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Flying to Asia is no joke but also interesting. I flew Newark to Hong Kong non stop. Prior to boarding the plane i was trying to figure out what the routing was going to be. I was excited to see that we would be flying over the arctic! What i was not prepared for was that our entire flight was in daylight. 16 hrs of daylight. Sometimes so bright i couldn't lift the window shade! The highlight was flying up the coast of Greenland. All the mountains snow covered and fjords with floating chunks of ice. At 35,000 ft that's what it looked like! I was able to grab a few photos but my seat was on the wing so they aren't the best. Arriving into Hong Kong was cool. The sun was settling and i was amazed by the number of cargo ships in the water. One final flight into Singapore and then i could rest for a bit. Leaving the US at 10 am Saturday and arriving in Singapore at 12:15 am on Monday makes for a very tired girl.
With my brother loving in Singapore, i was able to connect with him and catch a few hours of sleep before my flight to Bangkok. Bright and early at 5:30 am, we were up and back to the airport. Upon check in for my next flight i hit a snag. Now, being that i travel pretty regularly, I've become pretty lax on all of it. And although i read in my Thailand guide book and they mention nothing of this, i didn't double check it. In order to enter Thailand, you need an onward departing ticket. I had yet to book mine yet. Now, there are several reasons for this. 1. I'm too laid back and that flight is 3 weeks away. I thought i had plenty of time. 2. At that point in the trip i would be with my brother and sister and it was not solely my decision. 3. We had not yet solidified all of our plan. So, i convince the airline people that I'll book a return flight while sitting at the gate, they explain that if i don't Thailand will deport. I'm sufficiently nervous and have 25 minutes to clear Singapore customs, log back into the airport wifi, find a flight and book it. I'm walking thru the airport while typing on the phone. My brother and i pick a return day from Thailand and I'm trying to figure out which airlines give us options. I have multiple problems with the wifi. I'm the last person to board the flight and i don't have an onward ticket yet. I tell myself i have 2 hours to come up with a story and a plan. When I land in Bangkok i immediately search for wifi. I connect and start the flight search again. This time i have no issues. I book a flight and update my immigration paperwork. Feeling relieved, i enter the country with no problems and learn 2 things. 1. They only looked at the info i put on my departure card and never asked for proof of flight. 2. I stressed out more than i needed to. Haha. But kids...lesson here is always make sure you know the rules, then you can plan around them.
Now in a taxi and on my way to downtown I'm relaxed and the exhaustion of my trip has taken hold. I check into my hotel which is a guesthouse type of place and love it. It's basic but i have a comfortable bed, satellite TV and a private bathroom...even a balcony! The funny part is the toilet and shower are outside on the balcony. But it's clean and I'm happy. This is now home for a week. I unpack and decide that i need to see one thing today. There is so much to see and do here. I set out for the main site, Wat Phra Kaew & the Grand Palace.
It was not too far from where I was staying and after looking at the map I began to navigate the narrow alleyways I was staying on. As I made way to the main road, there were men sitting in placid chairs about 100 ft apart. They were all trying g to tell me to go back the other way and that I couldn't cross the road. They were pretty aggressive about it. After all I'd read about the Thai people, I was surprised to see this. I stayed my course and when I realized I might actually be going to the wrong place I got frustrated and popped into a store. I asked the attendant for help. He was not so helpful. He kept saying I should get a taxi and kept pointing at the guy outside. I have a feeling they were in work together. I thanked him and did find out that I had made my way to Khao San. This is a famous road in Bangkok. I noted this for later in the week, collected self and headed back on path. Sure enough, I was right. After making it thru a massive intersection with 5 crosswalks, I was in the large oval Sanam Luang. It's a beautiful park in the middle of the city. I was happy to be walking in the shade for most of it. The Palace is massive. I could see it from before I crossed the street. The only question as I walked thru the park was...what side is the entrance. As I approached, on my right side there were about 20 tour buses lined up on the street. To my horror, I had arrived to the Palace on Mon afternoon at 3 pm in the midst of some massive tour group day. Group after group of 50 people with a guide holding a flag on a stick. Holy crap. Not good. Almost every female is holding an umbrella to keep the sun off them and it's near impossible to navigate the street. I maneuver my way thru the masses and come upon the gate. They have an entrance that foreigners have to go thru to ensure your shoulders are covered and your legs past your knees. As I make my way onto the grounds I realize I have picked the wrong day to come here. And i have to admit, I think the whole experience was tainted. With all the tour groups, there were even more when I got inside, it was just crazy. People everywhere. It was extremely loud and really impossible to just stand and enjoy the sites. I paid my entrance fee and went in to the main attraction with all the temples and buildings to see.
This complex is huge. I'm pretty certain I did not see it all. I only saw the one corner of it and honestly, with the crowd the way it was, it's all I could handle. But what I did see was very cool. I complex of about 7 buildings, there was a lot to see. There was one main temple and the entire perimeter was surrounded by a wall. The wall had an overhang and was lined with Buddhas. Everything is painted white and then where the walls meet the roof it's all painted in a bright red with gold accents in a pattern. It's quite striking. The Buddhas are mostly gold and quite large and sit one after the other on a pedestal. The roof itself looks like thousands of small painted tiles in red and green. Then, on the temples, along the edges of the roof are these pieces that curl upward. They are finished in small, 1 inch by 1 inch at most, gold mirrored pieces in a mosaic style. The way the sun reflects off of them is gorgeous. The inside of the temple is complex painted in murals. Floor to ceiling. It was stunning. Something I had never seen before. The temple has one very large...several stories tall...Buddha in it and a large open floor area to kneel down and sit. Each temple is covered in red carpet.
The other buildings around the area were these tall spire things. You couldn't go in them and I think the represent the different Kings, but I could be wrong. Each one was different. Each is 7 tiers. They are taller than anything else on the grounds. One was all done in gold. One in ceramic tile mosaic pieces and one in, I honestly don't know how to describe it. They were very pretty.
All along the grounds there are so many things to look at. Small stautues. Large stautues guarding entrance areas. Gold figurines (that are like 6 ft tall) that are half female, half swan. It's definitely sensory overload but throughly enjoyable.
Having sufficiently seen all the sites while dodging the masses of people, exhaustion was setting in. I decided to make my way back to the hotel. I retraced my steps, worked my way thru the group tour buses and headed back thru the park, back across the 5 crosswalks and then back around the alleys to home. To cool off, I took a quick dip in the pool and then sadly, I ended up in bed early. All the travel had caught up with me. I ended up asleep and didn't even have dinner. But day 1 was great!
*so I'm currently unable to upload photos. For photos check out my instagram page at Her Sole Abroad.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Once you get high speed internet...
it would be great if you would edit this blog to add the pictures. I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures in Southeast Asia as I grew up there spending 18 years in total.