Goodbye Thailand!

Spirit house in Phuket City

Our 30 day visa is about to expire and so it is time for us to leave Thailand.  Everything people told us about this country is true – the people are great, the culture is rich, and the scenery is beautiful.  We also learned a lot that people didn’t tell us – parts of the country are VERY touristy, and in those parts, be on your guard.  We’ve heard from other travelers that Thailand has changed quite a bit in a very short amount of time.  Five years ago there weren’t any travel agencies, and now there are tons.  For any sight you want to see, there is a travel agency with a tour to match, or a tuk tuk driver will take you on a tour of your own (but count on swinging by a tailor or gem shop or two!).  The upside is the tours make it easy to see the sights in a country that speaks a different language.  The downside is it has become a tourist machine, churning out made to order tours that no longer feel like an authentic experience.

 

Things we liked about Thailand:

Funny monk dummy we found upstairs in a wat

The Food!  We had so many great meals here, and most of them were inexpensive.  The Thai folks know how to throw together a good dish, that’s for sure.  Our respective orders never came out together – usually one of us would be halfway done eating their meal before the other one got theirs – but on the plus side, you always knew it was fresh and not waiting under a heat lamp.  Some dishes were too spicy for me (I’m a wimp), although I knew I could always count on Daron to finish my food if I couldn’t handle the heat.  It was a good excuse to get a banana pancake or mango sticky rice for dessert (yum!).  Our guidebook said not to eat any salads that could have been rinsed with tap water or fruit that couldn’t be peeled, although we were rebels and did both.  Most restaurants or other businesses that depend on tourists know to use filtered water in their preparations.  We were cautious with the street vendors and didn’t eat anything questionable, health-wise (skipped meat dishes that had been sitting in the sun).  We never drank tap water, although we did brush our teeth with it.  Thankfully, neither of us had any stomach issues. 

Daron and his new ladyboy friend!

The monks!  We loved seeing the monks all over the place, in their orange robes.  They were on the bus, in coffeeshops, walking down the street, everywhere!  They are part of the modern world, as we saw plenty of them with cell phones.  We learned that every Buddhist male in Thailand enters the monkhood for a brief period before they are married.  Companies will even grant paid leave for their employees who temporarily become monks.  Being a monk earns merit – each Thai tries to achieve spiritual merit in this life to help them in their next one.  Since women can’t be monks in Thailand, monks can earn merit for their mothers and other female relatives.  Donating to a monk also earns that person merit.

Good advice

Costs!  After being in Australia and New Zealand, where our dollar didn’t go very far, it was nice to be in a country that was a bit cheaper.  It still wasn’t as cheap as I thought it would be, but I’m happy that it wasn’t any higher.  Food was the cheapest – we paid between $2 and $10 per person on average for a meal.  Our average for lodging in the various guest houses was $37 during our stay.  Long distance buses were anywhere from $21 to $27.  Beer in Thailand was $2 a bottle for a local brew – mixed drinks were expensive and wine was super expensive. 

Ladyboys!  These are basically transvestite men who dress like women or have sex changes to become women.  They are accepted in Thai society.  There are live shows starring the ladyboys that are quite popular.  We’ve seen quite a few ladyboys out and about and some of them are very beautiful (others, not so much)!  A couple of times when Daron was out and about by himself late at night, they propositioned him (too vulgar to include here) – he was a good sport about it and said no (at least that’s what he told me!).  Anyhow, it would be really hard to tell the difference if you didn’t know.  I like that it that it’s accepted here.   

One of the nicer squat toilets

Laundry!  We never saw a laundromat during our stay – in its place were tons of businesses that would do laundry for you.  If you dropped your clothes off in the morning, they would have them ready for you (and nicely folded) by the late afternoon.  This gives the clothes enough time to dry on the clothesline (nobody uses dryers here).  We usually paid about $1 per kilogram – one load was almost 3 kilograms. We felt spoiled by this.

