Kiss Kiss Bang Saen
Well, it has been a while since our last post. This last lockdown really took a toll on us. In the early summer Bangkok was categorized as a “dark red zone.” This was due to the largest wave of Covid hitting the country, which meant we had the heaviest restrictions imposed since moving here. It also meant that Emily began this school year teaching online, which was certainly not how she was hoping to start her first year teaching 3rd grade, but is trying to make it work. We won’t go into much more detail about lockdown life since it was mainly boring and we were unable to travel or do much of anything.
However, just in the past few weeks, the government has lifted many restrictions. They have even come out stating that international travelers from low risk countries will soon be allowed to travel here without quarantine! While we are sure that the logistics of this will take some time to become an easy process, the prospect of having friends and family visit relatively soon is a breath of fresh air.
Due to the lift of many restrictions, travel has become much easier. With a three day weekend on the calendar in September, we looked into a few options of places closeby Bangkok, for our first getaway out of the city since April.
Because the government and all its different bodies can’t ever seem to agree on the same message, we did not want to immediately travel hours away from Bangkok only to be told we had to return. We were recommended a nearby province called Chon Buri where we could take a long weekend trip to a small beachside city called Bang Saen.
Upon our arrival we knew nothing about the area aside from the fact that there were lots of restaurants, including many seafood dishes we were suggested to try. We found a lovely Airbnb by the beach and began our exploration. One of our goals during this adventure was to try and eat as many local seafood dishes as we could. (Yeah, Emily was just as surprised to hear my enthusiasm about seafood as you probably are.)
Our first night began, like many do, with finding our first meal. We stopped by ครัวน้าติ อาหารทะเลพื้นบ้าน where we ate a whole fried fish for the first time. The waitresses could tell we were unfamiliar with how to approach eating a whole fish but we soon got the hang of it and it was quite delicious.
After dinner, we wanted to explore a bit of the town and walked down Wonnapha Pier and along Wonnapha Beach. The Pier had people fishing and hanging out all along it, and the view was really nice.
Wonnapha Beach is very long and has a boardwalk that stretches all the way down the beach. We noticed that the majority of people were a younger crowd and that it must be a place where locals come to chill. They really set up shop. I mean, floor mats, coolers, mini grills, camping chairs, and often a whole spread of food. It seemed like the place to hang out for hours in the evening; happy vibes all around. We noticed that despite how active and fun this place seemed, it didn’t appear that it was a popular spot for foreigners to visit (at least recently).
We ended our night (and every night after) with a dip in the rooftop pool at the condo where we were staying.
The following day we rented a moto to be able to see more of the area with ease. The highlight of our lunch at Khrua Che Mian were the fried crab balls with a sweet chili sauce. We then enjoyed the softest of donuts at Penloo Donuts, a small stall we came back to more than once.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent on Bang Saen Beach. While the beach itself was fairly standard in most regards, we had some unique entertainment.
After we set up our space, a group of younger folks, some dressed in costume, began shooting what was probably a college or high school film project. We watched them for hours going through the scenes of what looked like the entirety of a relationship between a man and woman. I filmed them from the side and made a version of their film myself. Take a look!
We ended our day at BMC Burger where the owner, a British chef, took a liking to us. He talked non stop about his menu, restaurant, chef skills and anything else he could think of. He really talked our ears off, but to his credit, he was passionate about his food and it showed. We also got the feeling that there hadn’t been any travelers in the area in a while so I’m sure he was eager to share his food knowledge with other westerners. His burgers, sandwiches, and sides were all extremely tasty and well worth the monologue. So much so, we came back again before leaving Bang Saen.
Our final full day in Bang Saen began with a drive to Wat Saen Suk. Now, we only saw a couple of pictures on Google before we showed up, but boy, we were in for a surprise. This place is known as the largest hell garden in Thailand, (yes that means there are more) depicting Naraka, Buddhist hell. It portrays how the damned will be punished based on their earthly sins.
When you first walk through the gate, you are immediately greeted by two huge statues that looked emaciated and had very long tongues. They represent ghosts who are stuck in purgatory. They have various half-human half-animal beings surrounding them. Each statue had a plaque describing the sin that leads to that torturous ramifications. For example, “Ones who destroy the wilderness are punished in hell, they are named as the spirits of the deers.”
As you continue walking, gruesome and violent scenes of torture are depicted throughout the garden. It is quite a dark sight and reading the descriptions for each of the sins and consequences go into quite detail. One that Emily noticed was “The penalty for hurting parents, teachers, drinking alcohol and not praying will become the devil when they die.”
Although these punishments are tormenting, it seems as though there is an end that comes to the punishment even though it might be after millions of years. They still have the chance to repent and be able to move on to the next stage of the afterlife.
We have heard that parents often bring their children to one of these hell gardens to scare them into doing good and not fall under sin. I can imagine this would be an effective measure. Especially considering the sign at the front of the garden that reads “If you meet the Devil in this life, don’t postpone merit-making which will help you to defeat him in the next life.”
After this fairly intense experience, we decided to take a drive around the area. First, we went to Khao Sam Muk Viewpoint where we were met by lots of monkeys and then we drove to Ban Bang Phra. Even though the area was closed, we still found the drive around the lake relaxing and took it as an opportunity for a quick drive through Sriacha.
When we returned to Bang Saen, we noticed that the Marine Institute near our stay had an aquarium attached to it. While it was small and somewhat of a rip off, it passed the time before lunch.
Lunch was at Dee Prom Restaurant Bang Saen. This definitely seemed to be a cool and well-loved spot by both locals and tourists. We got deep-fried crab, cashew chicken, and a tasty lemongrass salad. Dessert was at a very small ice cream shop called MAI i TIM. It was here I had my first ice cream, the Thai way, in a hotdog bun. They air-fried the bread and added some condensed milk on top. Overall, the experience was very good and we give it our full endorsement.
Our final dinner was at BMC Burger which was followed by watching the sunset on the Wonnapha Pier and doing as the locals do; set up shop and people watch the rest of the night. We ended the night as we had with every other, a quick dip in our pool.
Bang Saen is only an hour from our house which is great to know now, in case we need another quick getaway from Bangkok in the future.
We look forward to our next adventures now that restrictions in Bangkok have been lifted.
