A Forty Five Minute Flight Versus A Thirteen Hour Train Ride We took a short one hour flight with Thai airways from Bangkok to Chiang Mai which is in northern Thailand. It gets very confusing because there are many provinces that have a city in them with the same name. Like Chiang Mai province and Chiang Mai city. It was only $50 Canadian for the flight as opposed to taking a 13 hour train ride. The scenery is supposed to be very nice on the train, but we decided we wanted to get there the fast route. Hats off to Thai airways! Excellent service, we even got fed a meal on a one hour … [Read more...]
Ayuthaya Ruins And Wats
Our first day out we took a tuk tuk to see a Wat, which is the name for the Thai temples here. You can get watted out in Thailand, they are everywhere. After you have seen a few it can get monotonous. So far we have been viewing ones that have different enough aspects to them that they are still interesting. Wat Phanan Choeng The first one we went to is called Wat Phanan Choeng. It has a massive golden Buddha that sits inside a temple. We were lucky enough to time our visit on the weekend when the monks perform a special ceremony. People come to the temple to pray and be blessed. There is a … [Read more...]
City Of Ayuthaya
We moved onward from Kanchanaburi to a city called Ayuthaya. It used to be the former capital of Siam. It is full of many beautiful temple ruins. The city is also completely surrounding by a system of rivers making it an actual island. Taking The Bus From Kanchaniburi To Ayuthaya We had to take two different buses to get here. The first one was about 2 hours long and went from Kanchanaburi to the city of Suphanburi. This was our first experience at taking a non air conditioned bus. It was not on a direct route, it made many stops. The first one was only two minutes down the road from the bus … [Read more...]
Kanchanaburi
Our Bus Trip From Bangkok To Kanchaniburi It was a two hour bus ride from Bangkok to Kanchaniburi. The bus ride was okay, it was an air conditioned bus. It was very old, but we were shocked to see the floors were beautiful solid teak planks. We paid the whopping 20 baht more (less than 70cents) to be put on first class. We really have no idea what this means. I think we were put on the same bus as the locals who were paying the 2nd class fare. They did have a tourist table in the bus station with a person that could speak some English. This was nice as he directed us to which bus we needed to … [Read more...]
Bangkok Is A Shopaholics Dream
Shop Until You Drop If the shopaholics want somewhere to go, Thailand, or Bangkok in general is your place. You can shop until you drop here literally. You just might drop in the heat. Jack and I have never sweat so much, not anywhere in Africa had we experienced heat like this. I think it is the humidity that makes it so much worse. Like Africa we ended up coming to Thailand at the hottest time of the year. It can get between 40-45.C The pricing here is so cheap, you can try to barter with the vendors, sometimes you can be successful at getting the price down a lot, other times not. You … [Read more...]
Grand Palace And Wat Phra Kaeo
Grand Palace We spent the better part of a day sightseeing at what is called the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo, or Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The Grand Palace used to be the residence of the Thai Royal Family, but is now only used for formal events. We saw many different temples ornately decorated with gold and porcelain pieces. It's a stunning site for the eyes. Plan to spend several hours or the better part of a day here depending on your level of interest. The section that housed the Emerald Buddha had strict clothing rules. You have to remove your shoes, no shorts, no tank … [Read more...]
Bangkok Tuk Tuks And Taxis
Tuk Tuks Designed So You Can't See? This is really annoying when you are taking one of the tuk tuks to get you around the city. You can't see a damn thing!!! I think this design is intentional so you don't know where they are taking you. The Taxi Game Let's talk about what we call the taxi game. One day we took a taxi out to the Chatuchuck weekend market. It was no problem to get to the market. We simply had our hotel call a taxi for us and it was there within minutes. Getting back from your destination especially at night can be an issue. We had to go stand in the middle of a busy … [Read more...]
Experiencing A Traditional Thai Massage
Our First Thai Massage We went back to the Royal Hotel after some site seeing. It was now about midnight, but because of the time change our body clocks were all messed up. We had slept until almost 2pm in the day and now we were not tired at all. We decided to indulge in our first Thai massage. Our hotel offers them around the clock. It was 300 baht for a one hour massage. Not even $9! It was a very interesting experience. Two small Thai ladies directed us into a room with partitions and foam mats on the floor. They hand you loose fitting pajama like top and bottoms to put on. When the … [Read more...]
Bangkok And All It’s Craziness
Bangkok in a nutshell...... Crazy traffic, tons of motorbikes and tuk tuks weaving in amongst the cars. People everywhere, street vendors selling everything imaginable from unidentifiable food to pajamas. There is music blaring, all kinds of smells and cats and dogs and the occasional rat scurrying about. Tucked away alleys have all kinds of bizarre sights and there is no shortage of prostitutes. A lot of them are transvestites, or "ladyboys" as they call them here. Some of them are stunningly beautiful. You really have to look twice before you realize it isn't a female, sometimes you just … [Read more...]