The Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok!
I See You There!
The Life of a VIP
Our bus from Ranong to Bangkok was special. The overnight bus was VIP. The bus ticket with spacious seats included dinner. The attendants on the VIP bus distributed nuts, juice, water and little pastries right after our departure from the terminal. We assumed this was our special VIP dinner. Not so! Two hours later, minutes before midnight, we approached another bus terminal. This one housed our VIP dinner and just like cattle at a cattle call, we disembarked and headed to our trough. The VIP meal tickets allowed special access to an exclusive VIP room where prepared plates of food awaited us at round tables. I honesty can’t be bothered sometimes to dish my own food. We joined all the other VIPs, sat down to share a meal, and consumed our fourth meal of the day, in relative silence, at midnight. Fifteen minutes, sufficiently gorged on noodles, we dutifully returned for our continued journey north . . . in style. Fortunately all critical decisions had already been made. No deciding where to eat, when to stop, is the food going to be good. It’s all been decided prior to your departure. Traveling VIP is spectacular!
Yes, the Capital is Bangkok!
42 Tee Off
Like any big city, Bangkok afforded us the opportunity to watch movies, take care of some visa errands (here we come Laos and Vietnam!), and go to the driving range? Yeppers, after dropping off our Laos visa applications, we crossed a driving range and that subsequently became our next stop. A little sports activity was good for me, even if it was golf. My shots landed in the middle of the range 200 yards away. Watch out PGA.
We also took the chance to watch Step Up, a predictable chick flick, as Nadine was in the mood for that type of movie. It would have been cheaper to take a nap at the hostel. I wanted to rename it Throw Up. Next day, we watched The Inconvenient Truth. This documentary by Al Gore really to encourage humans to consider our actions of today and yesterday on the environment and their repercussions on the world in the near future.
Wat Pho? To Visit the Bangkok Sites
Grand Palace
In addition to playing golf and watching movies, we visited the grandiose sites of the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. The Grand Palace is the official site for many Royal ceremonies and state functions. Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, houses this large jade Buddha. It serves as a pilgrimage site.
Just Chilling
A new day, a new temple. We decided to explore the Wat Pho Temple, home to a huge gold-plated 134 foot long reclining Buddha. Much taller than Shaq. The Buddha actually has a brick core, shaped then by plaster, and finally painted with a gold finish. This is an amazing Buddha. Taking a photo is overwhelming. It’s only to see the whole Buddha looking at it lengthwise from toe to head. A zillion tourists thwarted our first attempt to examine this golden Buddha. The second attempt proved more successful for this awesome statue. In addition to the enormous Buddha, 400 other Buddha images grace the temple. What? Yes, we thoroughly enjoyed this Wat.
In Short, Just Some Shorts
Royal Guard
We started this journey without many clothes in our backpacks. In Bangkok, I needed to buy some shorts, as we had heard this was cheapest place to get them. Wearing the same old “travel pants” I started the trip with were wearing on me. This relatively mundane task was not that easy. Actually, it was completely the opposite. First of all, many shops have the same shorts in the same style and color. Finding a different style was difficult. Add to that, I’m quite a bit larger than your typical Thai man with a bit bigger butt. I must’ve tried on 20 pairs of shorts, and we finally found one that fit. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best deal, but at least now I can look like a local in my new camo shorts.
Once again, life is good. We are in good health and loving life, but not the rats and bedbugs as much. We will spend Thanksgiving in northern Thailand, and our third anniversary following soon after. Standard joke: It has felt like 6 though. A couple more weeks in Thailand before we head northeast to Laos.
What year is it in Thailand? Why?
Have a great and warm Thanksgiving and give thanks for all that is good.
JW and NW
2 comments
Being a VIP sounds pretty sweet. I love free snacks when I’m taking any kind of transportation. Will have to log this is as an option to get around when I head to Thailand.
Sounds like a fun and also quite practically useful trip! Plus, surprise food is always nice when travelling.