And the things we didn’t like so much…

River pollution in Bangkok

Scams!  With very little regulation of tourist agencies, we never knew what we would get.   It was hard for us to prepay for a tour, not knowing if we would even get picked up on the day of the tour, or if we would get the tour we signed up for.  We didn’t do very many tours, and thankfully the ones we did worked out.  We heard crazy stories from other tourists about tours gone wrong, which made us wary.  There was little to no information out there, except from other travelers and what we could find on the internet, so we were never sure if the price we paid for a tour was too high (which it probably was nine times out of ten).  Having to always be on our guard was a challenge, and tiring too. 

Sales!  The tuk tuk drivers, the taxi drivers, and the massage people were annoying.  You couldn’t walk anywhere around the southern beaches or in Bangkok (Chiang Mai was different), without hearing constantly, “hey you, where you go?” or “masaaaage?”  The tailors in Bangkok were just as bad, practically chasing Daron down the road anytime he got near one.  Even the restaurants would do it – as soon as we would stop to look at a menu, an employee would come out and try to talk us into eating there.  I imagine it must work some of the time, otherwise why would they keep doing it (unless they get a kick out of being annoying!). 

Thailand's C3PO  ;)

Fish sauce!  This is used in some of the dishes served here.  My nose can smell it the second we walk by a dish that contains it.  To me, it’s a terrible rank smell.  Strangely, Daron never notices it.  In fact, he once ordered a seafood salad and when they brought it out I didn’t think I’d be able to stay at the table.  Daron ate it up like it was the best salad he ever had!  It’s a Thai delicacy that I don’t think I will ever be able to get used to.

The bathrooms!  Thankfully we came across the squat toilet only occasionally.  I learned to carry toilet paper around with me wherever I went because there was no guarantee any bathroom would have it.  Bathrooms in the guesthouses were interesting because the entire room IS the shower.  The showerhead just comes right out of the wall, in the middle of the room.  By the time I was done showering, the entire room would be covered in water, toilet and sink too.  Usually the bathrooms were all tile, floor to ceiling, so it was fine that everything got wet (I guess that’s one way to keep the bathrooms clean!).  The thing we couldn’t get used to was the bathroom floor being wet for so long.  Anytime you had to go into the bathroom after the shower was used, you’d be walking around on a wet floor that you would track into other rooms.  And the butt gun!  Almost all toilets (public included) have a small hose with a nozzle attached nearby.  This is used like a bidet.  I tried it once and thank goodness the bathroom is set up to get all wet!  I guess it takes a special technique. J

And last but not least…

Some of the cages were SO small - we wanted to set them all free!

My hair! (the girls will relate, the guys can skip this one)  My hair has become a curly mess in the humidity.  Most of it I can pull back into a ponytail, which is great, but the front of my hair is a bunch of weird curls.  Even Daron, who hardly notices my hair most days, has said “what is up with your hair?”  I tried growing my bangs out, which resulted in big curls, and then cutting them, so now I have small curls.  It drives me nuts on a daily basis.  I’m at a loss as to what to do.

On a final note, here are a few facts you will hopefully find interesting:

Thailand’s population is 66 million people, with a land mass slightly smaller than Texas.  It has a tropical climate, with June through November being the wet monsoon season.  Unlike its neighbors, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos, Thailand has never been under colonial rule.  Only about 15% of undisturbed forest remains here – logging was outlawed in 1989.  A guiding precept of Thai people is that life should be both sanuk (fun or joy) and sabai (comfortable and contented). 

That last fact was my favorite.  Here’s to life being both sanuk and sabai! 

Doi Inthanon National Park

At a waterfall overlook

We did another tour while in Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon National Park.  We had a really great tour guide called “Boo” who helped make it fun.  The national park not only had beautiful forests, but is home to the country’s highest point, at 8,511 feet.  The tour included two beautiful waterfalls, as well as a real hill tribe market, which contained mostly fruits and vegetables.  Also in the park are two giant stupas erected in honor of the king and queen, surrounded by beautiful gardens.  At Thailand’s highest point the weather was cool, and almost cold!  We saw lots of birds too, which was nice.  The view was not great as the sky was hazy, either from pollution or all the burning we saw people doing (slash and burn agriculture is common here).

