2006-04-01

Thailand trip report

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Here are our pics from Thailand. We had a great time!

Saturday

-banana pancakes and fruit shakes at a local bakery for breakfast

-2 hour Thai massage for $10 (Thai massage is great and very different from any other kind of massage I’ve had)

-visited the tailor where Andy was fitted for his suit. He also picked out fabric and had two work shirts made that we picked up later in the week.

-Andy visited the dentist on Saturday as well (his first of 3 visits while we were there). We were quoted $7500 on his dental work when we were in the US but in Thailand, it was only $2500 and they did a great job.

-At night, we went on a dinner cruise which gave us a great view of many of the sites along the river.

On our way to the dinner cruise via songtaew (small pickup with a shell and seats…not very easy for guys who are 6’4” and 6’5”!)



On the cruise:




Thai women stretch their fingers backward starting in childhood and are able to bend them back really far for traditional Thai dancing.


Sunday
Up early to go to Chatuchak weekend market. The biggest shopping area I’ve ever seen – was very hot and I’m not a big shopper so we left within a few hours. Got some cheap things while there though including 7 silk scarves for $21 total. Payton is the size of an adult Thai woman so I just bought her adult clothing there but when I was looking for things for myself, the shopkeepers were sure to point me in the direction of the “very large sizes.” J Some pics of the market including eating more banana pancakes (so yummy!).

Lunch at Greyhound restaurant near where they live in Bangkok – very modern and serving variety of dishes including good ‘ol American cheeseburgers which Andy chose to eat too often on our trip.

Dinner at Indian restaurant called Face which was so pretty and so yummy. I loved the architecture and use of teak wood here.



Monday

Andy slept until noon and I finished a 250 page book, watched a movie and did laundry by the time he got up. Once he got up, it was dentist appointment time again for him and then I napped. Not really any pics from today other than this one from a place we ate dinner called Woodstock. They had a computer jukebox which was really fun. The waitresses just stand there waiting to serve you and when you finish playing a game of pool, they are right there to re-rack the balls for you. Was kind of weird to get used to.



Tuesday

David and Liz had to go to work so we were on our own today finding where we're going. Navigating via taxi, sky rail, water taxi, etc. turned out to be much easier than I’d thought.

First stop, Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was an American who went to live in Thailand and helped revive Thai silk making in the 1950s. He created a really great Thai house and on a trip in Cambodia, he disappeared. His house is now available for touring. This architecture is similar to the Face restaurant we went to the night before and now my favorite – I bought a book on the architecture of Thailand as a result. Pics not allowed inside the house so these are just the outside.


Next stop was the Grand Palace where the royal family used to live. It’s so fabulous. The pictures don’t capture the beauty of these buildings. They literally all shine like jewels!

First pic is view from the water taxi en route to the Grand Palace.



Doing our best impressions of the statues:


Next we went next door to Wat Po (Wats are temples) and home of the huge reclining Buddha statue. It’s unbelievably big!


The bottoms of the feet on the reclining Buddha are made of all of these mother of pearl drawings. Really pretty.


On the grounds of Wat Po, there was this tree covered in cloths that had been blessed by monks and then people would put offerings around the tree and pray. I thought it was beautiful.



Wednesday

We took a flight to the northern city of Chiang Mai to stay for two days. Really, really great place. Stayed at the River Ping Palace (pics below). Fabulous place and only around $20 a night. J

We were warned against laying down and getting too comfortable so we left immediately to see Doi Suthep which is about ½ hour away. We hired a Songtaew to drive us up the hill and it was a beautiful drive.

Once we got there, it was a choice between walking the 308 steps to the top or taking the lift. As a severe asthmatic, I was so glad they had the lift option! We did take the stairs down though and it was a great view walking down. Pics from Doi
Suthep.


We fell asleep in the afternoon intending to wake up to attend the night market but ended up just sleeping.

Thursday

We opted to visit the elephant conservatory (http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/) rather than one of the many elephant riding camps because of the treatment of elephants at those camps. It was so amazing and we were gone for 10 or 11 hours. It was like a religious experience (in that it was very moving and the people there are very committed) and we met so, so many interesting people there. Hanging out and just walking around, feeding and bathing the elephants was really great and it was weird how we got comfortable with these humongous animals. There are so many great stories I could tell about the elephants and the people here.

First thing we did was go to the market to get fresh fruit and veggies for the animals. Here we are loading up the pickup with food.

Then off to the nature park…..

After a long day with the elephants, we attended the Night Market in Chiang Mai and bought many things and then it was back to our hotel.
Friday

Our flight back to Bangkok was leaving at 2 so we just had the morning to see some of the Wats downtown.

Here’s Wat Pra Singh.




Andy bought some jasmine flowers from this lady. Thai people would typically take them into the Wat as an offering but I love jasmine and chose to wear it as a necklace for the rest of the day.


Yeah, Andy thought this was hilarious.

One of the oldest Wats in Chiang Mai though I can’t remember the name right now.

Our tuk tuk driver for the day in Chiang Mai

Friday night in Bangkok, it was out to dinner at a mall (fancy food at the food court at the mall!) and then drinks. Places were packed because it was St. Patrick’s Day. I found out that I’m getting much older and ended up taking a cab back home by myself while everybody else stayed out drinking and watching basketball.

Saturday

Got 200 pics developed for less than $20, Andy had his last dentist appointment, I had another 2 hour Thai massage, had to pack and get some final things done. Our flight left around midnight and our trip overall was fine until the last leg which was a 9 hour delay at DFW. Not bad when we were on 8 planes in 10 days!

We loved Thailand but so happy to get back to our babies too. Next time, we hope to take them with us!



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