*Note* My purse was stolen in Manila, and my phone was in my purse. I had not downloaded my Bangkok pictures from my phone, so sadly, there are not many pictures to accompany this entry.
I really like Bangkok as far as Asia goes. It is clean and although there is a lot of traffic, people actually let you cross the road, and there is no horn blowing. The language barrier is more noticeable than in Manila, but it hasn't been a problem. Edi has been in training all week, and I have had to entertain myself. I am not one to go out on my own, so it has been a bit difficult... liberating but difficult all the same.
Monday I left the hotel not really knowing where I was going. I popped in a department store, but left fairly quickly as I really was not in the mood to shop. I ended up going back to the hotel and doing some research on the different tours in the area. I did go to The Eatery, one of the hotel's restaurants for lunch and had a delicious meal. When Edi got out of training, I was sitting by the pool reading my book, sipping on white wine. He joined me for a drink and then we walked across the street to La Barca Italian Restaurant - quaint atmosphere, delicious food, and engaging conversation.
Tuesday I walked over to Terminal 21 which is a really cool mall; each floor is modeled after a different country. I leisurely walked each floor meandering through The Caribbean, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, London, Istanbul, San Francisco, and Hollywood. I did a little shopping and then had lunch at Mos Burger. That evening we went with seven of the Ericsson guys, one (named Yos) being from Thailand. We rode the train to a boat shuttle and took the shuttle to Asiatique a river front with a huge, very cool night market. There are restaurants that line the river front with lots of outdoor seating. We chose our restaurant but some of the guys opted for the air conditioning of inside. Yos ordered up a Thailand feast! Two different soups, two kinds of fish, clams, vegetables... it was all delicious and spicy just how I like it. After dinner we walked the market and picked up a thai pancake from a vendor for dessert - yum!
Wednesday I took a rice barge tour. I was picked up at the hotel by my tour guide We chatted comfortably on the way to the pier. Throughout the tour I found out that he was seventy-five years old and really enjoys meeting tourists who are generally in a good mood being on holiday. We arrived at the pier a little early, so I had time to walk the shops and galleries. When time, I boarded the long tail motor boat and we were off going up the Chao Phraya River. We passed temples, the grand palace, monks and people just going about their every day lives. We also passed the hospital where the king who is eighty-seven and queen live. The king is in poor health, so he lives in a suite on the top floor of the hospital. Our tour guide said that the king sometimes comes out and waves at the people on the river - I'm not so sure he was serious. We rode up the river and into one of the channels. These channels are a huge part of daily life and a great transportation as there is no traffic.
After traveling down the river for about an hour, we pulled up to a little dock area and disembarked. The long tail boat backed away and a large decked out rice barge pulled up. We all boarded to a delicious buffet of tropical fruit, refreshing fruit punch, and Thai whiskey was available to taste. We traveled back to the pier on which we began and the tour was over. Fighting traffic, my tour guide and driver got me back to my hotel without a scratch.
I hadn't been back at the hotel long when Edi got back. We went down to the Beer Terrace for a beer and the day's highlights. For dinner we walked to a restaurant called Khana Khazana for lime sodas and vegetarian Indian food. It was delicious!
Thursday I was in need of a pedicure, so I walked to Terminal 21 and found a mini spa. I opted for a foot spa and chose a polish that cost an extra 100 baht...wouldn't you know. I had lunch at Mos burger again after walking the entire mall again looking for a restaurant. I did find one that I wanted to try for dinner - Edi and I had dinner there Friday night. When I got back to the hotel, I changed into my swimsuit and headed to the pool for a swim and some reading. Edi and I had Mexican food at Margarita's Sunrise Tacos for dinner - good margaritas, pretty good food.
Friday, I was like OK, what today? I felt in need of a workout, so I went to the fitness center and worked out for an hour and a half, and then headed to the pool for a cool dip. Dinner was had at Moom Muum - cute atmosphere, and then after dinner coffee at Coffee World.
Saturday, I was more than relieved to have my travel partner back. We began the day at Chez Charlie's a little French Bistro. We sat outside and sipped coffee nibbling on a baguette and an almond croissant. Shop owners were busy opening up shop; A woman from the bistro brought out two small pastries and a small cup of juice. She set it on the sidewalk underneath a bush and lit a stick of incense right beside it. With ninety four percent of Thailand being Buddhist, one sees that sort of thing a lot.
We took the tube to the pier and caught the water taxi which hardly stops to let you on - one must be very fast and coordinated! We found that we were going the wrong way, so we had to get off at the next stop which is no small feat, and wait for the next water taxi heading the opposite way. Finally making it to our stop, we walked to the Jim Thompson House to tour. It was an interesting tour learning about Jim Thompson the man and seeing the traditional Thai architecture used on the house and gardens. The restaurant was nice as well; we had a nice, relaxing lunch after our tour deciding what to do next.
We decided to take the sky train to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. It was huge! So much to see and buy. We did buy a little turtle lamp made from a coconut shell, and we each had a fruit soda from a vendor (lime for me and coconut for Edi) - so refreshing. We walked through the park leaving the market; people were sitting around the lake enjoying the late afternoon. Back at the hotel via the sky train, we freshened up and walked to Indulge for dinner where we sat outside and enjoyed delicious food and great conversation.
Sunday we had a leisurely morning. We were picked up by East Thailand Tours for our Grand Palace and The Temple of the Emerald Buddha tour. Our tour guide was good and the palace was quite extravagant...well, the outside was; we didn't go inside - a bit of a disappointment. We did get to go into the temple. We had to remove our shoes and sit cross legged. It is disrespectful to have your feet facing the Buddha. It was beautiful with lots and lots of gold and gems, Back in the van we made one more stop at a gem factory where they hoped we all would buy some expensive jewelry. I'm not their gal. :-) For dinner we decided on a pub for dinner, but we couldn't find it and ended up at Grottino Swiss Restaurant where we had fondue! It was so good!
And that ends our trip to Bangkok. We journeyed home on Monday thankful for a wonderful trip and happy to see Kona and Kimbrel. :-)