Hill tribe weavers

The tour unexpectedly included a visit to a hill tribe village.  When Boo mentioned this neither Daron nor I were sure we wanted to get out of the van, both of us remembering the zoo-like experience we had on the other tour.  Luckily this time it was completely different.  Boo gave us a tour of their village (which you could tell they really did live in), and taught us about their traditions and how they are fading fast. Typical story – the youth want to fit into modern society and don’t want to keep up the old ways. We saw a couple of older ladies who still wore the traditional clothing, and even had mouths stained deep red from constant use of the betel nut.  There was a small store of their handicrafts with no pressure to purchase, even though many people did.  It was a nice experience and we learned a lot.  

The Golden Triangle

We spent one day while in Chiang Mai touring the Golden Triangle area of Thailand.  It was a long day but also very interesting.  We were picked up at our hotel by a nice air-conditioned minivan, with about ten other tourists.  We covered a lot of ground in one day and our driver drove like a madman (with no seat belts in the van!).  Our first spot was a hot spring where you could purchase eggs from local women who would then boil them for you in the hot pool.  We chose to soak our feet in a nearby eggless hot pool instead, a nice treat!  The next stop was The White Temple, which was built only 12 years ago.  It looks very fantastical, like something from a fairy tale.  We had to pass through images of hell before getting inside the temple to be with the Buddha.  The inside walls of the temple were painted with images from modern culture, from batman to avatar, to the twin towers, to superman.  It felt a little bit like we were at Disneyland or somewhere similar.

The fantastical White Temple

Our next stop was the Golden Triangle.  This is an area where Thailand borders both Myanmar (Burma) and Laos.  There are two rivers that separate the countries:  the Mekong and the Ruak Rivers.  During the sixties and seventies half of the world’s supply of opium was grown in this area of northern Thailand, as the climate is ideal for this crop.  During the Vietnam War and the fight against communism in Asia, the CIA encouraged its growth.  Eventually the King of Thailand used his influence to encourage the Thai army to squelch the opium production.  Nowadays, at least on the Thai side, more benign crops are grown, such as vegetables, flowers and fruit.   In Myanmar opium production is still going strong.  There is a small island in the Mekong that our tour guide said is a “no man’s land” – it doesn’t belong to any country.  It looked deserted during our trip, but long ago a person could buy opium there.  Because it didn’t belong to any country, they only took payment in gold.  Hence the name, Golden Triangle.

Snake whiskey with a Beer Lao chaser!

We took a boat ride on the Mekong up the river to see Myanmar and down the river to see Laos.  We were interested to learn that we were only about 150 miles from China (had never been so close to China before!).  Both Myanmar and Laos had a large casino on their shores, both funded heavily by the Chinese - Chinese folks like to come down there to vacation.  Our boat stopped at a small tourist village in Laos, where we were able to spend about an hour.  We were immediately met at the dock by small children all reciting the same thing:  “five baht, five baht” with their hands held out.  It was nice to see that not one tourist gave anything to the children (hopefully the parents will stop using their children this way).  The big draw was the whiskeys in large glass vats.  Each whiskey had one item floating in it, where it derived its name:  snake whiskey, armadillo whiskey, scorpion whiskey, and the ultimate tiger penis whiskey.  I think Daron tried them all - he said none of them tasted great, but they left a warm feeling in his stomach (which may have been the onset of nausea!).

Girl from Long Neck tribe

Next on the agenda was a Hill Tribe village, which Daron and I were both really looking forward to seeing.  It was mostly a touristy zoo!  There were at least three different tribes represented in the village, and I think they actually did live there, although all we saw were various stalls where they sold textiles, some made by them and some not. We got to see many of them in their traditional clothing, and even hard at work weaving, although it had the feel of a high pressure sales event – with one lady even calling out to us as our group was leaving, “please buy something, please buy something!”  It was interesting to learn about them from our tour guide, even if the village wasn’t completely authentic, and many people (including us) did make purchases to support their village. 

