FINALLY Bangkok!
By Andrew. Filed in Asia |
So I FINALLY made it to Thailand and it was all I was expecting and MORE! Last time I tried getting there, I ended up in Singapore but unlike my experience with Singapore, Thailand has proven to be a country rich in culture and history. It was an AMAZING trip!
United's new international seats
The trip started out GREAT! On my leg from LAX to NRT, I got to sit up in first on United’s new First Class pods/seats. I tried to take a good picture but couldn’t find one that did it justice. The pods turn into a comfie bed and the 19″ entertainment center has tons of movies, TV shows, and lots and lots of video games. You can make out some of the controls on the right. More info on UAL’s new seats can be found at http://suitedreams.united.com. The NRT to BKK leg wasn’t so nice. I ended up in Economy. PAAAAAAAAAAAAAINFUL. So I arrived at 11:10pm on April 10th and took a cab to the hotel. NOTE: **ALWAYS** insist that the cabbie use the meter. If you get a quote from him, you’ll pay double, triple, or more. If he won’t do it, move on… there are a million cabs in BKK.
Bangkok Airport
After leaving the plane, there was a looooooooooong walk to immigration. But along the way, you find these statues that gives you a preview of what to expect throughout Thailand. AMAZING work of arts.
FuramaXclusive Hotel
In Singapore, I ended up in a not-so-great hotel. But, for a lot less, I had a REALLY create place in the Silom area of Bangkok. The FuramaXclusive (http://furamaxclusive.com/sathorn). WONDERFUL rooms, and thank goodness… an AWESOME AC unit. Because of the combination of jetlag and the heat, I ended up sleeping from around 1pm to 7pm each day. Worked out great! Highly recommended place.
Bangkok BTS
The next morning, I headed out on my tour of the city. A block away from my hotel was the Chong Nonsi BTS station that you can catch a train to take you to most places. The BTS is fast, clean and dependable. Here’s their website: http://www.bts.co.th/en/index.asp
Bangkok Longboats
One part of the BTS ends at the Chao Praya River. From there, you can catch these longboats to go up and down the river for a few bahts… about a US Dollar. I took one up to the center area that has the Grand Palace and many temples. Along the way, you can see some wonderful sites.
Thailand Tuk Tuk
When I got off the boat, a Tuk Tuk driver offered to show me several temples around the area for 50 bahts. Around $1.50. I took him up on it. I’ve been told they will take you places, but some of the stops are tourist traps where he would get a commission. I did this anyways… I see it kind of like staying a weekend for free in a time share but you have to sit in on the sales pitch. This wasn’t too painful… and I actually got a couple of custom tailored shirts for $25 each at one of his stops. This was pretty fun.
Giant Swing
For some reason, this tall structure called the Ciant Swing is a tourist attraction. Something to do with an ancient ceremony. You can learn more about this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Swing. I really don’t get the attraction.
Golden Buddha
The Golden Buddha was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. This is actually a 1700’s artifact that was recently discovered hidden under plaster to escape the ravages of war. I was lucky enough to meet the grounds manager at the temple who gave me a really interesting tour. It was funny how he kept saying he loved Bush and Condi Rice and Powell and “Papa” Bush because of the help we gave after the tsunami. And I kept hearing the same thing from others too. ANYWAYS, had a great tour of the temple and was even allowed to take a picture of this Buddha, which was hard to do since almost everywhere, photos aren’t allowed inside.
Burial Tombs
Around the temple where the Golden Buddha was held, you find these structures that house the cremated remains of prominent folks…. monks, dignitaries, etc. This one was plaster but some were golden. Nice.
Democracy Square
Another monument built for…. democracy, I would guess.
The Brown McDonalds
I saw this McDonalds and thought it was different for some reason…. Then I found out that it’s the only one int he world that’s brown, instead of red. I haven’t confirmed this, but that’s what I’ve been told.
Thailand King Bhumibol Adulyadej
ALL around Thailand, you’ll see portraits of the Royal Family. It’s EVERYWHERE!
