THE
TRIP:
On Wednesday of our week in Asia, the morning began with an 8:30 flight to Bangkok. We
were at our hotel by noon, and what a great hotel it turned out to be (we selected it on
the Internet). It was a Marriott, but it was much nicer than any Marriott we have
ever stayed at. The bathroom was exquisite, with a large whirlpool tub, glass
enclosed shower, dual vanities, and a separate water closet. I could have soaked in the
tub the entire time, and never left the room!! But of course, we did leave the room
and started touring right after lunch.
GENERAL
INFO:
Some miscellaneous information on Bangkok/Thailand: Thailand is a democracy, but still has
a king. The title has been passed down in the same family for over 200 years - the
Thai people absolutely adore their royal family. The Thai are very proud people, and
although Bangkok had the worst traffic we have ever seen and the resulting smog problems
that go along with it, it was one of the cleanest cities we have ever been to. About
95% of the population is Buddhist, so temples are everywhere mixed with tall
skyscrapers. The U.S. dollar is very strong, so food, taxis, etc. were really cheap.
Our most expensive cab ride was $2.
THE
SITES:
Wat Pho Temple - Pronounced watt po, and also known
as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The main Buddha is almost 150 feet long, and
50 feet high, and as his name implies, he is lying on his side - a pretty amazing sight!
Royal Palace - On Thursday, our day started with an
organized tour of the Royal Palace. We took the river shuttle to get to our meeting
point. As we were waiting for the shuttle, we saw a crocodile in the river - he was
probably about 5-6 feet long. After that, we weren't sure if we wanted to get on the river
shuttle! Our tour of the Royal Palace was great. We had about 15 people in our group, and
our tour guide was really good. The grounds of the Grand Palace contain the Wat Phra Kaeo,
or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This Buddha is the most revered in all of Thailand.
He is only 30 inches tall, but sits upon a 35 foot high golden altar. The palace grounds
were really magnificent, and the buildings were lavishly decorated with gold leaf and
bright, glittering stones.
Jim Thompson Silk - Although Mark questions whether
this shop qualifies as a "site", in my opinion it certainly does!
Thai silk is really beautiful, and this store had some of the most vivid and rich fabrics
that I have ever seen. I bought a few little trinkets in a gorgeous oriental silk
pattern. I would definitely be inclined to have a suit made, if we ever return to
Thailand again. (The story of Jim Thompson is really interesting and can be
found on the Internet under any of the Thailand tourism sites, if anyone has the
inclination).
THE
FOOD:
In the evening, we strolled around the hotel grounds and stopped for a drink in the
Elephant Bar at the hotel. As you may have guessed, the entire decorative motif was
elephants, and as elephants are my favorite animal, I loved it! After that, we had an
awesome dinner at Trader Vic's, one of the six restaurants in the hotel. The presentation
of the food was probably the best I have ever seen, and the service (throughout the hotel)
was at a standard we have never experienced before. We sat at a small cocktail table in
the Elephant Bar, and the waitress actually kneeled down to serve us, so that she would be
at our same level and wouldn't be looking down at us. On our last day in Bangkok, we
had a lunch of traditional Thai food, with Pad Thai (noodles), prawns and who knew what
else, but it was really delicious.
THE
PICTURES