Thailand - Day 9-11: Bangkok

From Lampang we took a local flight back to Bangkok. To save some money we decided to take a shuttle bus to the city center. When the bus left the station it was making all kinds of weird noises, so the driver decided to take us back to the station and change buses. We waited and waited for the second bus to arrive. Then it was a long ride into Bangkok, so after 2 hours we finally made it into the city center. After being dropped off a few miles from Chinatown, where we would look for a hotel, we decided to take a taxi. The traffic was ridiculous, I think I could have walked faster, but we were both too tired.

We checked into the the hotel, which was a bit dirty and had a crazy bathtub that was raised off the floor, but was one of the cheapest hotels we could find in Bangkok. Most of the bathrooms in Thailand have been interesting. They range from bucket flush toilets where you cant sit down and showers with no hot water and no door to pretty modern "American-type" facilities. You really never know what you are going to get.

We set off walking around Chinatown getting lost, so we decided to take a tuk-tuk to Siam Square and MBK for some shopping. This seemed to be where the young Thai's bought all of their trendy clothes for cheap. I bought a pair of jeans and shoes. We decided that metered taxi was they way to go for the rest of our stay in Bangkok, since the tuk-tuk driver really overcharged us.

Day 2: Today we spent most of our time in the Old City. Wat Phra Kaeo was just amazing, it sparkled so much in the sun. This was defiantly the most beautiful Wat I have seen in Thailand. No wonder it was built for the King. The Wat also housed the Emerald Buddha, the most famous Buddha image in all of Thailand, which was much smaller than I had imagined. He sat on top of a HUGE gold shrine, which was pretty impressive.

Wat Phra Kaeo

Later in the day we walked over the the Massage School in Wat Pho to find a room full of beds with student performing Thai massage on customers. We were asked to change into pants that were a lot like mahout pants and were directed to our bed. Thai massage is about stressing and pulling muscles and is not quite as relaxing as a traditional massage. I walked out feeling very relaxed, however there were a few moments were pretty painful.

Reclining Buddha in Wat Pho

Even though we didn't want to stay in the "tourist ghetto" of Khao San Road, we did check out the market and tried some of the street food (Pad Thai and fresh pineapple). It was a very lively place, but just as travel books described, full of tourist. From Khao San we took a river boat to down the Chao Phraya River to the Skytrain. This light rail system was very modern confortable. We stopped a Jim Thompson's to buy some silk presents and a couple items for ourself. You could tell that this is was a very fancy store. We walked thought the Patong Market before getting to the theater for a lady-boy show.

Day 3: We decided to get out of the congestion and pollution of the city and take a 2 hour bus ride to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. When we got to the market we hired a longtail boat for a 1 1/2 hour tour. Many of the things at the maket were just tourist junk, however it was fun to ride though the market in a longtail boat and see some of the surround homes. We were also able to stop at a small traditional dance studio and see a performance.

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

On the walk back into the center of the city from the bus station we stopped at a mall for some lunch. Then we realized that we were still so far from the city center, we gave up and took a taxi to the river boats. We stopped at Wat Arun just before sunset. It was a nice Wat, but I was disappointed that we couldn't climb all the way to the top.

Tonight we decided to have a fancy dinner. We had a Thai salad of mixed vegetables, a shrimp with chili powder, and a fish dish. It was both great food and great service for about 25 dollars.