We arrived in the afternoon on Christmas Eve and stepped out of the comfortably air conditioned airport to find ourselves surrounded by a swampy heat. Having come from chilly 40F weather, where it's only mildly warmer inside, the heat was welcomed. By the time the bus dropped us off somewhere in the vicinity of our hotel it was nearing dusk. As we scoured the streets looking for our hotel my body and all it's senses were in total shock. My ears we accosted by a barrage of honking and the constant buzz of motorbikes speeding past. My nose was filled with the conflicting scents of the dozens of food stalls lining the streets; curries in a rainbow of colors, garlic, freshly cooked rice, basil, fish and shrimp paste, lemon grass, and some other identifiably funky smells too. The heat was beginning to set in even though it was nearly dark and the smoggy sooty air was sticking to my damp skin. My eyes were struggling to adjust in the fading light-I didn't want to miss a single thing. At last, after six long blocks we found our hotel-like an oasis in a desert-we entered our haven to find elephant towels waiting for us on the bed and candle lit lily pads floating in the pool. Yes, we had arrived.
Day One:
I awoke early the next morning excited to greet the day-my first day in Bangkok! I threw back the curtains eager to see the sprawling city in all her glory. But to my surprise, all I could see out of my floor to ceiling sliding glass door was a lattice fence made of cement complete with broken glass atop as make shift barbed wire. And through the fence what did I see? A man sleeping on a carpet on the adjacent roof with a little white dog huddled close. Yes, we were in Bangkok alright.
The hotel had a complimentary breakfast buffet, and every morning Joe and I filled our bellies to sustain our bodies as long as possible through strenuous sightseeing. Probably much to the chagrin of the hotel staff the delicious thai food spread was also searingly, make you sweat and cry at the same time, spicy. After sweating out half of the calories we'd consumed, Joe and I hit the streets.
As we left the hotel the kind staff said they'd get us a tuk-tuk, "No problem! 50 baht, and they'll show you a lot of great sites!" I was thinking-under two bucks for a ride to all the sites-sounds too good to be true. When we told our driver where we wanted to go he rattled off a list of wats (temples) and sites at rapid fire speed and said he'd wait for us at all of them before dropping us off at the Grand Palace. We sped off to our first destination. It wasn't on our list of sites to hit up for the day, but it was on our city map. What the heck I thought, it must be cool if its on the map. Our driver wove in and out of traffic and made sudden sharp turns onto narrow little alleys as though we were on some sort of high sped chase. A tuk-tuk is basically just a motorized rickshaw-they are open to the elements and have no seat belts. And as our driver whipped us around corners I wondered if people ever fly out. Don't get me wrong, I had a smile plastered on my face, and I almost wanted to pay him for more, until we made our first impromptu stop.
Thinking back I see that our driver was totally buttering us up. He chatted and made small talk, he serenaded us with Thai ballads, and he waited for us at sites while we took a zillion pictures. Just before we headed off to our final destination he casually mentioned that he knew of this great site-a factory where they make designer suits-and he would take us there to see it. No thanks, we said just take us to the next sight, and suddenly he'd lost his hearing. "OK! Great! To the tailor shop and then off to our next sight!" We arrived in no time and he eagerly spun around to announce that he'd be waiting just outside for us. When we said we didn't want to have a suit made he pleaded with us " Please go in, you don't have to buy, but I get gas vouchers if you go in" We just didn't have the heart to say no, so we went in anyhow. Feeling totally awkward we browsed for no more than three minutes and when we returned to the tuk-tuk he told us he knew of another even better place where we could have a suit made. Again we tried to resist, but to no avail. He put his deaf ears on and took us there straight away-and for a second time he guilt tripped us into having a browse. It's really not a bad deal at all. You can have a suit tailored just for you, and made of the fabric you select for under $150. We made our obligatory sweep through and returned to the tuk-tuk hoping we'd finally be on our way to the Grand Palace. Our driver, Slick Rick that he was, casually asked what our plans were while in Bangkok and if we needed to book any tickets or accommodations, because he knew of this great tourist office...Joe and I said NO! and even tried to reason with him. "We went to two places for you, we don't want to go to anymore." He said "okay, okay I take you there, we just stop by the office on the way." We went back and forth for several minutes before we gave up. Shortly thereafter we pulled up at the Tourist Info Office. Like stubborn little kids Joe and crossed out arms and refused to get out of the tuk-tuk. Trying anything he could our driver burst out with "We're friends aren't we!?" When Joe and I still wouldn't budge after a couple of minutes our driver angrily sped off. There was no more conversation, and no more serenading. We were getting the silent treatment. Even when we got out, thanked him, and payed, he still had his poutty face on. We'd become best friends and then broke up all in the span of two hours. It was the most interesting and awkward encounter I've ever had.
Despite the weird tuk-tuk situation it was an awesome day and we saw a lot including Wat Po (reclining Buddha), The Grand Palace, and a few that we don't know the names of because our driver randomly took us there.
Our first stop of the day, one of our driver's picks, so I'm not sure of the name.
Grand Palace-they loaned me a sarong-shorts aren't allowed in the Palace.
Wat Po-It was so much bigger than I expected. It took my breath away.
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