Bangkok is an excellent Asian travel hub, because it has convenient flights to points all over the world, and generally reasonable fares. Plus, it’s a major metropolis (population slightly greater than New York City) featuring a blend of eastern and western influences. And it has a number of worthwhile attractions in its own right. We’d already seen the chief ones, having done a few layovers in the city already. So when we found ourselves once again passing through en route from Phnom Penh to Kathmandu, we did a little poking under the rug in an effort to find some points of interest we’d overlooked.

One of these was Queen Sirkit Park, which was built to commemorate the 60th birthday of the Queen of that name in 1992. It’s noted for its circular paths and irregularly tiled stone bridges. It often provides a picturesque backdrop for photographers; and on this day, a couple of them were engaged in producing graduation photos of three or four students, and were in a race to finish before the rainstorm swept in. The park is also home to the Bangkok Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, and we find colonies of butterflies hard to pass up, so we didn’t.

Not far from this park are shopping centers including a number of market stalls selling all kinds of goods. One little gem that caught our eye — just barely because it was set off the street — was an emporium of very ornate antique wooden furniture and architectural components. There were, among other things, a set of double doors and a spiral staircase, priced at thousands of dollars each, just waiting for a house to be attached to. But we had to pass on these, because we don’t have a house and we don’t have much room in our backpacks anyway.

While we were out, we decided to spring for dinner (in part because the kitchen at our Airbnb is two floors below our bedroom). Combing through the highly reviewed vegetarian restaurants we found on Google Maps, we settled on one near the notorious district known as Soi Cowboy (more about that in a moment). The restaurant, called Mercy Republic, is in an unlikely location — a little alley just off a busy street — and the front of it made us think that we were in the wrong place. It looked like a bar; in fact, it is indeed a bar among other things. But there was a sign with the slogan “Get Your Vegan Groove On”, so we took a spin of the wheel and entered.

Mercy Republic is a “hip-hop vegan restaurant”, and if that isn’t unique billing, we’ll eat our sustainable locally sourced napkins. Its objectives are to respect animals (some of its profits are donated to saving cows and buffalo), respect the environment, and respect humanity. It also has a secondary purpose of promoting hip-hop, blues and R&B, which its founder loves. There are photos on the walls of a couple of dozen or so artists in those fields who are vegans, none of whom we recognize. We do recognize the photo of Michael Jackson, but he couldn’t exactly be pigeonholed into any of those niches.

The fare is slightly pricey by local standards (still quite cheap by U.S. standards), but the menu is imaginative and the food tasty — though the portions are not very copious. We opted for a burrito and some massaman curry (neither of which, admittedly, is very Thai), and Kimberly had a glass of iced and unsweetened Butterfly Pea Juice (Did you know there was any such thing?) in all its purple glory. Not bad, and the place had, as one might say, a good vibe.

After dinner, the evening streetlife had begun unrolling, so we took a stroll back through the heart of Soi Cowboy. Despite its small size (“Soi Cowboy” is an eggcorn for the Thai Soi Khaoboi meaning short street), Soi Cowboy is reputed to be the epicenter of nighttime frolicsomeness in Bangkok. A pedestrian thoroughfare only a block long (160 yards), the street is packed with some 40 establishments characterized as “go-go bars” (Those are still a thing?) and the like, a blend of the seedy and the chic. Although the revelers and the colored lights were just beginning to come out of hibernation as we walked through, it was easy to see why this little stretch has become a favorite of photographers and cinematographers and Youtubers. And partiers, of course.

The next night, we also ate out. And we spent a lot of time doing some recreational meandering to home in on a suitable place. This included spending some time riding the city’s canal boats, one of our favorite things to do in Bangkok. They take you zipping through a variety of neighborhoods, and often past the looming towers of cutting edge modern architecture. One of these skyscrapers that we spotted for the first time we promptly nicknamed the Apocalypse Building, because it looks as if chunks of it have been knocked out by alien spaceships, meteors, off-the-charts seismic activity, or an angry, cinematically oversized Tyrannosaurus rex.

It’s actually the King Power MahaNakhon Tower (MahaNakhon means great metropolis). Completed in 2016, it held the distinction of being the tallest building in Thailand for two years at 314 meters (1030 feet) before a couple of new kids on the block came along. It houses a hotel, luxury apartments, restaurants, and a 360 degree observation deck and glass floor skywalk that reportedly offer a stunning aerial view of the city and environs. That’s a rumor that we just might have to investigate on our next visit.

