relaxation.

Dinner that night was pretty simple – boat noodles at a nearby restaurant. We were pretty tired so it was an early night.

The next day we explored Arie.  First, breakfast at the hotel.

We didn’t stop at the cafe, but we did use this pathway several times. It was a good reminder to live in the moment.

Buildings like the Pearl Bangkok make you realize that the world does not revolve around Toronto/New York!

We had a quick lunch – bibimbap – at a highly rated Korean place near the BTS. It was after the lunch rush, so the owner came around to chat. Originally from Korea, he had lived in Georgia, USA, for several years after being unable to emigrate to Toronto. He’s now returned to Asia and runs this restaurant plus a sister restaurant in Seoul.  Very nice fellow, very good food.

After some more sightseeing we returned to the hotel. Midday temperatures were off the charts.

The lobby of our hotel is a tea shop, and they are serious about tea!

Later on, after a siesta, we found this happening in the tea shop.

The owners were meeting with their friends Non and View for a honey tasting. They were tasting several types and trying to match them with various types of tea. All super nice people, and kind enough to ask us to join in and help.

Each of the different honeys were unique and unlike any we have tried in Canada. One came from non-stinging bees whose hives are in the ground.  Another was from bees that gather pollen from particular Arabica coffee trees. Each one had a story, and they all tasted very unique.

I’m not sure we added much value to the tea/honey pairings, but it was fun to try, and we got to know Non and View a little bit.

View and Non are real foodies and travel a lot. They’ve been to Canada several times and have more in their plans. With the non-stop flights between Bangkok and Vancouver, we hope to host them on one of their trips. Non says it’s on their bucket list!

Non suggested we try the restaurant Sparrow for pizza, but we saved that for later and got some nearby mexican food. This mural was on the way back.

Next day it was a quick breakfast at the hotel, and then off to the Bangkok Starters tour.

The tour was excellent, and we really weren’t very hungry, but I persevered. I was determined to try the pizza at Sparrow – partly because I wanted to report back to Non and View, and partly because I hadn’t eaten pizza for years.  I was hopeful about finding the Thai wine that they had mentioned.

We were successful on the pizza front, but no luck finding the Thai wine.  In fact, most servers looked at me sideways, and basically told us it was a bad idea.

Next morning it was a very early Grab to the airport for a flight to Trang, on our way to Koh Libong.