We're here!

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Sawadee Kaa!
That is “hello” (or “goodbye”) in Thai.
We have found internet access, so we can finally post to our travel journal.
We’re having a fantastic time in Bangkok. This is a really amazing city - 10 million people, and very likeable. It is quite safe for such a big city, and not nearly as polluted as we’d expected. It feels like being in New York but with an Asian flair, and much happier and friendlier people.

Our flights were long, but we arrived on time. We met up with three of Mark’s colleagues along the way (Scott, Jim and Nate). We’re staying at the Grand Hotel, which is quite beautiful. We have a great view of the Bangkok skyline from our 26th floor room. We were surprised that they gave us separate beds!

Scott and Jim joined us on Friday to do check out some of the city. We went to Lumphini Park, a very nice park in central Bangkok. We saw many statues, a beautiful lake (with Swan boats… made us think of Boston) and a man playing a wooden flute. We also came upon a building which had iron statues of a conductor holding a violin, and several other statues of instruments. Yes, there was a trumpet and a saxophone, but alas, no oboe.

We walked around the park, looking for a restaurant we’d read about in the tour book. When we couldn’t find it, Mark decided to put his Thai language studies to the test. He walked up to a nice man and asked him, in Thai, where to find the Pop Restaurant (which was supposed to be at the NE corner of Lumphini park). The man didn’t know the restaurant, so he asked a motorcycle taxi driver, who also didn’t know it. Mark successfully had a short conversation with the man.

Too bad Lynne didn’t study the Thai language. She did get a pedicure, and the women at the salon gave her a short course in how to say “thank you” (Kup kun kaa). The hardest thing is to pronounce “Kaa” with the correct inflection… you start the pitch of Kaa higher than the words you say before it, then the pitch drops in the “aa” part. After some practice, they claimed Lynne had it down.

We had a terrific lunch at our hotel’s Chinese Restaurant (Dim Sum was awesome), and then rested. Since we were still a bit off-schedule (it is 13 hours time difference from home), we decided to stay close to the hotel and enjoy their Thai dinner as well. Excellent food here at the Grand Hotel. We’ve decided Shark’s Fin is really, really good.

That’s all for day 1 and 2 of our trip!

Until tomorrow, sawadee kaa!

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