Bangkok – I set out on my journey in Bangkok on foot. I had 5 places that I wanted to visit and got to 4 of the 5. It was about 91 degrees today and thankfully was not humid but I walked about 10 miles and had enough. I got a cab back to the hotel a big splurge of 500 Bot or about $15. There seems to be more tourists in Thailand than in Malaysia in my observation of the people that I have come across. I am sure my next stop in Thailand will have less Western people as it is Kanchanaburi.
Lumphini park – is a park that is not far from my hotel and was the first stop on my journey. It is about 12 acres in a major city and has plenty of foot paths and water going through the park in the form of streams. I would not eat anything out of the stream but they did have some lizards that were cool to watch. The park was gearing up for a Christmas even with all kinds of tents being erected so it was a bit of a construction zone. I think that the area will not be like the Christmas Market in Germany but will be a Thailand style.
Wat Traimit Withayaram – was my second stop. It is known for the Golden Buddha and the buddha is on the 4th floor of the building. As with all temples you need to take your shoes off so off them came and in I sent in stocking feet. The guy guarding the door wanted to see my ticket, it was 100 Bot to see the Buddha, and I could hardly find it. He was yelling at people that they could not come in without paying and I paid but could not find the ticket. I finally got the ticket and was cleared through to enjoy the Golden Buddha. There was a carpet in front of the Buddha and you could not take photos on the carpet, the guard yelled at people for trying to do that as well. I just stood outside the carpet area while people were praying and had a photo or two. Note: I was setting up to take a photo, waiting on a couple to finish, and was starting when I tour guide said to the tour that they needed a group photo. The couple left and the group came into the shot. Why could they have not waited for 30 seconds to allow me to finish my shot?
Wat Pho – is a temple with the laying down Buddha. It had more to offer than just the Buddha but that was the main attraction for this temple. Once again the shoes came off but this time instead of leaving the shoes outside you got a reusable bag to put your shoes in and off you could go. The Buddha was big and was gold. People were trying to get the shot of the entire Buddha and that was hard due to length, people and angles. The temple had many other areas of interest like a history of Thai message. There were many buildings in this temple to explore and was worth the time I spent there.
The Grand Palace – is just a block from Wat Pho and I walked there in an effort to get to the five spots I wanted to explore. As my luck would have it you needed to wear pants and I had on shorts. It was 91 degrees so the palace would sell me some Thailand pants for 200 Bot or about $6.00. I said no thanks as they were closing in 30 minutes and it was not worth it since I had to get my new pants home. The pants were like pajama pants and I should have bit the bullet but didn’t. The palace is across the street from many of the government buildings like Defense, and Court. I am sure there are others in the area but I did not see them. It is also about 1 block from the water where you can go on a tour via a boat if you could call it that with a big V8 engine on the back. The engine is attached to a long drive shaft a driver maneuvers the boat with the long shaft. I then skipped the last stop due to just being tired from all my walking and the heat.
Southern Terminal Bangkok – this is an experience in itself but it was the place that I was catching my van/shuttle to my next stop. The station is a bus/van terminal but as with most building in the area there was a “shopping mall” inside the multilevel building. The ground floor was where you got the bus/van and my van was called Win Happy. When I booked the van I was given a photo of the kiosk for the van company so I just had to search it out. I was at the station 45 minimum before the departure so I did some exploring. Not only was there clothes and food sales but a Dojo and even a tattoo place. the tattoo place was doing a brisk business with 5-6 people getting a tattoo but also 5-6 waiting to get their chance. The restroom was a bit to be desired but I pressed onward. Down to the van kiosk I went and was told to come back in 10 minutes for my van or I think that is what they said. I went to 7/11 and came back and was hurried onto the van. I purchased two seats as vans don’t have luggage spaces and I wanted to be comfortable for the 3 hour journey and have my bags next to me not on me. I found 2 seat together and was told I could not sit there but pointed to the back. I said I had 2 tickets and the guy made a single move to a single seat. He left his bags in the aisle but that was fine with me as I had my bags next to me. Off we went on the journey but it was not a direct van but the van made stops along the way to let people off. The first stop was a check of tickets and I was worried as everyone else had rice paper tickets and I had my printout from home. After inspection off we went to the final destination. After 3 hours and a few stops we made it to the final destination. The young lady in front of me on the bus wanted to help me get a ride to my hotel. She spoke with a tuk tuk driver and I showed her my Grab cost. She said I should use Grab. She waited with me for the driver and when he arrived she went and got a Tuk Tuk to her hotel. I found out she lives in Bangkok but her son lives with her mom and sister so she comes out to see her 13 year old son. The van experience was good and I would do it again.
