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Published: April 21st 2011
That nickname may not hold true these days but Bangkok certainly is an interesting place. At first glance Bangkok is not a very attractive city--- it is overrun with freeways, shabby buildings and refuse piles. But then you see children splashing around in the canals, a temple spire shining in the hazy sunlight, a carved teak house on stilts or a small shrine festooned with offerings to Shiva and then Bangkok becomes the exotic place of novels. Last year when we were here there were deadly riots going on with the Red Shirts protest. This year all was calm. Actually the city was somewhat deserted due to the upcoming lunar New Year celebrations which is also called the Songkran Water Festival. So instead of armed military in the streets, the revelers were carrying water guns. Being doused with water is considered an act of purification to begin the new year.
We didn't encounter any traffic jams on the two hour bus ride from the port of Laem Chabang to Bangkok. I used to not look forward to these long journeys on buses. But now that we have our iPad we can access the internet and I can work on the
Tiny Thai Dancers
Dancing at our Salathip dinnerblog as we ride along. We love our iPad! We checked into the Shangri-La Hotel and upgraded to a room with a balcony overlooking the Chao Phayra River. That evening we met up with Sandra, the lecturer and Joe, the gentleman host and had a late dinner at the Salathip Thai Restaurant which is perched out over the river. Half way through our meal there was a rain deluge so we moved inside to finish up. Costumed Thai dancers circulated throughout the restaurant performing the very expressive dances of old Siam--like a scene from “The King and I.”
After a sunrise swim, we hired a long tail rooster boat to tour the back canals of the city. We had to pass through a lock to leave the river and enter the klong system. That entailed lots of jockeying for position among the four other long tail boats. We cruised in the residential areas viewing life on the river. Some of the homes are more ramshackle but they have a water view while some are stately teak mansions. We weaved along the canals that took us by the snake and crocodile farm and past dozens of stupas and ornate temples—called
Graceful Hotel Ferries
They light up the Chao Phraya River wats in Thailand. Strangely enough we didn't have to pass through a lock to reenter the river. Maybe the tide had come in!
We made some last minute gift purchases and then it was time to leave this fascinating city. On the ride back to the ship we drove by coconut, papaya, mango and tapioca plantations along with some rice paddies. Our guide told us that by viewing all of this nature we could “relax our eyesight” after all the hubbub of the city.
We got back to the ship in time to get ready for our Cruise Specialists sail-away party. We had twelve new guests to welcome along with our world cruisers. Up until ten minutes before the party there was another tropical downpour but as if on cue, the sun came out just as our guests were arriving on the outer deck. So we had a festive fantail gathering as we sailed back into the beautiful Gulf of Thailand.
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stuart
non-member comment
S&K you did a wonder job on this Blog. pictures were great and the writ up were well done.