After this it was a three hour drive back to Chiang Mai, even with our speedster driver.  We were tired after such a full day and happy when we got back to our hotel room (safely!).

Chiang Mai

Traveling on the bus (note monk on cell phone!)

We took a VIP bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand, the trip taking a total of ten hours.  This time we knew what to expect, so when the bus stopped around lunch time we were the first in line for the “free” meal!  I pointed to the two dishes that looked good and they were scooped onto my plate.  The one I thought was beef and green beans turned out to be liver and bamboo shoots – not quite what I was expecting!  Luckily my other choice was tasty. 

Flower festival float

Chiang Mai was a nice surprise, and became our favorite place here in Thailand.  It’s at a higher elevation so the weather is cooler, which was a nice change from sweating all the time!  The town has a very relaxed kickback vibe and even the tuk tuk drivers are less pushy.  Our first day here happened to coincide with the annual Flower Festival, so we were able to see the parade and check out the corresponding market.  There are all kinds of incredible markets here; besides the odd festival market, there is the night market, the Saturday market, and the Sunday market.  The area is known for its arts and crafts, as well as educational opportunities.  Tourists can take Thai cooking classes as well as learn Thai massage.  There is an old part of the city that is surrounded by crumbling brick walls and a moat –it was built 700 years ago to defend the town against Burmese invaders.  It is the most touristy area and has great restaurants and coffee bars.  We ate so much good food during our time there and it was nice to finally have some good coffee! 

Our new monk friend... ;)

There are over 300 wats (temples) in Chiang Mai, and we spent one day walking around and exploring those in the old city area.  We only made it to five or six, all of which were very beautiful – by the end of the day we were “watted out.”  While exploring one wat, we came across a very outgoing monk in a little building of his own.  He invited us in and asked us to sit down with him.  After some small talk, he told us (in broken English) to close our eyes and pray to the Buddha, who would grant our prayer.  He then proceeded to chant and douse us in holy water (I just about hit the ceiling when the water hit me, it was such a surprise!  I asked Daron if he jumped too, and he said he knew it was coming because he had been peeking the whole time, not entirely sure he trusted the monk!).  The monk then gave us a simple (but bright) yellow and orange woven bracelet to wear.  When Daron asked if we could offer something to him in return he immediately removed the lid on a large silver urn containing money and gave us a big smile – of course we added to his coffers.  I think Mr. Monk has his own little side business going on!   

Garden of fake tulips at a wat

We had two Thai massages here, our first time to try this type of massage.  It’s kind of a mix between a massage and a yoga class.  They give you loose pajama-like clothes to wear and then the masseuse uses her body to stretch and twist your body.  They use their elbows and forearms to work out kinks in your back (my favorite part!); they use their feet to massage your thighs; they even kneel on the back of your legs.  I know it sounds strange, but it actually feels really, really good. There are massage parlors all over the place and for our first one we just picked a place.  For the second one we got a recommendation from another tourist who teaches Thai massage in Seattle.  It was wonderful – although Daron had a hard time following directions and sort of fought the masseuse.  She was a pro and was able work him into pretzel positions anyways, giggling from time to time!    

Enjoying sushi and soup at the mall

We spent one day at the local mall, eating sushi and watching movies.  We needed a little break from all the touristy sites.  The mall was huge as they all seem to be here in Thailand!  The movie theater was modern and spacious, just as nice as anything in the U.S.  The price was about $5 per person, same price day or night.  When you buy your tickets you pick out your seats on a computer screen.  A little different than in the U.S., but nice because then we didn’t have to get to the theater early to get good seats!  The movies were in English with Thai subtitles.  One interesting thing they do here is play the national anthem right before the main movie and everyone stands up while it’s playing.  Pictures of the king are shown on the screen during this time.  I read that it is actually against the law to NOT stand up while it is playing. 

