Back to Bangkok

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Hi All!

After we arrive back on solid ground we stayed at the same resort in Khao Lak, Nangtong Bay Resort, we even got the same room! Our room was covered in orchid blossoms, a nice touch.
The day after we got off the boat (Oct.23) we definitely felt like we were still sloshing around for most of the day. Ugh, vertigo. We spent the day relaxing by the pool...ahhh, so nice. The next day we had to get up super early (4 am) to take a cab to the airport in Phuket. It was about an 1.5 hour ride, but we were in a super-nice minibus. We had big comfy leather seats with footrests...where were the minibuses like this all along?

We arrived into Bangkok nice and early. Now that we had already experienced the trials of taking a cab from the airport, we were more informed for this ride. The highway toll is 70B, the airport tax is 50B and the ride to Khao San Rd. is about 300B...not the 700B the driver tried to charge us last time. We checked into our hotel, then headed to Chatuchak Weekend market. It's definitely my favorite Bangkok market. I could spend days wandering around there! Highlight of the day? This time we saw a lady selling live squirrels wearing little hats and clothes. We bought lots of stuff, and a suitcase to get it home in (no squirrels though). Back on Khao San Rd. we found out that there was a week-long party going on leading up to Halloween. Khao San Rd. is never a quiet, calm place, but it was WAY louder than normal and there were lots of extra booths set up selling beer and buckets. There was a haunted house set up too, but we didn't go see it.

On Oct.25 we decided to walk to the Royal Palace. Along our way we were hassled by a variety of people trying to tell us that the palace was closed in the morning, blah blah blah, etc... they had a million stories and plans to get you to go see the "lucky buddha". It doesn't make for a good walk, and turns you into a skeptic. When anyone approaches you on the streets in Bangkok, you assume they're working some sort of scheme. It's too bad, but when you try to be more open and trusting, you get scammed. The Palace was nice, but huge and busy. We checked out the Emerald Buddha, then headed off to see Wat Po, home of the Reclining Buddha. Pretty impressive. We took the typical tourist pictures then continued on to find some lunch. We walked to a little restaurant that was on our map and recommended in my guide book. As we were walking it started pouring rain, oh well, we're used to it. We found the restaurant, Chote Chitr, and it was well worth the walk in the rain. The food was amazing, it was the best curry I had the entire trip. Because it was raining we decided to spend the rest of the day indoors at the aquarium. We took a cab to Siam Paragon mall and found Ocean World in the basement. We decided to get the "super ticket" that included extras like a backstage tour, glass-bottom boat ride in the shark tank and popcorn. It also included a "happy fish happy feet" massage...I'd managed to avoid it up until now, but we'd already got our tickets so I tried it. I sat there giggling the whole time, it tickled so much. The aquarium had an excellent shark exhibit. There were lots of great tunnels to walk through and watch the sand tiger sharks, leopard sharks, eagle rays and sting rays swim overhead. The aquarium also has a hammer head shark nursery, they were so cute! After the 4D movie experience at the aquarium (which was hilarious) we found some dinner, then took a tuk-tuk to the Patpong night market for some shopping. Trev told me the driver would smirk when we said we wanted to go to Patpong, and I didn't quite believe him, I mean, surely the drivers in Bangkok are used to all sorts of tourists going all sorts of places, but he was right, the guy started snickering. Pretty funny. We bought some stuff, then called it a day. I'd say we accomplished lots, wouldn't you?

Oct. 26 was a "typical tourist" day in Bangkok. We started the day with fruit shakes and plates of pad thai noodles from a street cart, then hired a tuk-tuk to take us around to a few sights (for 40B, just over $1). As part of our deal we had to stop at 2 shops for him, so that he can get gas coupons, or something like that. Our first stop was the Giant Swing, or should I say Giant Stand With No Swing. Pretty funny. There wasn't much to see there, but we took pictures anyway. Next we went to the Golden Mount. We had to climb up a hill to a little temple at the top. The view of the city was good. Next was our driver's first stop, a tailor shop. Well, it was a pretty smooth operation, because I was talked into ordering 2 skirts and Trev ordered a winter jacket. One more stop for the driver after that, a shop called Thai Expo. It was huge and maze-like with jewelery and souvenirs, but we managed to escape pretty quickly. Our last stop was the Golden Seated Buddha in Chinatown. It was huge and shiny! We went for a walk in Chinatown afterward, which was actually pretty challenging. It was hard to find our way anywhere, but eventually we found a market down a side street. It was crazy and crowded with people and motos driving down the middle. We found our way back to the Khao San Rd. area and walked around for a while, then decided we should share at least one Bucket before leaving Thailand. For those of you who don't know, a Bucket is a bottle of Coke, a bottle of Redbull and a mickey of Sangsom whiskey mixed together in a plastic bucket. We weren't able to finish it all, and had to stop at McDonalds for french fries before bed...enough said...Funny story from McDonalds though: I waited outside, sipping out of our bucket and watched Trev walk up to the glass door and kind-of shuffle from foot to foot in front of the door for 30 seconds or so, before realizing that it wasn't automatic and he had to PUSH. Oh Trev...

The next day we checked out the Jim Thompson Silk museum and store. It was beautiful in the grounds, and so peaceful you could almost forget you were in the city. We explored crazy MBK mall for a bit, but when you're not actually looking for anything, you can't spend too long in there. I loved exploring the gourmet grocery store in Siam Paragon mall, they had everything, and lots of sample stations.
On our last day we picked up our new clothes at the tailors. Everything was good. I'm looking forward to wearing my new skirts! We took a taxi to Wat Arun, a neat temple that's totally covered in pieces of porcelain. As we were leaving we stumbled across a festival, and the nice ladies gave us chicken satay and cucumber salad. It was such a treat. After we left we took a longboat taxi down the river to the flower market. It was beautiful. A kilogram of loose orchid blossoms was only 40B. We caught a cab back to Chote Chitr for one last really, really excellent Thai meal. We had river prawns in spicy red curry and fried crab in yellow curry and more crispy noodles. That night we spent a little more time walking around in the Khao San Rd. area and picking up some last souvenirs.

Tomorrow we head home. Talk to you soon,
Love Court

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