Bangkok Arrival....first night

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We arrived safe and sound to Bangkok Airport at 10 AM. Easily through customs we grabbed our bags and headed out to meet our Guide Tan. Tan has worked for World Spree for many years and is a middle aged local with a sprained ankel! Yup our guide can't walk too fast. This should be fun. We are only 14 on this tour, a small group which should allow a great deal of personal attention from Tan, our driver Ton and our bus boy Juan. Yup his name is Juan, a good Thai name I am told.

We have a bus for 40 and it is brand new so we have plenty of room to spread out. Our journey to downtown from the airport is 16 miles but due to excessive traffic, even for a Sunday early morning, it took over 40 minutes to get to the 5 star Sheraton Hotel right on the river, the main local transportation hub, more on that later.

Tan took us for a walk to give us the lay of the land, actually our rooms were not ready so he was delaying a bit. We did however learn the best local Thai restaurant, right outside the hotel, were introduced to the local art market and shown where to buy pharmaceuticals and, most importantly bottled water.

Rick needed aspirin and antibiotic balm, he neglected to read Phil's Guide to Packing before we left, so he needed to stock up on the things he forgot. Rick and I walked around a bit waiting for our rooms to become available. Mike and Richard wanted to rest so they went to the hotel lobby, walked around a bit after a rest and back to the Hotel to await their room. Rick and I hit the local restaurant.

Now this was a very local restaurant serving local Thai food which included many fish dishes, Thai soups and our personal favorite, Pad Thai with chicken. Rick and I ordered the Pad Thai, beverages and sat down to await our feast. Now this was a perfect spot for dining. Right near the hotel and local shoppping, net door was a supermarket, the perfect place to get bottled water for our hydration packs.

Lunch came to the table and it was an excellent presentation of Thai noodles, vegetables, fried egg, chicken and some Thai spices. This was covered with crushed nuts and a drizzle of lime was added to zest it up. Absolutely delicious. Our hostess spoke very little English and we no Thai, but we "talked" and had a great time. The entire meal which included an excessive tip of 45 bahts cost a whooping $300 bhats or about $10. AMAZING.

Next we headed next door to lay in a supply of drinking water. The Thai water is not safe for us to drink, too many unusual bacteria for our inexperienced gut to handle. Rather than deal with diahrrea, we choose to drink bottled water. I bet some of the troop will not and we will see who gets the Thai Revenge!

Our search for bottled water was richly rewarded. There were stacks of various brands and bottle sizes. We asked the price for two, 2 liter six packs and was told the price of 109 bahts or about $3. We paid the bill and hauled our water next door to the hotel arriving a full 30 minutes early than our room was to be ready.

Not one to let time be wasted, I walked up to the desk and asked if our room was ready and of course it was, so we checked in, grabbed our bags and high tailed it to the fifth floor and a much needed shower. The rest of the travelers, waited the next 30 minutes, too timid to ask if their rooms were ready early. Oh well, you snooze, you lose.

Freshly showered, and we really needed that after 27 hours in the same clothes, we were ready to explore Bangkok on our own. Now our hotel is right on the river which stretches for 248 miles through the center of Thailand and served for centuries as the main transportation method. It still is today, but mostly for tourists looking for some fun. Tan gave us the directions to get to the open air market and entertainment center and the four of us planned to go around 3:30.

At the appointed time, Rick and I headed down to the lobby to get Mike and Richard, neither of whom were anyplace to be found. I called their room and Mike answered the phone. I was a bit shocked when I heared his voice; he sounded as if I woke him up. With croggy comment, Mike informed me that his ankles were swollen and he was in bed and planned to stay there for the night. OK Mike out, where was Richard? Mike had no idea.

So Rick and I trooped down to the lobby, looked all over and even asked some of the traveleers, some still not in their room, if they had seen Richard. Nope, not one. So we called Mike again and he said the last he knew Richard was at the Arts show next door to the hotel and hung up. OK Mike is out of the equation. Rick and I go looked for Richard, but give up when we could not find him by 4:30. So with some regret, Rick and I caught the ferry at the foot of the hotel's back door and headed across to the transportation center where we caught a second ferry that brought us to the former warehouse district converted to shops, restaurants and entertainment of a family sort for all ages.

The place was filled with junk shops, the perfect place to buy the stuff you don't need. They had everything from real and true junk like elephants and Buddahs, to clothes, and gifts of all sorts etc. etc. etc. We had a blast, going from building to building and bargaining up a storm.

I collect pens. I have at least 100 from cheap to expensive. I stopped at a Mont Blanc stand and admired a hand tooled rosewood pen. I asked, "come on tell me is this real?"

Of course sir, it is a genuine fake," came the honest reply. We all laughed. The pen was really well done so I asked the price. The reply "550 bhats." Now I know better than to go with the first price so I said "No way." Back and forth we go and I finally get to 300 bhats, take it or leave it. I have a new pen and it cost me only less than $10 bucks.

Now it was time for dinner. there were fish places a plenty, all with the days freshest fish, still alive in tanks at the front door. You pick your meal and they prepare it for you. Tanks to table. You can't get fresher fish. We opted out! I really did not want to meet my meal before I ate him (or her). So we decided on a true Thai delight, Pizza!

Yes, there was a shop selling Pizza, Pasta and Thai foods. The pictures of the Pizza looked great and the beer was buy one get one. SOLD. We sat down, ordered a pizza with Parma ham and the local beer. The beer was cold and delicious, the pizza was hot and tasty, not New York style but this was Thailand after all. The bill came, and it cost a total of 800 baht. We added another excessive tip of 100 bhat or the equivalent of $22 total. Another great meal at another great price.

It was now raining on and off, but only a little, so we trugged on for another hour or so; we caught a stage show with some local talent doing local dances and songs with a very good female lead. The stage was next to a huge Ferris Wheel so we called it a night after a ride round and round. We had a blast.

Back we headed to the ferry stop where we reversed the ferry rides back to the Sheraton. There was a message from Richard, thanking us for trying to find him earlier, but he was doing emails and I guess got caught up in the flurry. Either way we all had a great time. It is now only 8PM local time but I am beat and Rick is already snoring to beat the band. Glad I brought the ear plugs! Good night.

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