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| Umm explanation needed for the thing with horns. What is it?? |
Ahh at last we come to our last stop of Southeast Asia, Bangkok. I am so glad I got to go and experience this city, while it is not my favorite place of Thailand, it does have a lot to offer (Especially if you are inclined to let loose and enjoy a good party)
The People in Bangkok are a lot more pushy (and dare I say rude,) than what we had experienced up to that point. However there is some good shopping around the area,
the food is delicious, and there are some lovely temples and Buddha to see. I have talked with other friends who have been to Bangkok and loved it.. But overall I think it is a place you either love or hate.. After checking in (which in and of itself is a story) we wandered around the streets outside and met a man who was willing to take us to the Golden and Emerald Buddha for 5 baht (30 baht is 1 US Dollar) we decided to take him up on it, little did we know he had his own agenda... He took us to our Buddha but also to a tailor shop (I caved and bought a tailored cashmere coat, and I don't regret it) and a jewelry shop, he wanted to take us all around Bangkok but we firmly told him we had to be back to Khao Son now.
The Buddha was cool, very big and golden, for 10 baht you can release caged finches(?) in front of Buddha for good luck. Sometimes I get in the mindset you have seen one ___ you have seen them all. Be it temples, cisterns from the middle east, ruins or Buddha... I'm working on that attitude.
Back on Khao Son Road we got our traditional Margherita pizza and smoothies. I'm not kidding when I say you should try pizza over there... it is amazing. We continued shopping all day, the streets go on and on. Eventually one of the ladies on the street talked us into a foot massage, it was heavenly.
They even brought us Mango Sticky rice from the vendor outside, best sticky rice of all Thailand!!!
As the night went on the crazier the street got, they had police coming by every hour and everyone would take stuff off the street, but soon as they left, it all came out again. Eventually Jamie and I gave up and went up to our room and listened to the party on the street till 1am when the police came and everyone moved the party into their open air bars... So it quieted down just a bit... We did get to see a really amazing dance off which made up for all the noise.
Morning of the 11th we made it to Mcdonalds for a good breakfast, I am always surprised at how good Mcdonalds is outside of the US. By the way there are Mcdonalds every mile on our street... No joke. I guess with all the Western Tourists it is a necessity.
One thing to learn about Bangkok is there is everything here... including palm readers/fortune tellers/guru.. It was our luck to bump into one of these mystical men on our way back to our room. After gaining our interest in what he was telling us, he pulled us into a side alley (sketchy??!) to tell us more... long story short he wanted money, and asked for it several various times, saying it was essential to get the inspiration to read my fortune.. I don't know how they do it.. I'm split 50/50 on their abilities... anywho at the end he told me to come see him if my fortune didn't come true and he would give me money... great guarantee.. except A. he wont remember you, (proven fact as he tried to get us again later that day...) and B. by the time my "fortune" comes he will be dead... or I will be.
I overcame my fear of monkeys for a few hours(just for Jamie) and we headed up to Lopburi, which is know for Monkey Temple... We took a 3 hour train ride or so. One thing I love about trains in India and Thailand is that vendors will get on and off to sell you food and drinks. I bought something from one of them, and the ladies across the train from me got mad at the guy for trying to charge me double. The ladies were so sweet the whole time, making sure we had our purses "hidden" and would be safe from thieves of all types. I know think of those sweet ladies as my Thai guardian angels.
Once we arrived in Lopburi, we realized there were several ruins/temples... so we wandered in one direction with no luck... and kept getting strange looks from locals. We decided to turn around and try the other direction... we had a lot more luck. First one monkey jumping across the street, and then we saw a few more and then a lot more... Jackpot at the monkey temple. since we were there in the off season we were the only ones on the grounds.. You pay a small fee at the window and receive a "personal bodyguard". He instructed us that unless we wanted to lose our jewelry we had better remove anything shiny as the monkeys will remove it, and do it quickly. I removed all but my fine gold chain thinking it was hidden well enough, but sure enough the monkeys did try to remove it so I grabbed the clasp and held on till I got the monkey away.
One thing to note, if you don't want the monkeys to climb all over you, tell your "bodyguard". He is there to make sure they don't fight, or bite... when they attempted he would put a stop to their ruckus. He also provided us with food to feed the monkeys and even took pictures for us. The monkeys where all over the area, and had no problem getting into trouble, I had a bag that didn't fasten close... so I had to keep a close eye and a tight grip on it. Best moment was when I was recording the monkeys on Jamie and one jumped from her to me, and we caught it in Slow-Motion... The downside to our adventure was when Jamie got a slight bite from one of the rascals.. Luckily I made sure to bring my mini first aid kit... (I learned my lesson well the first time)
The locals I'm sure view these guys with a love hate relationship, the monkeys bring out tourists but are such a big nuisance... oh PS watch where you are walking, those hooligans like to drop things from high places...
To finish out our visit we stopped by the street market, they had delicious food and more trinkets...
We went to the station and hopped on the wrong train by accident (it was crammed full with all the kids leaving school) at the next station we hopped off and by a stroke of good luck caught the station master just before he was heading home. He was kind enough to radio the conductor of our train to inform them we had to get on.(especially since it was the last train of the night and we were flying out of Bangkok in T-minus 8 hours) Our friend, the station master, was kind enough to even wait around till the train arrived so we wouldn't miss it.
