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Published: November 23rd 2005
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Wat at sunset.
On a boat tour we just arrived at this temple at sunset. Here we are in transit to the north of Thailand. Bangkok was a pretty interesting city...we stayed in the Khao San Road, which is THE place to stay if you're a foreigner/backpacker. It's very easy, in fact the only Thai people you see are the vendors, taxi drivers and tuk-tuk drivers.
So what's a tuk-tuk? Well, my friends, it's not just a cool sounding word. It is THE mode of transport here in Thailand....other than a car, taxi, bicycle, etc. etc. Think scooter/golf cart with a five-speed transmission, covered and converted to hold either 2-3 people or 8-10 (or of course 20 Thai people). Kind of like if a rickshaw appeared on that television show "Overhaulin" or "Pimp My Ride". You can get a quick ride almost anywhere (reasonable distance of course -- I wouldn't bring it on the highway) for a couple dollars. And hey, it's safer than the back of a motorbike.
We digress. While hanging out at the Khao San Road we began to get the fever to buy things....we spotted good gifts for about half of you, bought ourselves loose-fitting clothing to combat the heat and humidity, and even got ourselves our first "art" piece
Khao San Road at night
A little bit of Vegas (that's Las Vegas Murray and Jen) in Thailand. of SE Asia - a Buddha face. We really had to stop ourselves, because they sell ANYTHING and EVERYTHING along that road, and it's cheap.
Knowing that hanging about this road is not the equivalent to seeing Bangkok or Thailand, we tried to get out and around, run errands (like picking up a visa for India) and see the Grand Palace. If you've seen the movie Anna and the King with Jodi Foster, that's the palace we're talking about. Unfortunately, after taking a taxi to the skytrain (they have skytrain in Bangkok too) and walking for about an hour, we found the Indian embassy. Guess what? It was Saturday. For those of you who are government employees (or who curse them), you know that means it was closed. Since we'd planned to get our visa in a day or two and then be off to the north, we were thwarted and faced the decision to stay another possible week in Bangkok or high-tail it up north and get the visa later.
Hello from up north. Well, after that we grabbed lunch at the nearest Thai place (delicious of course) and decided to make our way to the train
Take the Tuk-Tuk
Sarah loves these things. No really. station to grab tickets for the next day. Guess what? You must book your tickets an hour or so before the train leaves. Strike two. So we decided, well let's salvage the day and go get some culture at the Grand Palace. Well the star attraction of the Grand Palace is an emerald Buddha originally captured hundreds of years ago from the Laos capital. Guess what? We read a sign saying "due to a day-long ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 19th, the emerald Buddha temple will be closed all day". Strike three. You can't say we didn't try.
So we went to Ayuthaya. This little city was the Thai capital for four hundred years until the mid-1700's, and it shows. It's a little island with a moat around it because three rivers meet here before heading south to the sea. The island and surrounding grounds are dotted with ancient Buddhist temples and ruins. Buddha, Buddha everywhere! It really feels like a mini Angkor Wat for us (since we haven't been there yet). Beautiful spires (chedi) and statues provided us with opportunities for photos and we didn't waste them. Sarah easily used two rolls of film. We even stayed an extra
Thanks PU!
This picture is specifically for the Sibling Set. day so we could see more of the temples, and go back to ones we'd already been to just to get better photos in better light.
We must say that it feels much more relaxed here, there are (thankfully) more Thai people than westerners and we accidentally stayed at a fantastic guesthouse. Sarah picked it out of our Lonely Planet guide because it was called the "PU guesthouse". Well thanks PU! You really came through this time -- didn't even drop the ball. Clean sheets, en suite bathroom (also clean), king size bed and the best part, two (count 'em, one, two) fans!! In our book, one fan equals 2.5 stars. The people were nice and helpful, had tours for us if we wanted them, and had a wonderful chef. Did we mention the room cost the equivalent of $8 per day?
We also met a couple of Dutch girls to hang out with (we replaced the Irish because they got old -- just kidding guys) and one of them asked us what we were doing for Christmas. We figured we'd be in Laos by then and she figured she'd be in Vietnam. We'll see what happens, but
So many Buddhas, so little time
Beautiful statues can be seen in every temple...in various poses. there might be a little gathering somewhere at Christmas.
As we type we are waiting for another overnight bus to take us to the northern city of Chiang Mai, where we hopefully will stay for a couple of weeks. They apparently offer Thai cooking courses, introduction to Buddhist meditation (why not?) and Sarah is desperately trying to convince Nick to take a Thai massage course. She says it's solely for Nick's benefit. Hmm....
Anyways, we're full of anticipation for this next place, even though it sounds a little more touristy than we'd like. At least it sounds more culturally rich, and if we can't handle it in town we'll try going for a hike up into the mountains to visit some hill tribes. We'll let you know how it turns out.
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Jen and Muzz
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All manner of goods - in a bag
Hi guys, great to hear you are enjoying The Land of Smiles! Forgot to mention that they loooooooove plastic bags. Still jealous of the great food you guys have access to. Keep having fun, travel safe, can't wait for your next post. Cheers and Beers. P.S. We all know there is only one Vegas, and its cold and rainy today! (Bugger - wish we were somewhere warm like that place in Nevada - whats it called????)