Journal Entry: Adventure to The Amazing Thailand (September 8-14, 2016)

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"Blessed are the curious for they shall have ADVENTURES" - Lovelle Drachman

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

My Thailand adventure trip was actually happened quick from out of nowhere. Initially I planned it to be on December. I will do a layover in Thailand for about 2-3 days before going to Philippines for my vacation. But nothing is really definite yet at that time, I am a member of this traveler's website wherein you can see other member's travel plan. To sum it up, someone posted a travel plan to Thailand, reading the members conversation and planned activities I find it interesting. The fact that the dates there were matched with the long holiday here in Saudi as it is Eid Al Adha Celebration. So I joined the conversation and had exchange of messages with the group. Everything went smoothly and I decided to join.

Chatting or talking with people of different nationalities has not been a problem for me. Working overseas for almost 5 years, I was able to met almost all types of people of different status I think. I believe that all people were born nice, they will treat you depends on how you will treat them. Of course I need to be sure that the people i will be meeting are can be trusted and not a terrorist or something. I asked for their personal contacts, Linkedin and FB accounts. Yes they are not alien. After having my leave approved and ticket booked, there is no more chance of backing off. We ended up 3 on the last day before my flight. One is Robert from US together with his wife but she will join late as she is traveling from Burma (now Myanmar), the other one is Albert living in Thailand, his wife's cousin from Burma married to a Thai girl.

It was a long trip for me as i have a couple of layovers before reaching Bangkok. That is the consequence if you paid for a cheaper ticket. I like it though. 😊

I traveled from Khobar - Manama by bus (first time), it is cheaper than to take taxi. Taxi = SAR 300 - 350. Bus = SAR 60

Then a colorum taxi from Manama - Bahrain Airport should only be BD 4 😊 but i gave 5 for a safe trip and good luck.

My flight departed at early morning of September 8, from Bahrain to Oman Airport then from Oman to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. Our plane landed at around 5:45 pm. It was not so busy that time. I finished with the immigration at around 6:30 pm. I needed to stay in the airport until 10 pm as Robert will arrive late from his Vietnam trip. We told Albert to come around 11 pm. I made myself busy while waiting. I bought Thai Baht money in the money changer and inquire for a call and internet sim. I was able to have DTAC with unlimited internet for 7 days with call and text for Baht299. Not bad, feels like I am in the Philippines. Bangkok Airport is quiet good, it has an open unlimited WiFi, you just have to register, it has lots of charging stations. Fast foods, coffee shops and restaurant are can be found around the arrival area. I found a perfect place for me, they got a bar inside the airport. Cool! 😊 Since I am very thirsty from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia I didn't mind the price. I just enjoy the moment and ambiance. 😊 Got 2 mugs of Singha Beer, Thai local beer, there is nothing special about it anyways.

Robert arrived and finished with the immigration at past 11 pm. He tried to contact Albert but he was nowhere to find. He is not picking up his phone. We are supposed to get a cab outside but the cab is too expensive. We went back to the arrival area and voila this Chinese looking man was there with his friend. He is saying that his friend was there on the waiting area with a tag. Too bad for the guy he was there from 6 pm till 11 pm. Normal greetings, tried to observe both of them. And I think they are both fine, normal people, Robert is from California working as an area manager in a medical equipment company then Albert is Burmese / Australian married to a Thai lady, freelance businessman. While we are on the way, we made a plan for the next day. Albert picked the hotel where we will stay while in Bangkok, the hotel was not so fancy but it is good. It is around 20-30 minutes away from the Airport. We stayed in The Tivoli Hotel, not bad for a BAHT 1000 / night on a standard room, located in a residential area of Bangkok.

Since we doesn't any itinerary that time we just let Albert arranged things for us since he is the one living there and it didn't work well as he is nice guy but there is something different with him. He talked alot and his stories were not normal sometimes. But he is very hospitable and kind. He drives for us most of the time. He did not asked for anything. That's is the best thing, free... 😊 He got a nice 4x4 car. Well feels like you are traveling in the UK road they have a right hand drive vehicles there. Robert cannot say anything since he is his wife's cousin. Both of us just go with the flow.

On the day of September 9 we did a temple tour, we decided to have it personal trip as if through agency it will be more expensive and hassle with the timing. We first visit "The Grand Palace" paying an entrance fee of Baht 500. It is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782 (wikipedia). It's structure was so amazing. The designs are so detailed and intricate. You can see exceptional geometric patterns on the walls, ceilings and even in some statues. This is an architectural at it's finest that shows the creativity and artistry of Thai people. After making a tour to the Grand Palace for around 2 hours we checked the location of the "Wat Pho" also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha through the google map. It is saying that it is 15minutes walk from our location. So we did walk instead of taking a tuktuk (public transport similar to a tricycle). Wat Pho is one of the largest temple complexes in the city and famed for its
giant reclining Buddha that measures 46 metres long and is covered in gold leaf (http://www.bangkok.com/attraction-temple/wat-po.htm). We paid an entrance fee of Baht 100. The main attraction in this temple is the reclining buddha. You will see lot's of people praying here. Visitors are required to take off their shoes to enter and shorts or sleeveless shirts are not allowed. They are giving a rental robe for those who were not in a proper dress code. They are also recommending to purchase a bowl of coins at the entrance of the hall saying that it is a good luck. You have to drop it to the 108 bronze bowls which line the length of the walls. It makes a nice sound and even if your wishes don’t come true, the money goes to the monks and maintenance of the temple. The believe that 108 signify positive actions and symbols that helped lead Buddha to perfection. All in all temple trip was a great experience,it made me understand more of their religion and appreciate their complicated architectural designs in their temples.