Back at the hotel we hopped in the shower(it was so nice to get all the monkey off of us) and wandered the streets until it was time to head to the airport. Upon arrival to our favorite airport (we must have been there at least 5 times with all our transfers) we found out our plane was delayed 2 hours, meaning we wouldn't have time to go see the great wall during our layover in Beijing. The return home was a time of patience... from Beijing we flew to Los Angeles... and our plane was delayed 3 times!!!! ( all I wanted was my bed at this point) by the time we were originally to board, our plane hadn't even left its previous destination, Portland, Oregon. Once it arrived in LA we boarded and waited and waited while some equipment was checked, at this point I fell asleep and was rudely awaken to the announcement that we had to un-board so the mechanics could run tests with the aircraft. I mean I am glad for their precaution and our safety, but still….
Eventually we did make it home safe and sound. That night I had the best sleep ever!!!
And thus ended my almost-6-months-stint of travelling and we lived happily ever after!!!
As the night went on the crazier the street got, they had police coming by every hour and everyone would take stuff off the street, but soon as they left, it all came out again. Eventually Jamie and I gave up and went up to our room and listened to the party on the street till 1am when the police came and everyone moved the party into their open air bars... So it quieted down just a bit... We did get to see a really amazing dance off which made up for all the noise.
One thing to learn about Bangkok is there is everything here... including palm readers/fortune tellers/guru.. It was our luck to bump into one of these mystical men on our way back to our room. After gaining our interest in what he was telling us, he pulled us into a side alley (sketchy??!) to tell us more... long story short he wanted money, and asked for it several various times, saying it was essential to get the inspiration to read my fortune.. I don't know how they do it.. I'm split 50/50 on their abilities... anywho at the end he told me to come see him if my fortune didn't come true and he would give me money... great guarantee.. except A. he wont remember you, (proven fact as he tried to get us again later that day...) and B. by the time my "fortune" comes he will be dead... or I will be.
I overcame my fear of monkeys for a few hours(just for Jamie) and we headed up to Lopburi, which is know for Monkey Temple... We took a 3 hour train ride or so. One thing I love about trains in India and Thailand is that vendors will get on and off to sell you food and drinks. I bought something from one of them, and the ladies across the train from me got mad at the guy for trying to charge me double. The ladies were so sweet the whole time, making sure we had our purses "hidden" and would be safe from thieves of all types. I know think of those sweet ladies as my Thai guardian angels. 
Once we arrived in Lopburi, we realized there were several ruins/temples... so we wandered in one direction with no luck... and kept getting strange looks from locals. We decided to turn around and try the other direction... we had a lot more luck. First one monkey jumping across the street, and then we saw a few more and then a lot more... Jackpot at the monkey temple. since we were there in the off season we were the only ones on the grounds.. You pay a small fee at the window and receive a "personal bodyguard". He instructed us that unless we wanted to lose our jewelry we had better remove anything shiny as the monkeys will remove it, and do it quickly. I removed all but my fine gold chain thinking it was hidden well enough, but sure enough the monkeys did try to remove it so I grabbed the clasp and held on till I got the monkey away. One thing to note, if you don't want the monkeys to climb all over you, tell your "bodyguard". He is there to make sure they don't fight, or bite... when they attempted he would put a stop to their ruckus. He also provided us with food to feed the monkeys and even took pictures for us. The monkeys where all over the area, and had no problem getting into trouble, I had a bag that didn't fasten close... so I had to keep a close eye and a tight grip on it. Best moment was when I was recording the monkeys on Jamie and one jumped from her to me, and we caught it in Slow-Motion... The downside to our adventure was when Jamie got a slight bite from one of the rascals.. Luckily I made sure to bring my mini first aid kit... (I learned my lesson well the first time)
The locals I'm sure view these guys with a love hate relationship, the monkeys bring out tourists but are such a big nuisance... oh PS watch where you are walking, those hooligans like to drop things from high places...
To finish out our visit we stopped by the street market, they had delicious food and more trinkets...
We went to the station and hopped on the wrong train by accident (it was crammed full with all the kids leaving school) at the next station we hopped off and by a stroke of good luck caught the station master just before he was heading home. He was kind enough to radio the conductor of our train to inform them we had to get on.(especially since it was the last train of the night and we were flying out of Bangkok in T-minus 8 hours) Our friend, the station master, was kind enough to even wait around till the train arrived so we wouldn't miss it.
Back at the hotel we hopped in the shower(it was so nice to get all the monkey off of us) and wandered the streets until it was time to head to the airport. Upon arrival to our favorite airport (we must have been there at least 5 times with all our transfers) we found out our plane was delayed 2 hours, meaning we wouldn't have time to go see the great wall during our layover in Beijing. The return home was a time of patience... from Beijing we flew to Los Angeles... and our plane was delayed 3 times!!!! ( all I wanted was my bed at this point) by the time we were originally to board, our plane hadn't even left its previous destination, Portland, Oregon. Once it arrived in LA we boarded and waited and waited while some equipment was checked, at this point I fell asleep and was rudely awaken to the announcement that we had to un-board so the mechanics could run tests with the aircraft. I mean I am glad for their precaution and our safety, but still….
Eventually we did make it home safe and sound. That night I had the best sleep ever!!!
And thus ended my almost-6-months-stint of travelling and we lived happily ever after!!!
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| Little Treasure we found in Bangkok Airport… Donuts have never tasted so good!!! |
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| Crazy Cab driver.. He had money pasted all over his Cab |
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| Famous fish spa.. It is startling (& tickles) but your skin is amazing after |
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| At a park in central Bangkok we caught site of this lady feeding bread to the fish. Apparently this is a popular thing as we saw many people feeding the fish.. *we met one cute lady who sells cosmetics up the street and let us help her feed the fish. She comes everyday to feed them bags of bread. |
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| One wild Komodo dragon climbing out of the river, he is 1 of 3 we saw on our boat ride. |
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| Last Meal in Thailand… Jamie loves her fries, at any meal. |
