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Published: January 1st 2012
Henna
Amy getting Henna. Happy New Year family and friends!!!!
Our time in India has come to an end and the next chapter of our travels is just beginning in Bangkok. As I reflect back on our time in India there are so many memories and experiences that we had in just one month. We are so lucky to have spent part of our round the world trip in India and enjoy all that the country has to offer - good and bad.
Before we left Delhi we had a few things left to do. First, Amy wanted to get Henna on her hand. She found a person on the street and went for it, see the picture. It should wear off over the next few weeks. Second, we wanted to visit the Baha'i Temple, also known as the Lotus Temple. The Baha'i Temple is often visually compared to the Sydney Opera House. It consists of 27 marble "pedals" that together look like a Lotus flower. Four million people visit the Baha'i Temple each year, making it one of the most visited buildings in the world! It really is a stunning piece of architecture and has won many architectural awards.
As
Lotus Temple
Also known as the Baha'i Temple in Delhi. our time in India came to a close we had one last hurdle to overcome...a plane ride to Bangkok. The guidebook says to get to the airport about three hours before your departure, I thought two was enough. However, when we arrived Jet Airways did not have a reservation for us. As we stood in front of the ticket counter in disbelief and rifliling through our stuff to find our confirmation the ticket counter guy finally found our reservation - it probably took 10 minutes. Then we go to the departures area to check-in for our flight and the flight is overbooked - AWESOME. They ask us to come back in a half an hour as they try to sort through everything, so we grab some coffee and a snack and wait. After 30 minutes I go up to the counter and they tell us they got us on a Thai Airways flight, but it leaves in one and a half hours so we needed to hurry. I'm thinking to myself that we have plenty of time, but this is India. We are given an escort to help get us through customs, security, and to the gate in time. Our
Lotus Temple
Often compared to the Sydney Opera House. escort tried to skirt us around the long lines is customs through a "special assistance" (read disabled) line but was shut down. Back to the "long" line. A few minutes later she is able to get us through the customs line through the first class line, which was much shorter. Next up security. Our escort walks us past the security area and to an office where she speaks to some guy who gives a nod and we are on our way to a "short" security line. By short, I mean it is probably 3-4 people in front of us...but somehow it takes us 30 minutes or so to get through security. By the time we get through the security line the plane is boarding and supposed to leave in 15 minutes. We speed walk through the airport and get straight in line to board the plane and we were on our way to Thailand! What a process all of that was! I should also mention that Jet Airways gave us 8000 rupees to take the Thai Airways flight, so on top of being bumped up and escorted through the whole process we were paid about $140 (after the airport exchange
Fish eating Amy's feet
The fish seemed to like her dead skin better than mine! rate) - something that would NEVER happen in the States.
I believe I had mentioned before how courteous the staff were on Cathay Pacific (our flight across the Pacific). Thai Airways was the same way - an absolute delight to fly with. The staff seem like they really care and want you to have a great flight. They are there to make your flight the most enjoyable they can - and they do a wonderful job at it.
When we arrived in Bangkok Amy and I could not believe how stark the contrast between India and Bangkok was. Bangkok is a city of about 12 million and it certainly seems first world - and compared to India it is so much cleaner and less chaotic! I guess I expected Thailand to be more like Central America in its development - this still may be the case since the rest of Thailand probably is not like Bangkok, time will tell. Overall, it was a welcome change to walk around in the streets without having to worry about what you were going to step in or smelling some foul smells every ten meters. Don't get me wrong, India was great
in its own way, but it was nice to get to Bangkok.
We booked in advance at the Erawan House, which so far has turned out to be a great deal in a perfect location. We are a few minutes walk from Khao San Road (liken to Bourbon Street in New Orleans), it is nice to have Khao San Road so close, but be far enough away from the noise. In addition, Erawan House and the surrounding area has a pseudo Khao San Road of restaurants, hotels, shopping right out the door. When we arrived we noticed all of the massage places that will give you a foot or back massage for a half an hour for about $3-4. However, the first thing that really caught my eye was the fish that eat your dead skin from your feet (Doctor Fish)...had to try it. For 15 minutes minnow sized fish will attack your feet and legs as their food, stripping your feet of all your dead skin. As they nibble it feels like your feet fell asleep mixed with a mosquito bite and maybe some tickles. It is a very odd feeling, and for the first few minutes it
Khao San Road
The craziness of Khao San Road at night. sure does make you want to squirm - but then you get used to it and it is enjoyable. I would guess that at any given time Amy and I both had 100 fish eating our feet and lower legs as they dangled in the water!
The next day we headed to the Chatuchak weekend market - an indoor/outdoor market with over 8000 vendors. In our travels we have seen some pretty large markets both food and clothing/textiles/art - but none of those markets can hold a candle to the Chatuchak market. If the market wasn't so busy it would be what fills the heads of a Guske girl as she dozes off to sleep. No more counting sheep, no more dreaming about TJ Maxx or Eddie Bauer, Chatuchak market is all that would be dreamt about. Amy and I spent 6 hours at the market and I doubt we saw half of the stalls - and we were moving at a fairly descent pace. There is so much to look at and the prices are really great. Knowing that we have three more months of travel ahead of us we couldn't really pick up much, but we did
VW bar
Best deals near our hotel and Khao San Road. get a few small things. If we end up back in Bangkok after accumulating some more stuff we might have to head to the Chatuchak market again and ship another box home!
After walking around in the market all day we "needed" a foot massage - who doesn't like a foot massage? A professional massage is about twice as good as the amateur version you are lucky to get at home. Thirty minutes of getting your feet rubbed will make you feel like you are floating as you walk down the street - it was perfect!
Market and foot massage by day...usher in the New Year by night - Bangkok style! This is where the proximity to Khao San Road came in handy again. We based ourselves around our hotel for some food and drinks as we counted down to 2012. Then we went to Khao San road for awhile to be in the thick of things. Two years ago we were in San Antonio with about a million people for New Year's, which was great. Last year we were in New Orleans on Bourbon street, which was definitely a step up from San Antonio. This year I
Street food
Night vendor on Khao San Road. think we topped both of those in Bangkok. Khao San Road was wild and filled with thousands of people partying and just having a good time. The streets were absolutely packed and being amongst so many ethnicities and travelers was awesome!
One thing that we have noticed, which became very apparent in Bangkok from the abundance of travelers here, is that as a group most people who travel the world are fit. You do not see many people that are overweight, the few you do see are certainly the minority and probably overall it is less than 1% of the traveling population. I surmise this is because many traveling people probably lead similar lifestyles and make similar life decisions, but also because of the physical demands that traveling puts on you. Despite what it might sound like from reading the blogs, traveling is actually very exhausting. If we don't walk more than a few hours in a day it would be a rare occasion. I would guess that on average we must walk 5 miles a day. While in India a few people at the table next to us were talking about how much weight they lost while traveling
Clean Shave
For those that cannot remember or have never seen me without facial hair, here is what I look like after my barbershop shave! My beard is almost back already! and the average between them was about 20 pounds. Another observation is that the people in India and Thailand are very thin. You can see that the "Western" diet has caught up to some of the wealthier people, but as a whole obesity is not very prevalent from what we have seen. It will be interesting to see how the rest of Southeast Asia is in this regard but I imagine it is the same.
Given the Holiday weekend, all of the temples and historical parts of Bangkok have been closed the past few days, but they open up tomorrow and we hope to start seeing that part of Bangkok before we leave in a few days to head to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand.
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