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Published: August 2nd 2008
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Bangkok
The King's Palace . . . where they keep the Emerald Buddha made of Jade. Eat Fresh!
When we arrive on Khaosan Road, we always feel a little bit like we're at home. I think it's because there's so much excitement, great food, nice places to stay, and that comfortable feeling of knowing that there will be 10 guys from India selling you a new suit. Luckily, D&D Inn had a room available for us . . . a double twin room, but non-the-less, a nice room. We had much to do as soon as we arrived. We needed to iron out plane tickets to Nepal, get visas to Vietnam, find a day trip to the floating market, and book plane tickets to Vietnam. We were hungry, but we had much to do. Hours after arriving and going from travel agency to travel agency (and 1:00 am calls to Brenda), we finally opened the door to the best shop on Khaosan Road--the smell of freshly baked bread filled our nostrils . . . we were at Subway! Two 12-inch subs later, we were filled and ready to be good tourists. We headed to MBK--one of the biggest shopping malls in Bangkok. We shopped around, noted the new stores (like Burger King and a third Dairy Queen),
Bangkok
An overview of the market. and saw a movie. We ended up catching a late showing of "Batman: The Dark Knight". By the time we got back to Khaosan Road, we were too tired even for a massage . . . so we headed for bed.
Day Two
A lost day. Oh, but we did get a massage.
King's Palace: Round Two
This year, we did get to enter the King's Palace. Covered from head to toe, so as not to offend the King and his wife, we melted our way through this beautiful palace laced with gold, jewels, crazy statues, and the world famous Emerald Buddha made of Jade. Fortunately, the weather wasn't too much over 100 degrees Fahrenheit . . . we were sweatin' to the oldies. It was a really interesting and quite beautiful palace--definitely worth the $9 to get in. After the palace, we headed back to the hotel to take a dip in the pool. We read by the poolside until supper. We were given a random flier for a vegetarian restaurant near Khaosan Road. We decided to try it out . . . well, if you're a vegan, this place is for you. The red curry Billy had was
Bangkok
Tasha with a tiger at the "Tiger Temple". delicious . . . the lasagna I had was great, if you're allergic to dairy products. To cleanse the palate, we got a nice chocolate, banana pancake--a Khaosan Road tradition. Billy bought his third batch of mangoes, and then . . . we got a massage.
Last Day, Last Taste of India . . . Until Nepal
Trains, planes, and automobiles . . .except, no trains, add a boat, and turn the plane into a minibus. Although we both hate day trips, we knew that the best way to see some things outside of Bangkok would be to book one through a travel agency. We wanted to see the floating market and the bridge over the river Kwae. The tiger temple was a nice add-on. We got up and headed out at 7:00 am. It was an early start to a long day. We arrived at the floating market and were promptly herded onto a boat. We drifted through the market while sellers begged us to buy their products. Our only interest: mangosteens, bananas, rambutan, and lychees. We found mangosteens for a good price, and they were quite delish. After we floated for about 40 minutes, we got out and
Bangkok
At the King's Palace . . . finally! wandered around the surrounding market for a while. Everything was ridiculously over-priced, and tourists were buying things up like crazy. Next, we headed out on a 20 minute "kill time" boat trip. Then, it was off to lunch. We had a very nice lunch with vegetarian options with a million other tourists. We were starting to feel like a herd of cattle.
After lunch, it was on to the Tiger Temple . . . which is apparently a real "temple"--though, I would beg to differ since it was really more like a glorified zoo. Upon arrival, we found out that we had to cover our shoulders but couldn't wear bright red, orange, or pink. Too bad that's the color of our sarong. So, I had to buy a "Tiger Temple T-Shirt". Talk about a bad tourist trap. We headed into the zoo, and found the place where they keep all of the drugged tigers. There was a canyon with about 10 tigers all sleepy and probably drugged. We had to follow strict rules while we walked around and got our pictures taken with all of the different tigers. It was cool to feel them breath and growl under our hands
Bangkok
Billy and a statue in the palace. . . . a tiger has thick fur and hide. Not so soft . . . only the babies are soft. At the zoo, they had a lot of random animals. A turtle . . . some peacocks . . . a large number of boars, cows, chickens, and anorexic horses. Come to think of it, it was more like a farm than a zoo.
Our last stop of the day was at The Bridge Over the River Kwae. This bridge was built by POWs from WWII who were commissioned by the Japanese to build it in order to get weapons and soldiers advanced into Burma. The bridge was blown up and the Japanese were stopped from using the bridge. The fascinating part is that the bridge should have taken 5 years to build, and they got it done in less than 1 year. We even got to see a train cross the bridge (the blown up part was rebuilt later) while we were there.
Goodbye Thailand
All in all, Bangkok was as good as ever. We had a great time, did some fun things, and ate some delicious food. Now, we head to Hanoi . . .
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Aubrey
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Hey, Loved reading about Thailand!! We were taken to a cobra show on our trip to the floating market...and about 5 other shows. Haha. I liked the baby tiger. I love Thailand! =)