Wow what a day in Bangkok yesterday. The day started off early since we went to sleep at 6:30pm the night before. We had breakfast at the hotel and then walked down to the mega-mall where the subway station is.
Bangkok's public transportation is actually really nice and very easy to figure out. The only bump we really had is when Steve left me standing on the platform, jumping into the train as the doors were closing, leaving me staring at him through the glass with the "WTF!?!" look on my face. Thankfully though, he was able to screen "wait here!!" before the train pulled away so we didn't have to spend the rest of the morning figuring out how to find each other. It was actually really funny. The stations are really safe, clean and cool and I ended up meeting a New Zealand woman who traveled to Thailand to get work done (apparently that stuff is much cheeper here. She was getting 8 dental crowns and laser on her face and legs-it was a very odd conversation).
Anyway, like Steve said, lots of Wat visiting yesterday. We met a Thai man who set us up with an itinerary for the day and then grabbed a tuk-tuk driver and negotiated a price for the whole thing. We had our own on-call driver for 100baht (which is like $4). Granted the tuk-tuk driver was an ass and drove us to all these "expo shops" where he could get free gas for bringing us there, but we agreed to it cause we were killing time and exploring Bangkok. Anyway, we traveled to so many beautiful temples and we'll post pictures as soon as possible.
Right before we traveled back to the hotel we had our first unfortunate experience though. We got scammed. Not terribly. But enough to piss us off and teach us our lesson. We went to a travel agency that we were told was part of the TAT (transportation authority of Thailand) and paid too much to book our Trek in Chang Mai. I won't get into it too much more than that. There's a little more to it but we're still kind of reeling about it and trying to take it as a learning lesson and let it go. We now know Thai people are very friendly, but there are also some, just like Americans, that our blatantly full of ca-ca.
Anyway, we didn't figure out the scam until this morning so let me finish with yesterday. We got back to the hotel, showered the sweat off (Thailand is HOT!), rested, then went to a Lady Boy show!! It was hysterical. And completely bizarre. I got some good pics from that too.
So now we're packing up, working on our remanding travel arrangements for the south and then flying to Chang Mai. I'm looking forward to being out of Bangkok. It's kinda like a city on crack. Its beautiful and hideous at the same time. Small doses is good.
Till next time.
-Gina
Monday, October 31, 2011
First Full Day in Bangkok
Today was our first full day in Bangkok. We got an early start today at about 630 since we went to bed early last night. We were bushwhacked from the flights.
Anyway we did a lot today. We figured out the Bangkok subway. Went to several buddhist temples, planned a trek we are going to do in Chiang Mai, and spent a fair amount of time riding around on tuk tuks seeing the city.
Tonight were going on the sky train to a lady boy show. Gina has some much better pictures on her camera but here are a few from my phone of the temples.
By the way many Thai people are so nice. We have gotten a lot of help just talking to random people on the streets.
Anyway we did a lot today. We figured out the Bangkok subway. Went to several buddhist temples, planned a trek we are going to do in Chiang Mai, and spent a fair amount of time riding around on tuk tuks seeing the city.
Tonight were going on the sky train to a lady boy show. Gina has some much better pictures on her camera but here are a few from my phone of the temples.
By the way many Thai people are so nice. We have gotten a lot of help just talking to random people on the streets.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
First day in Bangkok
So.... It's pretty hot here. Eat your heart out East Coasters stuck in an October snowstorm!! Anyway, I digress.
Bangkok is really something. I don't know what to make of it yet. If I could sum it up in one word it would be, heavy. Heavy in activity, heavy in noise, heavy in smog. Actually, really heavy in smog. I had to take my inhaler cause I couldn't breathe, so yeah, really heavy in smog.
We checked into our hotel, showered and got ourselves organized then ventured out in Sukhumvit (area of Bangkok). We briefly asked the hotel front desk people where we should head (seeing that a lot of our Bangkok plans have been altered thanks to the flooding) and they sent us to the biggest damn mall I've ever seen. That's something coming from a Jersey Girls mouth. We wandered the chaos that a brand spankin new Bangkok mall provides and then trekked back to our hotel.
We ended up eating at the restaurant right at our hotel cause Jetlag was very quickly catching hold of me. I ordered a curry but like the dumbass I am, forgot to say "nid-noi phed" which means 'very little spice' so Steve (the wonderful husband that he is) gave me his mild noodle dish instead.
Now I lay here in bed with our ginormous window overlooking night time in Bangkok (which I actually think is much prettier than the day time) wondering what the next few days will hold. The flooding is still a threat to all of Bangkok. As of now central Bangkok is fine but there's evidence of the anxiety it's causing everywhere. We passed many shops that actually built concrete walls around their businesses, not to mention the walls of sand bags EVERYWHERE. Outside of central Bangkok is not as lucky. We'll find out tomorrow if we're able to do any sightseeing in the old temple. I'm not getting my hopes up. All in all though, we can't complain.
Anyway, here's a picture of the view from our hotel room. Goodnight friends and family!
Bangkok is really something. I don't know what to make of it yet. If I could sum it up in one word it would be, heavy. Heavy in activity, heavy in noise, heavy in smog. Actually, really heavy in smog. I had to take my inhaler cause I couldn't breathe, so yeah, really heavy in smog.
We checked into our hotel, showered and got ourselves organized then ventured out in Sukhumvit (area of Bangkok). We briefly asked the hotel front desk people where we should head (seeing that a lot of our Bangkok plans have been altered thanks to the flooding) and they sent us to the biggest damn mall I've ever seen. That's something coming from a Jersey Girls mouth. We wandered the chaos that a brand spankin new Bangkok mall provides and then trekked back to our hotel.
We ended up eating at the restaurant right at our hotel cause Jetlag was very quickly catching hold of me. I ordered a curry but like the dumbass I am, forgot to say "nid-noi phed" which means 'very little spice' so Steve (the wonderful husband that he is) gave me his mild noodle dish instead.
Now I lay here in bed with our ginormous window overlooking night time in Bangkok (which I actually think is much prettier than the day time) wondering what the next few days will hold. The flooding is still a threat to all of Bangkok. As of now central Bangkok is fine but there's evidence of the anxiety it's causing everywhere. We passed many shops that actually built concrete walls around their businesses, not to mention the walls of sand bags EVERYWHERE. Outside of central Bangkok is not as lucky. We'll find out tomorrow if we're able to do any sightseeing in the old temple. I'm not getting my hopes up. All in all though, we can't complain.
Anyway, here's a picture of the view from our hotel room. Goodnight friends and family!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)