Wandering along a vibrant little street along a canal, we came to a striking bridge that looks like a giant harp. That would be the Rama VIII Bridge, completed in 2002 and named after a king — known,, coincidentally as Rama VIII –whose portrait appears, along with a portrait of the bridge, on the 20-baht banknote.

Then we found ourselves in a touristy bohemian neighborhood with lots of hostels. cafes, restaurants and bars. And after checking out a couple of possible dinner spots, we at last settled upon one called Island Bangkok, which turned out to be a pretty good choice. It was not a specifically vegetarian establishment, but it did have plenty of vegetarian options, and more of an ambiance than the places we nixed. It was designed with a tropical island motif, and was both indoors and open air. Our server was a likeable young fellow named Zayar (which, as we told him, would be easy to remember because it’s similar to our son’s name) who hails from Nepal — to which we’d be journeying in a couple of days. But he says his folks back at home were not affected by the recent disastrous flooding.

One thing we appreciate about stopping over in Bangkok is that it offers an abundance of modern malls and retail outlets where we can pick up items that we have been needing/ craving/ lusting after in more isolated coordinates. This time, that included something of an emergency nature that we should have seen coming. Dennis has been having persistent headaches with his laptop lately — it crashes almost every time right after he turns it on, and sometimes it doesn’t want to get itself restarted. This time, it appeared to be giving up the ghost for good. So he decided that while we had Bangkok available to come to the rescue, he’d better come up with a solution.

Ultimately, he decided not to replace the laptop, hoping that it could be resuscitated at some time and in some location in the near future. (Later, it did revive, though it’s certainly still not cured.) So instead he decided to obtain an electronic notepad as a workable backup.

Not far from us was a mall called Fortune Town, with 5 floors dedicated exclusively to electronics gizmos — and often at bargain prices. It seemed like just the Shangri-La to seek out. Our intel was that the best procedure is to begin with a quick walkthrough, starting at the top and working your way down, then going back to the outlets that looked most promising. Bargaining is expected here, and often the vendors will offer you a discount if you show interest in something, then balk at it and start walking away. Or so our intel goes.

Dennis already was fairly set on specifically what he was seeking: a Samsung Galaxy Tab 11. He’d already owned a Samsung Galaxy Tab 6, which had served its master well. So this newer member of the family seemed like just the ticket. We found one at a little stand, and it was marked down. So that was promising. But just for good measure, we checked at another outlet, and it was marked down to the same price. So we figured that discount was probably a uniform conspiracy throughout the mall.

Having gotten a good feeling from the young man we talked to at the first place we stopped at, we returned there for the kill. But he was not receptive to bargaining since, he explained, it was already marked down.. Okay, it was a good price, so we took it. After all, they also threw in a free set of earbuds and thermal mug. At another stand just across from it, we picked up a cover for the tablet and a screen protector for Kimberly’s phone, and we were all good to go.

Finally, we don’t consider any trip to Bangkok complete until we have subjected ourselves to the blissful ordeal of a Thai massage. And it was especially crucial on this trip, since we had not experienced massages for about 6 months. Normally, during our year of teaching in Phnom Penh, we indulge in a Khmer massage to unwind at the end of each quarter. But we somehow failed in that duty for the past two quarters. So we just had to make up for it in Bangkok.

The last time we got a massage here, we were quite pleased with the service and the price. But we had difficulty locating the same massage spot this time, and ultimately realized it was a bit farther than we wanted to walk. Not to worry, there are plenty of massage providers in Bangkok, though of course you have to exercise due caution in finding one that’s legit. We finally zeroed in on one called URI, which just so happened to be the same one we visited before. They were able to twist us, stretch us, knead us, and torque us into a state of elevated consciousness just as previously.

So now we have officially Bangkokked once again. Now we just have this little debate about which type of massage is better: Thai or Khmer. Kimberly votes for the former, Dennis for the latter. But we agree that one or the other is mandatory when spending any amount of time in Phnom Penh or Bangkok. Now we’re all rejuvenated and revved up for Nepal.

Events occurred: 9/1-3/2026