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Published: January 8th 2006
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On 2006 Jan 5 Thursday, in ChiangMai
Sleep in, got up and pack using the new backpacks (with wheels). After checkout, we walked to the market and bought a pair of sandals for Phyllis. The old pair broke in two. Since we still have a few hours left before we get picked up for the 7:00 pm bus to Bangkok, we went for a 2-hour massage. Knowing the cost of massage will be high in Bangkok and in the islands, this maybe the last time for massage in Thailand.
At around 6:30 pm, a tuk-tuk picked us up to a gas station where we board the bus to Bangkok. The bus has a capacity of about 35 passengers and quite spacious. The journey took about 10 hours, and the bus stopped twice, the first time for dinner (10 pm), and the second time (3:30 am) just for gas.
Jan 6, 2006
At around 5:30 am, we reached Bangkok. The bus was supposed to drop us off at KhaoSan Road, the famous backpacker's ghetto of Bangkok. The road where the bus stopped does not look anything like KhaoSan Road, so nobody wants to get off the bus. It
turned out it is a few blocks away from KhaoSan Road.
We stopped for coffee and started looking for a guesthouse. Almost all the guesthouses were full. As it is early in the morning, many guests have not yet checked out. Some guesthouses know that there will be guests that will check out, but they do not want to commit themselves. The ones available are comparatively expensive (in the US$12 range). By around 8:30 am, we found a guesthouse (Peachy Guesthouse) that has a room available, one of the last two available. It is not expensive (US$4), but the conditions are of minimum standards.
After we washed up (with a welcome cold shower), we took the public river boat to the Grand Palace 大王宫. We did not realize it is not far, and actually it is within walking distance. However, the boat ride is nice (18B).
http://destinations.ctrip.com/Destinations/DistrictSightIndex.asp?District=191
The admission for the Grand Palace is a (comparatively) hefty 250B (US$6) for foreigners, and includes admission to the 玉佛寺 Wat Phra Kaeo and several others smaller sights. (Sights in China charge a lot more).
Although this is the third time we are in Bangkok, it is the first time we visited the Grand Palace. The previous two times we were with the Hong Kong tours and they took us to unusual touristy places like amusement parks, crocodile farms, see scorpion ladies, etc.
The Grand Palace is a nice complex with many beautiful buildings. We also visited Wat Phra Kaeo which housed the Emerald Buddha and has a huge gold cheddi (Pagoda).
After the visit, we took a boat ride to 曼谷唐人街(China Town). There are more gold jewelry stores in Chinatown than other stores combined. Many of the jewelry stores were packed with customers. Almost all of the jewelry stores have names that end in "Hing" (Lue Fat Hing, Wong Shing Hing, etc).
Some food stalls sell "Swallow Nest" soup for about 50B for a small bowl. However, we do not believe in the medicinal quality and therefore did not want to try it.
As we slept on the bus overnight, we are a little tired and therefore retire early. Before we did so, we called up Doug, whom we bumped into in Chiang Rai, and decided to meet the next day.
Jan 7, 2006
We slept in and took an air-conditioned bus (16b) to Chatuchak Weekend Market and met Doug and his Thai friend, at around 2:30 pm.
http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/markets/chatuchak.php
It is a huge market, with 15,000 stalls. They sell almost everything. Many Thais visit this market. There is a pet section. We have not seen so many dogs, all cute ones, in one place.
After a few hours at the market, we took the Skytrain (35B) to downtown Bangkok. We visited the 隆比尼公园 Lumpini Park, the biggest (and perhaps only) green park in Bangkok.
We then went to the Suam Lum Night Bazaar, where there are fewer people as it is catered to the tourists. We had dinner in the open courtyard and watched a bit of Thai rock and roll dancing & singing.
At around 8:30 pm, Doug's friend took us to the bus station where we boarded a local non-A/C bus (6B) to return to Khao San Road.
Jan 8, 2006
We saw the advertisement at the boat pier two days ago and decided to join the "Chao Praya Express Boat tour to Ko Kred" (with a stop at a floating market). This time, we walked to the pier (near the Grand Palace), but we passed by a university (Tammasat University) . All the students were dressed in uniform, with a white shirt and blue pants or skirts. We had breakfast at the cafeteria.
We boarded the boat at 9:30 am, at a pier near the Grand Palace.
The boat has a capacity of about 80 people. At about 10:30 and first stopped at a wat in Koh Kred island. This island reminds us of Lama Island in Hong Kong where the streets are narrow and lined with vendors.
We tried some of the most good looking desserts. Each one is made into a mini-fruit shape, with bean paste inside and a jelly coating. For 1B each, we sampled all the ones offered by the vendor.
We stopped for lunch and watched some of the desserts being made, but they did not look as nice as the ones we tasted.
Later, we stopped at a Temple (wat) and supposedly "Floating Market". It looked more like a floating barge, than the floating market with boats going up and down the river.
I guess we will have to go somewhere else to see the real floating market.
We returned to KhaoSan Road at around 3:30 pm.
Tomorrow, we will see if we can go to the 泰王行宫(Vimanmek Mansion). The day after, we will go to Koh Chang and enjoy some sun and fun. We hope the weather is nice.
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Cogburn
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Life is Good for your two
Really enjoy your journals. I wish.......... All the best for the rest of your trip and see you two soon.