Chillin' at our guest house

Speaking of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, he is very loved by the Thai people.  There are pictures of him everywhere, in every business, in street intersections, you name it!  He is the world’s longest reigning current monarch, having been on the throne 64 years.  He has seen 15 coups, 16 constitutions, and 27 changes of prime minister!  Thailand has a constitutional monarchy, loosely based on the British model, which means the king is only a symbolic figurehead; the country is ruled by an elected government.  None of the government’s money goes to support the king – due to smart investments by his family over the years, he is independently wealthy.  In fact, he consistently places #1 on the list of the world’s richest royals, with a personal fortune of $30 billion.  He is currently in his 80’s and is not well.  It looks like his son, who is in his 50’s will be the next king, although from people we spoke with, he is not too popular.  One of the king’s three daughters has the heart of the people, and even though the constitution has been changed to allow a female to be the royal ruler, unless something happens to the son, she will never rule. As we traveled around Thailand it became obvious that they adore their king (it helps that there is a law here that you cannot speak badly about him; if you do you can get 3-15 years in jail).  It is also illegal to step on Thai money since it has the King’s image on it.  It will be a very sad day for this country when he passes away.      

Khao San Road

Grasshoppers anyone?

Our final three days in Bangkok were spent in the Khao San Road area, also known as the Backpacker Ghetto.  It is close to the Grand Palace and other sights, but mostly it’s a big party area with tons of bars and vendors selling everything you can think of - even bugs that you can eat!  I think the bug vendor made more money from selling pictures of her cart than she did actually selling bugs.  We watched a couple of tourists try them, and I even thought Daron might be up for a larvae or two, but he wasn’t feeling so adventurous that day!

Perhaps a scorpion....or two?

Originally we weren’t big on going to the area where all the tourists hang out, but after being there I can see why they go.  There is some nice patio dining and drinking, as well as great restaurants and street vendors.  It’s all right there, and most of the Thai people there speak good English.  It’s easy and almost doesn’t feel like Thailand – it’s a nice break after you’ve been traveling around the country.   

Besides the day we spent on the crazy tuk tuk tour, we spent one day getting our bus tickets to Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand.  We had to actually go to the bus station to buy the tickets.  You can buy them from a travel agency in town, but chances are good that you’ll get overcharged and they’ll underdeliver (charge you for a VIP bus and put you on a local one!).  We read that if you don’t use the government buses you’ll have a good chance of your luggage getting broken into too.  The timetable for the government buses is online, but they aren’t set up to take payment over the internet.  After our experience with the tuk tuk touts, we felt better going to the bus station and buying our own tickets.  We took a metered taxi to the bus station with no problems, but getting back was a whole other ordeal.  Due to the language barrier our taxi driver thought we wanted to go to a different place than we told him, so he inadvertently took us way out of our way.  He felt bad about it, and we were able to salvage the day by just getting out of the taxi (we were stuck in horrible traffic just watching the meter get higher and higher) and taking a water taxi up a canal to a place close to our hotel, which was actually a lot of fun too!

Hanging out in a cafe with a local kitty cat

I’ll leave you with a little information on the city we’re about to leave, good ol’ Bangkok.  Our guidebook says Bangkok has an estimated population of 10 million, but one of the taxi drivers we met said its population is closer to 15 million.  Truly, I don’t know how they get to either figure, since the city is a maze of alleyways and buildings, with people living in all kinds of unofficial places.  I think it would be impossible to know its exact population.  The current site of the capital city, along the Chayo Phraya River, was chosen by the king of Thailand in 1782.  The place he chose was originally called Bang Makok, or “place of olive plums.”  He changed the name to be Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit (say that ten times fast!), which translates to “Great City of Angels, City of Immortals, Magnificent Jeweled City of the God Indra, Seat of the King of Ayuttaya, City of Gleaming Temples, City of the King’s Most Excellent Palace and Dominions, Home of Vishnu and All the Gods.”  It is officially the longest place name in the world. Most of the locals know Bangkok as Krung Thep or “City of Angels.” 