The Grand Palace
After the Tuk Tuk tour, I finally got the The Grand Palace where you can also find the Emerald Buddha. A funny thing about this place is that you HAVE to wear long pants and shirts with some sort of sleeves. BUT, you can put 100 bahts as a deposit and they will lend you some crappy pullover pants like the brown ones you see on the guy behind me. This is funny since, because of the weather… almost 100% of the tourists are wearing shorts and sandals.
The Emerald Buddha
You can’t really see it but through this door is the Emerald Buddha. I had to take the picture out here because, like most places, pictures aren’t allowed inside. There are watchful guards in there and while I was inside, a woman tried to sneak in a picture. The guard ran up to her, grabbed her camera, and deleted all the pictures while screaming at her! Really funny! The Emerald Buddha itself was REALLY small. Maybe a foot tall. But it was still pretty impressive.
Palace Guard
Around the Palace itself you will find these English inspired guards. Of course EVERYONE was taking pictures around them. Nice uniforms…. but it’s HOT out there. Can’t they do short sleeves?
Temple of the Dawn
On the OTHER side of the river was the Temple of the Dawn (War Arun) which was very impressive. I took this picture from the longboat on the way back to the hotel.
Dinner with the BangkokChat gang!
Before my trip to Bangkok, I made some friends over at http://BangkokChat.org and met 3 of them for dinner. Tallie, Chubs, and Sheer. Tallie was my lifesaver in Bangkok…. what a woman! 
Thai food in Thailand was AMAZING! Almost every restaurant the dishes are served family style ala cart. You just order a bunch of food and everyone shares. But the BEST foods have to be the stuff you get from the sidewalk vendors. YUMM!
Lychee
On the way to the Floating Market you find carts and carts of this fruit, the Lychee. I never saw one before so I had to try it….
Inside the Lychee
You pull the outer shell apart and you get this sweet and sour grape-like inside. Pretty tasty but I don’t see why everyone is so crazy about it.
King Rama II Memorial Park
Another stop before the Floating Market was the King Rama II Memorial Park. This was a interesting park that had some really cool historical artifacts.
Ratchaburi Floating Market
The Ratchaburi Floating Market was a stop I HAD to make. This is a huge series of canals where vendors sell good and food from small boats. I’ve heard this floating market is the most photographed asian sites ever. Maybe most photographed Thailand site?
Ratchaburi Floating Market Traffic Jam
For the best experience, you rent a boat to go through the miles and miles of floating market canals, about 400 bahts. In some parts, you get into traffic jams. This was a LOT of fun and I got 95% of my soveigners here.
Mango Tree
What was suppose to be my last night, I wanted to go to a “fancy” Thai restaurant. This is the Mango Tree. The prices were more then the other restaurants but the food just wasn’t as good. Altho’ the service and atmosphere was great, I’d rather get the stuff from the street vendors.
Of course, when I got to Thailand, there were more protesters. This time it was the Red Shirt. Because of this, tourist were trying to leave Thailand earlier then planned. And I didn’t get on my flight and stayed another day. Unlike Singapore, this didn’t bother me at all! There was a lot I wanted to do. Visit the infamous Soi Cowboy or KSR. And go to a Muay Boxing match. And take pictures of this one vendor I saw that had all kinds of insects to eat. And go to the Zoo. BUT… the Prime Minister declared a State of Emergency and Chubs and Tallie (see above) said I really should stay in. So I did. The next morning I went to try to catch a flight out. No chance on United but I took an ANA flight out instead to NRT and from NRT I was able to catch my UAL plane back to LAX.
Thailand is an AMAZING country and there’s SO MANY things left to do there. Besides what I mentioned above, I want to leave the BKK area and go trekking up north. Or see the Tiger Temple. Or fly down to Phuket and Phi Phi Island. See Pattaya Beach and spend a day or two snorkeling at Trangs.
So, this won’t be my only trip to Thailand… just my first.
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