On the Ground and Running - well at least Walking!
Bangkok, Thailand
March 04, 2009
Well, the jet lag had not kicked in yet. It was 8 am and we were up and at 'em. Our hotel, Lamphutree, served us fresh cut fruit - papaya, pineapple and watermelon. We also had eggs with ham (even though Bill asked for bacon) and toast. It is nice to have the internet in the lounge near the dining area and pool. We have seen internet cafes, but they do not seem as nice.
Bill and I started walking to the Myanmar Embassy and passed by many shops. They do not waste space here. There are food stands, hardware shops, flower shops, scooter garages, etc all side by side.
When we arrived at the UN building we reexamined the map and discovered that we were no where near the Embassy
. So, we hailed a cab and fought the notorious traffic of Bangkok. Despite Bill's fear that he took us the long way, the ride cost us $7.
Interestingly enough we saw a Catholic Church and hospital near the Embassy. At the Embassy an older gentleman from Alaska explained what information we required. We had everything except a photocopy of our passport. Bill searched our bag, but we did not have it. While we were trying to inquire about the photocopy a Thai lady showed us what line we had to be in and at the time it was very long.
We headed out and by shear luck found a bookstore where we made copies and bought some water for less than $2.50. We hussled back to the Embassy because it closes for lunch at noon. We were at the very end of the line and there were 2 people in front of us at 12:00. The lady was kind enough to take us and process our papers before her lunch
. While we were standing there, the Thai lady from earlier handed Bill something. It was our camera bag with our point and shoot camera and brand new camcorder. She simply handed it to him and walked away, she did not even wait for us to thank her. He had taken it out of our knapsack while looking for our photocopies. St Christopher was inside the camera back and that is where He is going to stay.
We started toward Chinatown for lunch. Along the way I spied a complex with Starbucks and thought we may find a restaurant. Starbucks had a very nice Bangkok mug, but we did not want to carry it all day. There were no restaurants, so we left and headed onward. At the corner a man asked us where we were from. He had seen us in the building (yes, we stand out like sore thumbs), apparently it was a hotel and he worked at the front desk. He knew where Windsor was because his friend works in Detroit for Ford
. He had worked in a local factory for Ford in the canteen, but is paid much better at the hotel. He advises us not to buy things in this area because they are too expensive!
On our way to Chinatown we decided to try to get a view of the water (no river front streets and walkways like Windsor). We happen to walk down by China House, Assumption Cathedral and expensive hotels. Bill found the "Lucky, lucky" lady and purchased a Thai Beer (Chang) shirt. Since we were near the expensive hotels, I am sure she was very lucky and Bill overpaid ($7). We saw the water on the end of a pier and took a short break to have some water and Bill's first Coke in Thailand.
Back on track, an older gentleman who worked for the post office advised us where to go for lunch as we have only seen street meat for quite some time. He also told us that the blue tuk tuks (a scooter with a carriage for passengers) have government insurance and we should only take them (there are yellow and green ones too)
. When we arrived at the restaurant, Bill was sure we had been scammed. We picked out our crab and sea bass (you pay by the lb) and told them how to prepare it. We also had asparagus with carrots and mushrooms. We had 2 tall Singha beers to wash it all down. The meal was fabulous, but very expensive ($100). We were had, but did not care as we were not ready for street meat.
We hailed a cab to Wat Pho (pronounce Po). Once inside the gates we were surprised by the detail and colour. Everything was so beautiful. We walked around the grounds and checked out the numerous statues (one depicted different healing positions of massage) that were mostly people and animals. There were large statues of guards at each gate and a few in the center that were caricatures of Western men (big noses). There was a Bohdi tree that was taken from a cutting of the original Buddha tree in India. There were several shrines, where you have to remove your shoes to enter, with gold figures of Buddha and Bodhisattvas where you could make an offering. The largest (the main Bot) was very beautiful and calming. There was a monk seated and meditating while we were there.
The most impressive part is the reclining Buddha (long lying Buddha). He was 45 m long and was surrounded by murals of everyday life and Buddhist stories on the walls. We heard a clinking sound and when we went to the other side saw that you could make a donation and take a bowl of coins to place in the pots. While placing my coins in the pots I offered up the intentions of all of our family and friends.
We then headed to Khoa San Road (backpackers paradise). Along the way we stopped at some food markets, bought some water, Coke and strawberries. We even sampled Mangosteens/Monkey Fruit and it was very good.
Khoa San was a large indoor and outdoor market where many foreigners hang out. It had food, clothes, jewelery, wooden frogs (very annoying), almost everything except a shot glass (sorry Heidi), but including a Starbucks, so we purchased my mug. I badly wanted an iced tea, but can you trust the ice anywhere??? I decided not to risk it as I have not seen much fresh water here. The canals are worse than Venice.
On our way back to our hotel we were stopped from crossing the street along with numerous vehicles. A police escorted Motorcade went zipping by. You don't see that every day!
After walking for a while and then loading down with 4 L of water, some Coke and flowers we discover that we have gone 1 km too far! So we have to lug everything another km back and it is dark now, so we have had a fairly full day and are pretty tired.
We took a nice dip in the pool and it cooled us down immediately. We then had dinner at our hotel. I ordered chicken with noodles and was given shrimp with rice. Can't win them all! We headed to bed at 9 and were ready for a new start tomorrow!