Bangkok took a while to grow on me; initially I was not too big on the place.   By the time we were ready to leave I had started to get the hang of how things worked - bartering for everything, spotting the touts, etc.   The place definitely has its own special rhythm, which I had just started to recognize and become familiar with.  In a strange way, I will miss the Thai City of Angels.  

Tuk Tuk Scam

The tuk tuk from hell...

We have been SO good about avoiding the various scams here in Bangkok, at least up until today.  We had read over and over in our guidebook about the various touts who spot tourists to tell them the Grand Palace is closed, only to entice them onto a tuk tuk that will take them to other sights around town, where they will also be taken to gem shops and tailor shops against their will, in hopes that they will buy something.  The tuk tuk drivers get some sort of commission for bringing tourists to these shops. We knew all about it, and yet somehow we fell prey to them!

This morning we actually were heading to the Grand Palace, having moved to a hotel that was within walking distance.  We knew it would get crowded so we left early, hoping to see it while it was fairly quiet.  At the first main intersection we pulled out our map to look at it (our first mistake – it’s like a flag for these guys!).  A nice Thai gentleman “happened” to be walking by and asked us politely if we needed help. We told him innocently that we were headed to the Grand Palace.  He gave us directions and then told us that the Grand Palace was closed due to the Chinese New Year – they were having festivities there only for the Thai people and it would be open in the afternoon.  He went on to say that for the Chinese New Year the government was sponsoring a special for tourists, where they could hire a tuk tuk for only 20 baht (about 80 cents) for a three hour tour of some of the city’s sights, but only for today.  He asked to look at our map where he circled some of those sights for us.  He said only certain tuk tuks were participating, the ones with two particular flags on them.  Lo and behold, one of those tuk tuks just happened to pull up!  He hailed it down and talked to the driver for us, telling us again we shouldn’t pay more than 20 baht – he even yelled at the driver “no more than 20 baht!” like he was protecting us and helping us – we totally fell for it!  It helped him that we had just come from Chinatown and saw that it actually was Chinese New Year and that it was a big deal, so we truly thought there might have been something special going on. 

Tall standing Buddha

Anyhow, the tuk tuk driver took us to a tall standing Buddha, which was fairly impressive.  The tout had advised us to go to the TAT office (Tourist Authority of Thailand) to buy our bus tickets for Chiang Mai, so the driver said he’d take us there next.  Great, except he took us to some travel agency instead (can’t trust them from what we’ve read – you’re better off booking your own bus tickets).  We asked a couple of questions, one of them being “what time does the Grand Palace open today?” because we were pretty sure we’d been hoodwinked.  The answer was “Probably around 11:30,” which didn’t help (and made us think that everyone was in on it!).  Feeling suspicious, we didn’t buy any tickets from them.  The tuk tuk driver took us to the Lucky Buddha next, which strangely isn’t on our tourist map of sights (should have been another red flag!).  We walked into a very nondescript place and a nice man approached us, told us he worked there and that this place is usually closed to tourists, but today it’s open for them because it’s Chinese New Year (oh geez, we are SO gullible!).  He told us he just now opened it up and how lucky we were to see it with no one else around on such a grand occasion (should have been another clue!).  He told us the tiny Buddha enclosed in the dirty plastic container was solid gold (neither of us believed that one!).  He went on to give us the same exact story as the first guy, that the government was supporting a program for today only for tuk tuks at 20 baht for three hours, etc.  At this point Daron and I were starting to think it might be true!  Two seemingly unrelated people told us the same thing, how could that be unless there’s some truth to it!

