Five Nights in Bangkok

Going to Cambodia

One night in Bangkok.....and the blah blah blah...Anyone know the words to that song? : 9 April 2004

We really love Thailand so far. We haven't left Bangkok yet but that's okay because it is a huge city with a ton of things to do. We where planning on travelling out to Myanmar for a while then come back into Thailand through Chaing Mai. But after a very lengthy and unsuccessful visit to the Myanmar Embassy our plans have changed. That Embassy was a joke. We have had some great experiences so far. The people here are very friendly and mellow. No spitting or yelling...no begging. Why would they beg, they don't need to stoop so low, they have a whole different form of getting what they want from you. And dam, they are good. We have read the books on what to look out for and what to definately NOT do, but we still fell for it. It all started out with a simple trip to The Grand Palace the other day. Actually it was not so simple, the king still resides there and anyone who visits must dress appropriately. Appropriately meaning, long pants, full shoes, no sleeveless shirts. Basically very little skin showing. Now remember, Thailand...April....Hot is an understatement. We where so dehydrated from sweating..it was unreal plus the palace is covered with little colored pieces of reflective glass that only made it hotter. The Palace itself was beautiful. So clean and colorful. Anyway, we left the Palace around 3pm. On the way out we where met by a very nice Thai guy who was giving us advice on where we should go next and how to say "too much" in Thai. He suggested that we go to the Tallest Standing Buddha (40 meters)...we where not sure what we wanted to do just yet and we where being sure to not get scammed so we walked away. After a while we decided that we would get our own Tuk Tuk and go see this incredibly tall Buddha. Our Tuk Tuk driver agreed with our price offer and away we went for about 1/4 of a block. Our driver pulled over where a guy came over to us and told us that we should definately go to the Golden Mount and that we should not miss the last day of a Leela Market, all of which is on the way to the Tall Buddha and for only 30 bhat (less than $1). We didn't really know what we agreed to but we knew we would get to the Buddha eventually and that we could cruise the city in a Tuk Tuk for a while. We had to go in a different Tuk Tuk though because our original driver only spoke Thai. What? But he understood us before...hmmmm. *Note: This is the first time we should have clued in to what was going on. They just talk so fast and Robin and I realized that we are both way too nice..or rather..way too Stupid. Anyway, off we went to the Golden Mount. Well, we saw the actual Golden Mount from afar, but where dropped off at some temple near it. And by the time we got there it was closing. We had just enough time to run in and see the temple, we where the only tourists there..hmmmm. There was one other guy there, a Thai guy who was very friendly as he started chatting to us inside the temple (*Second clue). He told us about how he owned a Thai restraunt in Reno, Nevada and that he was back In Bangkok for a visit and to go to the catch the last days of Leela Market so he could get some nice Jewelery for his wife. He told us about the TAT office (tourism office) and how we should go there to get info on our upcoming plans...fine, sure, whatever. He chatted a while with us then somehow managed to show us the actual receipt of the Jewelery he bought..wierd. In retrospect, I remember the numbers to be in $ not Bhat. Dha!(*Third clue). We got back to our Tuk Tuk and pointed to the Golden Mount for our driver as if...we go there? He waved his hands and said "no no - closed". Dam..we where so close. So away we went. The Leela Market, the one that was only there for one more day, was actually a nice jewelery store. The store was very nicely laid out. The staff was very proffessional and yes we where sucked in and bought a nice little Sapphire and white gold ring. It was so inexpensive. But, then again Thailand is well known for their Sapphires (or at least the ones they get from Burma). Anyway, we felt like we got a good deal here. (*BIG CLUE - number four). After a while here we moved on...can we go to the Tall Buddha now? Off course not. Now we had to stop at the TAT office. The Tuk Tuk drivers get coupons for every stop they make in these places. We definately had no reason to go here, we knew our plan. So we went in, made up some questions and used their toilet. When I was in the toilet Robin had a conversation with the TAT guy (who was Indian, by the way) He told Robin about how he had a brother that owned a Thai restraunt in Reno, Nevada. Robin was shocked.."how ironic, I think I met your brother..he's here right now..he's at the temple" Oh my god..we are so dumb! Robin didn't even tell me this until much later... Whatever, we moved on again. It is now starting to get dark and we have still not seen our Buddha guy. We must be going there next.....ha ha, not without a stop at the silk shop. We walked in there looking dumber than ever, we had no interest in getting something designed for us. The store guy asked Robin what we where doing there..Robin said "we're tourists" the guy knew we where just another one of those couples that didn't really want to be there. So we used there toilet and looked at a wool long overcoat, wondering who the hell would need that in Thailand, then gracefully left. It was time for us to put an end to this...no more stops.....take us straight to the Tall Buddha. Well, this is exactly what he did. He dumped us in this little back street behind the Buddha. This was obvioulsy a very poor area. He charged us 200 Bhat (30 Bhat...yea right) and took off. Unfortunately, The Tallest Buddha was closed, we could not get in to see the temple. We could however, see the Buddha over the fence. He was only about 12 meters tall. Well, this was great...where are we? It is now about 9:30pm. We just wanted to go home. So we jumped in yet another Tuk Tuk (they are fun)and where very, very stern about where we wanted to go. NO STOPS! Off course our driver tried...it being late and all opened up a whole new type off market. He really wanted to take us to a Ping Pong contest, at least that's what I thought he said. But Robin had a better understanding of what kind of game it was. It was Ping Pong, but it was played by women, and they didn't use their hands.....hmmmmmm. Just use your imagination. It was pretty Xrated. We decided to skip that. But we did pass a huge elephant that was cruising down the busy streets of Bangkok. That was cool. At one point our driver asked if we had a beer...or a cigarette, none of which we had, then he casually threw in the fact that he did speed every day. Well that's just great. Oh, and the driver asked what we had done that day. We told him we saw the Grand Palace, then a tour. "The one of the Golden Mount and the Tall Buddha?" he asked before we even told him where we went. Then he threw in, with a little chuckle, "You go to the silk market?" So stupid... All in all, we had an incredibly fun day. Just your average day in Bangkok. Oh, and by the way, we had the ring checked...it was real. And quite a good deal for that matter. We think???? Our revised plan is as follows. We will stay in Bangkok through the Water Festival and the Thai New Year. We will leave, via bus, on the 16th to Cambodia where we will hang out for a few days or so. From there we will go, over land, to Vietnam (Ho Chi Min City). We will travel up the coast, by train, all the way to Northern Vietnam, Sapa (near the border of China - uh oh). Then into Laos. From Loas we will try to get to Myanmar again then back to Northern Thailand, Chaing Mai. We will take the train through northern and central Thailand then back to Bangkok for a day or so before we head down to the South Islands.

Replies: 1 Comment

Hey Andea, Jon suggests that you check out the Super Pussy in Bangkok. He claims that they provide worldly services. Speaking of which I just got back from London and Jon is getting married next weekend. Hope all is well with you two. Posted by Stephen @ 04/15/2004 05:59 PM PST