Blogs from Bangkok, Central Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 707

After delay in departure from Ottawa, caused by mechanical problems with United Airlines flight in from Chicago, was upgraded to Executive Class for following day's flight, right through from Chicago to Tokyo and then on to Bangkok. Can't therefor complain about United's handling of the incident. Arrived Bangkok one day late therefor, at 12:30am on Saturday Nov 19. For whatever reason however, my pack did not arrive on that flight with me; apparently it was delayed, either back at O'Hare or in transitting through Narita. Therefor had to return to Bangkok airport on Saturday evening; hoped to pick up pack which was (supposed) to arrive on that evening's United Airlines flight. It arrived!! Spent next 5 days in Bangkok, staying at the Palace Hotel as on previous 3 trips, over near the Grand Palace and Khao ... read more

Lindsay - After the adventures and stresses we had endured, we took a lot of comfort in our nice, quiet hotel room. We got up, and decided to have a swim in the rooftop pool just because we could. After about an hour of splashing and sunbathing we took to the street for something nice to eat, and decided to make our way to the Royal Palace for the afternoon. Unfortunately Russell's navigation again didn't get us entirely sucessfully there - although we did find our way to the National Museum where we squinted at our almost useless guidebook map and tried to work out how the hell we had got lost again. Eventually our cluelessness gained the attention of one of the museum officials, who came over and helpfully pointed out where we were. And ... read more

Russell - So we have arrived in Bangkok. First order of the day, find another hostel! After looking around a few it became apparent that standards here are lower than in Cambodia and Vietnam. It's not more expensive, just not as good. We eventually stumbled across a mini hotel which had a swimming pool. More out of curiosity we decided to check it out. For the same price as our room the night before we got a clean room, with a double bed (not singles as seems to be standard), hot water, and access to the rooftop pool. All for less than 10GBP per night. An extravagence maybe, but we decided we deserved a pool!!! Bangkok as a city is not how I expected it. There are not prostitutes everywhere and seedy massage parlours, though there ... read more

Today Loy Krathong is celebrated in Thailand. It takes place during the first full moon in November and people go down to the river (or any body of water) to light and float their krathongs, which are small handmade boats for good luck. It is one of the more beautiful holidays as the entire river can be lit up with the krathongs. The U.S. Embassy had a celebration last week and then Max's school had one today. We are also celebrating it tonight on our building's pond with the children that live here. I bought special clothes for Max to wear, which you can see in the attached photos. He can also use them at other Thai festivals. We bought a new digital camera as our old one died and it seems like the pictures are ... read more

We arrived in Bangkok at 11pm Saturday night and straight away we met an english guy that we split a cab with to Khao San Rd (the backpacker decompression chamber for when you enter or leave Thailand, sort of like a place where you still have the comforts of home but the craziness of a weird foreign country). Bangkok is a dirty smelly town with a population that does not give much thought to pollution. Mel and Rane warmed to it, but I was disgusted as I completely dislike breathing more pollution than actual oxygen. Jetlag arrived as soon as we tried to sleep on Saturday night and we managed 3 hours sleep which felt like ten. It was quite crazy and quite rewarding working out what to do in Bangkok and how to survive. Rane ... read more