Unlucky not-solid gold Buddha

Onto the next stop which happened to be a tailor shop.  Uh oh.  Daron got a hard core sales pitch for not one, but two suits, two shirts, two slacks, ties, you name it.  We eventually got out of there with all of our money, only to be taken to a gem shop next.  We were ushered through the store by some very nice ladies who wanted to show us everything:  “you can try,” “very cheap.”  We made our way through the maze of cases to escape out the back, still keeping all our cash.  The tuk tuk driver said “one more stop,” a tailor.  Daron told him firmly NO MORE TAILORS, but he persisted.  It's tough because our driver was such a nice older gentleman, who smiled and laughed a lot, and seemed to be trying hard to make us happy (we’re such saps).  We both felt for him (he didn’t look like he’d had an easy life) and didn’t want to hurt his feelings.  So darn it, we went to the second tailor.  When they offered refreshments Daron ordered a beer, which, surprisingly, they brought out to him!  When the conversation inevitably turned to suits Daron jokingly told them he’d always wanted a white suit.  By this time they know he’s not a serious customer (just a serious drinker!).  The sales guy told us that the tuk tuk driver gets a coupon for free gas for bringing us there (good to know!).  We hung out long enough for Daron to drink his beverage, then left. 

View from the Golden Mount

We asked the driver to take us to the Golden Mount next, as that was on the agenda, and we were ready for more sights and less sales.  So he did and we walked up to the top for a great view of Bangkok – the view almost made this trip down the rabbit hole worth it.  By this time we know we’ve been had, and are ready to end our tuk tuk tour and head to the Grand Palace.  We went down to meet our driver and lo and behold, he’s gone!  We wandered around and waited and waited and still no driver.  I can’t believe he left us – we never even paid him!  We started looking for someone else to take us to the Grand Palace so we could complete our original plan.  We were approached by a nice woman who told us she would have her brother take us to the Palace for 10 baht if we did her one favor by going to a tailor shop first.  ERG!  We had to politely decline and eventually found someone else who would take us to the Grand Palace for 50 baht, with no extra stops. 

At the Royal Palace

We got to the Royal Palace only to discover it was never closed for Chinese New Year (not a surprise by now).  It’s been open all day.  We’ve been had!   We paid the entrance fee and spent a couple of hours there before it closed; us and 1,000 other tourists (there goes the plan of being there before everybody else!).  The Royal Palace was quite the place – everyone has to be dressed properly in order to enter:  long pants or a skirt, and no tank tops.  They will rent items to you so you can cover up if you come wearing inappropriate clothes.  As with all of the temples we’ve visited, visitors must remove their shoes before entering.  The grounds are huge and the buildings are very ornate.  The famous emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade) is kept there, in his very own temple.  We went to see it and were surprised to see this little tiny green Buddha (he’s 30 inches high but seems much smaller), dressed in gold clothes, on top of a large pedestal of sorts.   In another building you can see his royal wardrobe, that they change him into depending on the season (we saw him in his winter wear).  It is Thailand’s most celebrated image – so much so that they won’t allow pictures to be taken in the temple.  It is said that the statue bestows good fortune on the kingdom that possesses it.  



The grounds of the Royal Palace were a good place to wander and calm down after all the drama with the tuk tuk scam.  I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was not a happy camper.  Truthfully, the scam was harmless, it didn’t cost us anything but our time (which is more valuable than money).   Now I feel like we’ve been officially initiated.  During the rest of our time in Bangkok we were able to spot the touts and watch other folks get hijacked by them – there are a ton of them and they are EVERYWHERE!  We’ve talked with other folks who went through the same thing we did – it’s good for a laugh.  We still get approached by them but now we’re wise – we just tell them straight out we’ve been on the tuk tuk tour and we KNOW what they’re up to.  That’s enough to get them to walk away.  I still can’t believe that the scam was so elaborate – the guy at the Lucky Buddha shrine was in on it, along with the guy at the corner, as well as the tuk tuk driver.  In hindsight I think the tuk tuk driver abandoned us because we weren’t purchasing anything (gems, suits, etc) – I figure he must get some sort of commission if we buy something.  Otherwise, it’s hardly worth his time to cart us around for so long.

