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Welcome to our Travel Blog! We started this blog so that we both don't have to update our Facebook statuses to the same thing, all the time. Thank you for sharing our Thailand journey with us!
Today was our first full day in Thailand. We landed last night at 9:30 pm. (All times will be listed in Thai, which is 11 hours ahead of EST.) After 24 hours of traveling (EWR -> NRT -> BKK) we arrived at our hotel, the Park Plaza Sukhumvit Bangkok. At $85 a night, the hotel is wonderful! Despite not being in the "best" area of Bangkok, The Park Plaza was very modern. Our room (on the 10th Floor) has a flat screen TV, king size bed, excellent bathroom, and awesome view of Bangkok. We explored the hotel a bit before showering and succumbing to the king size bed and catching up on the sleep we lost en flight.
Day 1 started by walking around Sukhumvit to find a place for breakfast. After a quaint breakfast, of an egg sandwich, tomato soup, potato chips, and a mango smoothie, we took the subway to Hualamphong, and then walked to The Grand Palace. On our walk down Th Charoen Krung (The New Road) to the palace, we met a few "teachers." "Teachers" is in quotes because we doubt they were actually teachers, due to the fact they tried to tell us that the palace was closed because of a special Buddhist holiday. (This is one of the most common scams in Bangkok. The people tell you that the site is closed, and you should go to ______ site, or some other place in which they have some vested interest.)
After arriving at The Grand Palace, and fighting off all of the scammers, we finally entered the complex, and were awestruck the whole time. (Pictures will eventually be shared.) We walked around the complex until 1:30pm, at which time, one of the FREE English tours started. The tour guide had a decent control of the English Language, and walked us through the whole area while providing us with information on history and stories of the different structures and statues.
Leaving the Grand Palace, we set out for Th Khoa San. We walked toward the area, and were diverted by a 7-11, to pick up a SIM card for our phone. After picking up the SIM Card, (water, and random Thai snacks) we walked down the wrong road which lead us to our first Thai restaurant near the Democracy Monument. The restaurant happened to be part of a hotel, and was more expensive than we expected. ($20 total for drinks, main course, and dessert.) After lunch/dinner, (whichever you want to call it) we walked around the circle of the monument, and found the Kinnaree Spa. We were looking forward to our first Traditional Thai massage, but didn't want to start at a somewhat seedy massage parlor. The Kinnaree Spa's massages were twice the price of the other massage places (400 baht ($13)/ hour) but was a very clean and reputable place. THAI MASSAGE ROCKS! Beth and I both love getting massages, and our ongoing joke was we will get a massage daily. We heard that you are twisted, poked, and stretched like a pretzel, and this was all true, and was AWESOME! We put our things into a locker, and enjoyed our massages together in the same room.
After our massages, we gathered our things, and walked to Th Khoa San. It was about 10 blocks long of street vendors, bars, and peddlers. We walked up and down the whole road, and various side streets before sitting at a bar, drinking some Singha (pronounced "sing"), eating some more pad Thai, and listening to some good music. We walked down the road to find a ride home in our first Tuk-tuk. A great way to end our first day in Thailand.
-MK
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Monica
non-member comment
What a great start
hey Beth and Mike-sounds like your first day was awesome! I can't wait to follow your journey over the next few weeks! :) Travel safe! Hugs Monica B.