Dheva Mantra Resort – the hotel is right on the river Kwai and the restaurant is even a floating barge on the river. The restaurant is traditional Thai but not spicy, guess they think gringos don’t like spicy. I asked for spicy and the waitress looked at me like I was crazy. They did a little spicy but not that hot and the waitress was amazed I ate all of the food. The food was very good for my two dinners. Breakfast came with my room rate so off to breakfast I went in the AM. When I got there they checked me in and said sit anywhere but all the tables were taken. I waited and I staff member cleared off a table and I placed two glasses on the table to “mark my table” but a group of three decided they liked my table and sat down. It was awkward to say the least when the staff member started to yell at them directing them to another table. I said no problem and moved to the other table, international crisis adverted. After breakfast was the 60 minute foot massage and oh boy was it good. Best part is that it cost 720BOT or $20. The hotel staff were very nice and my room was a king but actually just two twins pushed together. I was thankful nobody was with me as someone would have had to sleep in the middle of the two beds, not fun. The floors of the room were marble and wood. My room had two separate balconies one with a table and two chairs the other just a balcony. The one with a table and chairs also had a fan and light so I could sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather on my second night. The first night there was a guy in the next room who wanted to smoke on the balcony which the smoke drifted my way so no sitting outside for me. I look back at the hotel’s name “resort” and say the pool was nice, we had the spa but that was about it for the “resort.” I would say that on the 2nd day I went to the pool to enjoy the water only to find that there was no towels! After about 1 hour of reading my book a staff member brought me a towel and placed 6 more in the towel rack for others to use. Thankfully nobody else showed up needing a towel and they were safe. Staffing seems to be a problem as on my first day I noticed a sign at the pool saying 2 for 1 happy hour 5 -7 and that put a smile on my face until it was 5:45 and still nobody at the bar to serve the 2 for 1 drinks. I inquired at the desk and the phoned someone who ride his bike to the pool and got me my drinks. He did come back a few times to ensure I got the beers I wanted before 7. Another interesting thing that happened is I needed to get some laundry done as I was out of clean clothes and needing two sets to go home, the journey is going to be about 36 hours. I filled out the paperwork and took my stuff to the desk. The desk clerk said that I had missed today’s regular laundry but my stuff would be back the following day before noon. OK I could live with that and went about my business. About two hours later a knock at the door revealed my clothes which were clean and folded. I did not even pay the up-charge of 100% for same day service after 1000.
Bridge over river Kwai – as a youth at a Boys and Girls club sleep way camp they placed the WWII movie by the same name. I don’t recall the move bit remembered the name and since I was in Thailand and near the bridge I sent to take a look at it for myself. It is a big tourist attraction in Kanchanaburi so off I went. My hotel is in the town but not the city center nor near the bridge so I was looking for a Grab and a desk clerk said he would drive me since he was off work he just had to change clothes. He was a nice young man and I tipped him for taking me to the bridge. I walked the bridge and it has two different gage tracks, the original small, and the new larger. I don’t think anymore trains come as the number of people on the bridge was amazing. The bridge has railroad ties but diamond plated steel to connect the ties allowing walkers to walk and not get hurt. There are three lanes the right, left and the middle and many times I had to switch between the lanes to get by photo takers. The bridge was nice and interesting place to spend a few hours.
BKK airport – the 3 hour ride to the airport was done in less than 3 hours and the ticket counter does not open until 3:55 for my flight and I am here at 1:45. I did find a post office and was able to send my last postcards which was a good thing. I had to sit on the floor and write them. The airport is a buzz with activity to say the least. The line to get past immigration will take at least 1 hour as it is massive! The dude who told me the checking line opens at 3:55 lies as it opened at 3:15 but I noticed and got into line to get my boarding pass. We boarded at 6:15am Dallas time we landed in Doha and had to take a bus after walking down the steps. The bus ride was about 15 minutes. After the bus we went through security once again and then down to the gate area. We arrived at 3:00 pm Dallas time. I had just enough time to change clothes and hood it to the gate. Before you got to the gate there was another screening station and my water was gone once again. I sat down at the gate and about 15 minutes later we boarded the flight. We took off on schedule for our 16.5 hour flight. I was unable to sleep so I red a two books but did not watch a movie. Food was had for dinner and breakfast with a snack here and there. I will have to get back to exercise soon as the trip has added some pounds to my frame. We had an awesome sunrise today when over Canada and I hope I was able to get some photos of it. Upon heading into Dallas I looked out and the clouds were below the skyline of Dallas and it looked great but no photos of that view. We landed at 9:21am Tuesday. Now just need to get to gate and through immigration and customs. Made it home at 10:30am so I was on the road traveling for over 27 hours from airport to airport if you add travel to/from airport the travel was over 35 hours.
