So now, back to Thailand....
We left Zurich for Thailand on Friday, May 8th around 1:30pm. We flew on Thai Airways and were very pleased with their service overall. The flight was direct, from Zurich to Bangkok, 11 hours long, and we were to arrive around 5:30am Bangkok time. Bangkok was 5 hours ahead of Zurich and 11 hours ahead of Cincinnati. The flight was great, but had a lot of turbulence in one stretch that lasted for a good 20-30 minutes. It was kind of scary, and it didn't help that we were over Pakistan at the time. We made it though!
Upon arrival, we got our bags and found our driver. We got to our car and as we stepped outside, we were hit with a wave of 85 degree heat and 1,000% humidity...and it was only 6am! Of course, we both began to sweat.
The hotel had a room available for us upon arrival which was huge! The place was beautiful and the room was very nice. We took showers and napped for a bit then wandered down to the lobby and met with the concierge to plan a few excursions and ask about custom-made clothes shops to visit while we were in Bangkok.
By 11:30am we were in a suit shop, getting a few custom suits and shirts made to order. Then, we were whisked away in a car to the Grand Palace. At this point it was close to 1pm. Upon arrival at the Palace, we were told by a man outside that the temple was closed for prayer (it was a holiday) and that we needed to come back in an hour and that it was open till 5pm. So, one thing led to another and we were again, whisked away in a "tuk-tuk" to some other random temple.
Okay, one observation we made right away: we were really surprised by how poor the country was. We knew it was poor, but until you actually saw it, you don't really believe it. People literally live in shacks along the river, canals and roads. There's trash just scattered all over and people are everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Bangkok is NUTS! Everyone seemed very happy though, and nice, which was good. They get around by jam packing themselves on these huge buses and/or by taking a ride on these mini-golf cart cars called tuk-tuks. I loved riding in the tuk-tuks but they scared Ag a bit. Oh, and they drive on the other side of the road there too. In some instances, they just drove wherever in the hell they wanted.
So, back to the fact that we were in a random tuk-tuk and arriving at a temple. We went inside and our driver waited for us. Inside, we bought these random birds in a cage that apparently are suppose to grant you good luck once you let them go. Of course, we were suckered into buying them and released them! The temple was really beautiful though so we were happy we got to see it.
Then, we got back in our tuk-tuk and the driver took us to another suit shop and jewelry place. Finally he took us back to the Grand Palace (it was around 3:00pm at this point). Upon arrival, he said that the temple was closed for visitors now. WHAT?? We were told by that other dude it was open till 5:00pm. We didn't know what to think and he said, "No problem. I have an idea. I can take you to the boat and you can take a ride, see a temple, etc."
Again, away we went in the tuk-tuk, unsure of what the hell was going on...We got to the river dock, paid our driver 20BHT (equal to about 60 cents) for driving us around for a few hours and then jumped into a random boat. It was us and a driver and honestly, we had no clue what was going on. Apparently we were on the 1 hour private boat tour. They call Bangkok the Venice of the East. Well, it lived up to its name and ended up being an awesome 1 hour ride!
We weaved in and out of the canals and grabbed a few beers from a lady selling things in a boat (she literally floated up to our boat on her boat and sold us beers), saw some nasty fish floppin' around in the water, waved to the locals as we cruised on by, etc. The boat ride ended at another temple that was beautiful! The detail, colors, and tile work that was done to the building was amazing.
Afterward, we figured out how the water taxis worked and took the taxi to the skytrain. The skytrain is basically an elevated subway system that runs throughout certain parts of the city. It was so clean and air conditioned! We took that to the mall area which was on the way to our hotel. It was crazy going from the poor, slum area of the city to then the mall area which was beautiful and just screamed wealth and luxury.
So, we walked home from the mall and ate dinner that night at the hotel. It actually got dark pretty early at night (by 7:00pm it was getting dark) which surprised us. We were so tired and crashed after dinner.
Sunday, May 10th
We woke up early as we had an all day excursion to attend. We went to Bang Pa In and Ayutthaya, plus an elephant work camp. Bang Pa In is the summer palace of the kings of Thailand. Ayutthaya was the old capital city in Thailand before it was destroyed in a war with the Burmese and the Thai's relocated the capital to Bangkok.
The tour we did was on a big tour bus and our guide was great. Ayutthaya was roughly 1.5 hrs outside of Bangkok. We walked around, saw the sites and then saw the "reclining Buddha". Then we went to Bang Pa In which was beautiful! The grounds were lovely and again, the buildings were amazing.
We then took a 2-3 hour boat ride back to Bangkok. On the boat we had a buffet lunch and just got to relax. Once we docked, we jumped into a van and went back to the hotel. Later that afternoon, we went back to the suit shop for a fitting. Of course, the shop guy talked me into ordering 7 more dress shirts! Ag just laughed at me.
Aggie and I then went to a night market which was really cool and checked out the vendors and food. We got 45 minute foot massages for the equivalent of $3. It was great!
Monday, May 11th
We went with a small tour group to see the floating markets. The markets were about an hour or so outside of Bangkok. Along the way, our group stopped at a sort of rest stop area where they were making coconut milk and oil.
Then, we got to the canals that would take us to the floating markets. The boat ride was really cool, and we rode in a venetian style boat. (It was the driver and then us and 2 other couples in the boat.)
We weaved through the canals and saw homes and took in our surroundings. When we reached the market, we got out and walked around. As you will see from the pictures, the market boats had so many things for sale...hats, purses, food, etc, etc. We started to get tired of the pushy people and the "deals" people were trying to make with us. We finally sat down for a short bit and relaxed.
After the market, we headed back to the city of Bangkok and went to the Grand Palace and to see the big Buddha statues. The Palace was beautiful and extremely impressive. The colors, details, and craftsmanship was amazing.
Finally, we headed back to our hotel, ready to crash from a busy few days of "go, go, go!". My suits and shirts were delivered that evening, we went to the hotel's happy hour for a cocktail, then ordered room service and called it a night. It was time to pack up and leave Bangkok for the North...we were on our way to the cities of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai!
