After a one night stop at Ayuttaya (click here to read more about our experience), which was incredibly moving as we arrived shortly after the devastating floods had subsided, we took the train south to Bangkok.
The devastating floods on the outskirts of Bangkok (taken from the train)
Having visited Bangkok a few years previously we were looking forward to staying somewhere familiar and where we already had our bearings. We were also excited to be catching up with some more of our friends that we had made during our time in Mumbai, one of whom, Harry and Talei, generously offered us their spare room. ‘The boy’ was particularly taken with their pet Pug, Botox who became his new favourite ‘toy’. I found myself continuously repeating the words ‘gently please’ whilst ‘the boy’ chased poor Botox around the house shouting ‘dog, dog, dog’. With ‘the boy’s ‘ love of animals already apparent and having spent the last 3 ½ months being very cautious around the dogs that we’ve encountered, his excitement of being able to pat and stroke a dog was evident.
11kg Botox meets his 11kg baby equivalent
Staying with friends is wonderful after our basic backpacking accommodation. Based in Sukhumvit we made the most of having a nice base: taking ‘the boy’ to the playground in the nearby park, turtle spotting in the park’s small lake and visiting the many modern shopping malls that are located close by.
Although the central areas of Bangkok have been well designed with pedestrian walkways that link many of the main shopping areas, from a mother’s perspective, the sky train stations leave a lot to be desired as they don’t have lifts and do not permit buggies on the escalators. After four days of carrying a bag, a buggy and a heavy baby up and down 60 plus steps at a time I was beginning to develop some enviable muscles that a gym junky would be proud of.
The river Chao Phraya is still high after the recent flooding
One evening, after another sky train ‘workout’, we met up with our lovely friend Jess who we hadn’t seen since leaving Mumbai almost 2 years ago. Having made no prior arrangements of where we were going to eat we stumbled upon a little local café just off one of the main streets. This was a lucky find as not only was the food cheap and tasty, the family who owned the place really enjoyed entertaining ‘the boy’. Jess, hubby and I had a few hours of uninterrupted conversation (a rarity these days!) and the ‘the boy’ had a few hours of uninterrupted attention. Everyone was a winner.
The countdown in Bangkok begins as in a couple of days the in laws arrive and then the real holiday begins….
Top tip of the day:
When you’re in a big city with a large expat community you can often find popular brands from your home country in some of the larger supermarkets. If you’ve run out of a baby product that you love, now’s your chance to try and re-stock.
a backpack, a buggy, a baby... 