Chilling in Thailand

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Yesterday was a good day. Knowing that I was going to be traveling today, I took it easy. Looking at the map, I saw that there was a JW Marriot with a very luxurious pool area. It was right by the river, but the river boats I was taking didn't go that far North. There are these long tail boat drivers that are similar to the taxi drivers, so one of them offered to bring me up there for 100 Baht (3 bucks). I probably could have dealt him down but I didn't feel like wheeling and dealing for a dollar. He brought me up there, and then offered to bring me back when I was done for another 100 Baht. I asked him how he would know when I was done, and he said "don't worry about it". (He ended up waiting there for the 90 minutes while I was there) Well, I relaxed by that pool for that time. It was really nice, with those lounge beds. Service in this country is unbelievable; it was fun. Afterward, I went back to my hotel, which is also very nice. Service in this country as a whole is simply unbelievable. At every level, whatever they are doing, these Asians put in their all.

The butler (who I thought until last night was housekeeping) is cleaning my sneakers now. It should be ready for me when I check out at 1PM (in about an hour). He kept asking to clean my shoes (finally I obliged). LOL. I wonder how clean my sneakers will be. Well, I will write more about yesterday in a bit (I have to get to the hotel to check out). Right now I am at the travel agent, and I have been trying to arrange my transportation for today while writing this. I found out that first class on the train is sold out, and that I would either have to wait for tommorrow, or ride second class. I don't feel comfortable not having a lock on my stuff, especially on an overnight to sleep. However, they have plane tickets that are only 3 dollars more espensive than first class train. This is a much better price than I found online. Online, I found tickets for 90 dollars, but they have plane tickets for 56 bucks. I'm pretty sure that I'm g
oing to take that. Tonight, I plan on staying at this hostel called Spicy Thai (weird name, but good reviews for a hostel). I like staying at hostels, especially to start. Aside from the unbelievably cheap prices (15 bucks for a single room), the people are usually trustworthy and know alot about the area.

OK, I'm out.

Talk to you soon.

Dan

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Photos

City within a city.
This is one of the nicer parts of the 'city within a city'.

Boat
This is a boat owned by the Peninsula, a VERY nice hotel.

Waterway longtail boat
An inside view of the public boat. Today I got one for myself that wasn't nearly the same size. It was basically a canoe with a motor.

Riverview
These probably won't be here much longer. This prime space will soon be taken by developers.

The King
They LOVE their King. There is pictures of him all over the place.

Chabad House
They are EVERYWHERE. Even in Luang Prabang, one of the most remote villages in Laos, in and of itself a country nestled in the middle of nowhere, you can find a Chabad House.

Banglampu
Backpacker mecca

Private School
All the kids in Thailand where uniforms to school. Actually, all the students I had seen throughout Asia all wore uniforms.