Late afternoon of that day Albert let us experience the famous Thai massage and Sauna bath.Though there is something different on the place because most people there were like old Chinese or Thai. Albert said it is private sauna for their group sort of Mafia. He said mostly the people going there are businessmen or celebrity. who were a member of their group. We believed him anyway since it was free. 😊 It was my first time to do Sauna and Thai massage. First you will enter a room with a 110 degrees Farenheit temperature for about 10-15 minutes.It is like all parts of your body will sweat alot, then dive on an iced cold water pool for about 10 minutes then moved to the warm water pool for another 10 minutes. We did it twice then relax and had some snacks and fresh juice. After that Albert asked us to go to the room for a massage. The best massage i have experienced so far. At night we decided to do clubbing and disco, we went to Soi Nana it is one street in Bangkok were all the bars were there. Disco and bar till 1 am. Awesome!!! 😊 We can't stay later than that as we have day tour on the following day.

We arranged a day tour through an agent for the famous "Floating Market" and "Elephant Village". We paid Baht 1200 including lunch. We were picked up at around 7 am. It feels like I am in Manila because of the traffic jam on the way. It was a 2 hours travel to reach the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. I find it overrated online and on promotions. It is not the same as the one I saw when it was featured in the travel and living. No more good foods, fresh fruits and other things. What we saw was over priced souvenir items. We just enjoyed it by taking pictures together with the other tourist. 1 star for the experience. Next in the itinerary is the Elephant Village in the same area.

We traveled for about 20 minutes from the floating market. Again the tour guide is saying alot about the fees for every activity. Riding an elephant, feeding the tigers. etc. We decided not to do anything we just walk around and take pictures. I enjoyed also because it was my first time to see an elephant in real life. 😊 We grabbed a Heineken and enjoy the view. 1 star again for the experience. We just stayed there for 1 hour then moved to the Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo.

We reached Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo little bit late. We had a quick buffet lunch as we might missed the elephant show. Lunch was good, they served mostly Thai foods. I tasted everything to compensate my frustration in the floating market. 😊 After that we witnessed an elephant show, they dance, they play football and do synchronize movements. It is good but you can see some elephants are old already. They should rest and retire from what they are doing. Next show was the crocodile show with some Thai playing with them. Teasing them and putting their hear hands, then head inside the crocodile mouth. I did not enjoy the show but It made me realize that I am lucky with my work. I can say 2 stars for the experience and realization.

Then we needed to stay for another 2 more hours to wait for our service back to Bangkok. That was not cool , we just had a Singha Beer and enjoy the view instead.


Note to self : When on a tour don't be frustrated. It will spoil the whole trip. Our whole day is little bit disappointing, before I forget we were the last tourist being dropped to our hotel. We did a Bangkok City Tour ride. 😊 We reached the hotel at around 7 pm. Since we are on a tour we should not feel tired. After refreshing it was only me and Robert who took a cab going to Soi Cowboy area. Albert needs to report to his wife. Actually he was like not existing during the trip. He was always busy with his mobile, talking and laughing. Soi Cowboy area is another street with some 40, mostly go-go bars, similar to Nana Plaza and Patpong. It caters mainly to tourists and expatriates. It is free to do sightseeing and bar hopping. After that we just took a couple of beers and enjoy the ambiance till 2 am.


Note to self: when in tour never get drunk. 😊

It is not so expensive taking a cab in Bangkok they have a flat rate of Baht 35. Still the adventure is not finished yet. Opposite our hotel is the 7-11 convenient store I decided to buy a cup noodles for breakfast. Everything happened so quick, there's a guy on early 40's maybe and a kid around 8 years old talked to me and Robert. I can say they are Arab, they look nice and you won't really think they will do something bad. First we assumed that they are tourist also. So to make the story short, the father do the talking things like oh hi, you are from where? .... Oh US? We will go to the US next month my son wants to go to Disneyland. His favorite blah.. blah... Even his son talked to me. He speak good English. The son got my attention. I just heard the father is asking can i see how's the USD look like, what about the coins? I would say that we were both hypnotized a little bit because Robert just told me that it was late when he realized that he is showing his wallet already. And quickly the father asked his son to get a pen then the boy ran then after that the father just say thank you my friend and left quickly also. After sometimes Robert called me in my room saying he lost his USD500. So we went back to the 7-11 trying to look for the two. We walked around the area and asked the people around but they can't help as they don't speak English. We found out that there are CCTV around that areas so we decided to report it to the police. We took a cab going to the police station at around 3:45 am. I am enjoying the adventure, it was intense... 😊 So we reached the police station and again we did a lot of sign language and google translate to tell the story. The police can't speak and understand English that much. He made a police report in Thai, then he called someone saying that he is the one who will check the CCTV. We went to his office also, from what i saw he just again copy the police report to his note book then he told us that tomorrow i will see you in your hotel at 10 am to check the CCTV at 7-11. In short nothing happened.He just said that we have to go to a translation office to have the police report translated to English. He might use it for his travel insurance to reimburse the money. Robert was so upset as if he want to kill someone, I did not make any comment or reaction. Just good that they did not get anything from me. Nothing take. 😊 I just have my mobile,my credit card and a Baht 1000.