Oh well.  As Daron kept telling me when I had steam coming out of my ears, it’s all an adventure…. J

Chinatown in Bangkok

New Year celebration in Chinatown

After two days in the Siam Square area of Bangkok, we decided to move to Chinatown.  Great idea, except we couldn't get a cab to take us there!  Two cabs just straight out refused to take us (unless we paid a high flat fee, no using the meter), so when the third cab stopped we gave in and negotiated a fee to go there, much higher than using the meter would have been. Chinatown is so congested with traffic and has so many one-way roads that no one likes to drive there.  They were right, it was a mess! 

Speaking of traffic, it has been crazy every where we’ve been so far in Thailand!  The painted lane lines are just guidelines, no one uses them.  There are so many cars and taxis and tuk tuks and scooters, all trying to get to where they’re going – plus pedestrians are crossing the roads too!  Crossing the street as a pedestrian is like taking your life into your hands.  Whenever we need to cross we tag along behind a local who is doing it – and I’ve noticed their strategy is to cross slowly, so all the vehicles can see them and go around.  The whole thing is like an intricate dance that everyone is a part of.  All the drivers are very aware of what’s going on around them, and are driving defensively, even though sometimes it seems the opposite.  We have yet to see an accident (and hopefully we won’t).  Strangely, not one of the taxis we’ve been in so far has had seat belts in it, except for the front seat.  Also, we were surprised to notice that they drive on the left hand side here, just like in Australia and New Zealand. 

Daron and his Buddha buddies

We were in Chinatown during the Chinese New Year. It is a very big holiday not only in Chinatown, but across Thailand.  Fourteen percent of Thailand’s population is descended from Chinese immigrants who came to Thailand in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  Chinese and Thais have intermarried freely and there is no anti-Chinese bias in Thailand.  I don’t quite understand how it all works, but I think the New Year is celebrated over many days.  All I know is we’re now in the year of the Rabbit.  All the Chinese shops were selling red New Year paraphernalia – décor, paper products, textiles, you name it.  The other thing I noticed while in Chinatown is that the Chinese will eat anything!  Tons of places were selling shark fin soup and bird’s nest soup.  It was awful to see tons of shark fins in storefronts, to entice customers to come in.  We also passed markets selling barrels full of dried fish (SO smelly!).  One thing we noticed while in Chinatown is that many of the employees there were Thai, and not Chinese.  It seemed strange since in other Chinatowns we’ve been to the workers are all Chinese.

Daron and the Reclining Buddha

One of the sights we saw while in Chinatown was the Golden Buddha.  It was found by accident in the 1950s, when a crane that was transporting the ten foot stucco figure snapped and the statue fell to the ground.  The stucco covering cracked open, revealing the gold Buddha beneath.  It is thought that the gold figure dates from the 13^th century and was encased in stucco during a later period to hide it from Burmese invaders.  It was a beautiful Buddha and is obviously very revered.  We accidentally got locked in the building, having visited it right before it closed.  A young monk let us out and we chatted with him briefly.  When we told him we were from the U.S., he was surprised, thinking we sounded British instead.  Go figure! 

View from Wat Arun over Bangkok

We spent one day during our time in Chinatown exploring the Chayo Phraya River that runs through downtown Bangkok.  We rode the water taxis upriver and downriver, trying not to get splashed by the water which was very polluted.  We got off the taxi at various wats (temples) to see the sights (lots and lots of Buddha statues – I’ll bet we’ve seen hundreds of Buddha statues so far!).  We were impressed with the very large reclining Buddha, who is 150 feet long and 50 feet high.  The soles of his feet are inlaid with mother of pearl designs, illustrating the 108 auspicious signs for recognizing Buddha.  There are also 108 bowls lining the walls surrounding the statue – a coin in each one is supposed to bring good luck.  On the grounds is a tree said to be grown from a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment.  We also visited the very old looking Wat Arun, or Temple of the Dawn.  We climbed up the steep steps to get a bird’s eye view of Bangkok.  Always love a good view!