Note to self: Never bring all your money when going out for a party. We finished with everything before 5 am. I just enjoy and go with the flow, it was a nice adventure though.

On the next day translation office hunting but it was weekend so everything is close. We waited for the police but he did not come. Useless. He said that he is fine so we have to moved on. We checked out the hotel and waited for Albert to go to Pattaya Island.

Pattaya Island is a resort city in Thailand. It is on the east coast about 100 kilometres south-east of Bangkok. We traveled for 2 hours from Bangkok. First we had our lunch in an Indian restaurant. I can see that both of them likes Indian food, we had Chapatti , Masala, Biryani, Chutney and Dal. It tastes legit. 4 stars 😊. After that we did hotel hunting. we did not try the star hotels. We checked the local hotels nearby the Walking Street. And we decided to stay in Victoria Hotel. It is 4 streets away from the Walking Street. Walking Street is the place where all the party is happening. Not bad to pay Baht 1100 /night as per the security is concerned. After strolling around the area Robert decided not to bring Tina, his wife in Pattaya. He said that the place is to loud and she will not enjoy. He left Pattaya on the next day morning to pick up Tina and stay in Bangkok. We just did parasailing in the afternoon then party and clubbing at night. Parasailing experience is a memorable one because it is on my bucket list to do. I was on my own on the next day, just walk around Pattaya beach and see the Ripley's Believe it or Not in the mall. I did food tripping and prepared for the night party again. Pattaya Island is a perfect place for partying, if you like to unwind and into bars, disco, karaoke, foods, normal party or wild party they have it. Most people around are tourists and I think it is safe because you can see tourist policemen roaming around the area and in each bar they have bouncers to throw people out if they are making trouble. I stayed until 3 am moving from one bar and disco to another. You will not feel alone as all people are dancing together and having fun.

I just rest on the following day and packed my things because I need to check out at 12 noon. I had another session of massage before leaving, Baht 250 is nothing for the relaxing experience. After checking out I just had a noodle soup in a Chinese restaurant. I checked online how can I go back to Bangkok Airport. I asked some locals and again they are having a hard time to explain to me how. Did a lot of sign language and all but still didn't got lucky. Some people in the hotel advised me to take a private cab for Baht 1500. That is my last option, I have enough time because my flight is on the next morning. Some advised me to take personal tuktuk also to drop me in the bus station at Baht140. hmmm?? Maybe, but i am sure there is a cheaper way. I saw one western guy and i think he is living there, I asked him where can I take a tuktuk going to the bus station, he said ok come with me I am heading on the same way. He said you just need to pay for Baht 10. Wow! success. 😊 We ride a tuktuk, it was around 20 minutes to reach the bus station. It is only Baht 120 from the station to Bangkok Airport. I saved my Baht 1370. 😊.

Traveling from Pattaya to Bangkok was like traveling from Sariaya to Manila. It was like riding on a BLTB bus, but they have toilet in the bus so it is their edge. 😊 I think we traveled for more than 2 hours. We arrived at Bangkok Airport at around 6 pm. I checked some nearby hotels maybe I can take for a night, but the prices are unreasonable plus I still need to take a cab. So I just opt to stay in the airport. I have my internet to make me busy, they have free charging stations, they have Starbucks and other restaurant inside the airport. So need for a hotel. I chose to go to the airport food court for dinner. I am the only Filipino there and the rest are Chinese. 😊 But it is fine, I just act normal.

So this is it, my departure from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. It was a long trip again. I got lucky because the 2 seats next to me were vacant, so feels like I'm in a business class seat, lying in bed sleeping the whole trip. Just wake up for food and requested 2 mini bottles of red wine. Cool! Isn't it?

Bangkok-Oman-Bahrain-Khobar

When i reached Bahrain I invited my friend to have a couple of beers before heading back to Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

All in all that week's vacation was not perfect but it was a memorable one. Life has been so good. More adventures to come for sure. Till next time.

Enjoy the pics below.... Cheers for more adventure! 😊

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Photos

The Temple of Reclining Buddha in Bangkok
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
-Gautama Buddha

Free Charging Station
You can see it around BK Airport.

Singha Beer
Euro Pale Lager style beer