Bangkok's Wonders

On our second and third days in Bangkok, we spent time with our guide, Bee. Bangkok is a huge, confusing city and we were glad to have assistance of a guide. The city is very westernized and traffic is extremely heavy, but rush hours are really terrible. It was not uncommon for us to sit in a taxi without moving for 15 minutes while a traffic light held.

We first toured the City Palace and the temples inside the complex. Bee had informed me (Kelley) before that there was a dress code for females to get inside the complex. I had to cover my shoulders and either had to wear pants or a below the knee length skirt. When we arrived, it was obvious that most of the tourists did not know about this. Vendors were making small fortunes selling long, wrap-around skirts and cheap t-shirts to all the females who didn't meet dress code. Inside the complex, there were numerous temples and they were each decorated in unique styles. The colors were vibrant and vivid. We also were able to view the Emerald Buddha, which is very impressive. It is carved from one solid piece of jade and is especially revered in Thailand. Next, we visited a temple that houses the third largest Buddha image in Thailand. It's called the reclining Buddha. It is 46 meters long and 15 meters high. We later visited a local massage school and had a traditional Thai massage.

For those of you who don't know, we tend to eat a lot of Thai food in the U.S. We were worried that we were used to an "Americanized" version of the cuisine and would not like the real stuff. When we sat down for lunch, our guide stated that she usually orders for tourists as they are generally unfamiliar with the food. When Michael ordered his favorite soup, Tom Kha, she was shocked! Over the next two days she commented on the foods that we ordered (not Pad Thai, which is what she says all tourists order) and was impressed with our willingness to try different dishes. It turns out we have had pretty authentic food in the U.S., and we enjoyed the food in Thailand just as much! At the end of the night, we got a 40 minute foot massage to relieve the tension from all the walking we had been doing.

The following day we went to the floating market, which is located in a village about an hour's drive outside of Bangkok. We arrived at a pier and boarded a "long-tail" boat and took a 30 minute ride to the market which is situated in a series of canals that connect different villages. The canals were used for transport before road existed between the villages. We boarded a wooden canoe-type boat and a person steered us up and down the canals, where you could shop for items being sold out of other small boats. There were lots of traffic jams and it was not uncommon for boats to ram into one another as they tried to navigate the crowded and narrow canals. We spent the rest of the day shopping at a local antique mall and ended the day with a 1 1/2 hour body massage and 1 hour foot massage.

2009 7-22

Kelley's Pictures

Kelley Bangkok

Bangkok Begins

We arrived in Bangkok at 5am. Our flight from the Maldives was possibly the worst flight of our trip. Although smooth and uneventful, the departure time at midnight left us exhausted. We were both unable to sleep on the flight and were sleepy(and Kelley grumpy) when we landed. Lucky for us, the morning only got better from there. We were met by our guide, B , inside the airport and taken to our awaiting transport van.

Our first view of Bangkok was impressive. This place is a beast! A huge sprawling city with towering buildings spread around the expansive landscape. This was different than US cities with a centrally located city center, and much different than an Indian city in that it is clean and no thick cover of smog and dust. Very modern in appearance, good roads, and little traffic this time of day. We were at our hotel within 30 minutes, The Peninsula Bangkok, the second nicest hotel of our trip. Met at the front door with white glove service and smiling faces, we easily made it to the front desk and were given an early check-in. Can you imagine a 6am check-in time in the US, and the staff seeming happy you had arrived early?

At this point I felt post call. I was tired. I hadn’t slept in 24hours. I needed a shower. Vacation isn’t supposed to remind you of work but this sensation was all to familiar. Lucky for me, all I had to do at this point was sleep, which I did. I just wish my pups had been there, too.

After a few good hours of sleep, we went to the mall. Shopping was basically the same as in the US with department stores anchoring the mall and retail chains in between. Many the shops were the same as we have at home, very Westernized. However, things changed when we decided to see a movie. We agreed upon the new Harry Potter and off we went to buy a ticket. The theaters have many options for the type of ticket you can buy. Basic ticket for about $2, Digital tickets a bit more, and a few other options leading to a VIP ticket. We opted for the VIP ticket thinking why not? After standing in the line we got to the counter and told them ticket type and show time, only to be ushered down to the end row. We were supposed to go down the red carpet, literally, with no line to buy VIP tickets. For about $15, you get the movie ticket, access to the lounge for an hour before the movie, appetizers, welcome drink, and an in movie menu. When you get to the actual theater, you are seated in large reclining chairs and are given your choice of a variety of soft drinks and choices of popcorn. During the movie you also only need push a small button for more of anything. Best movie experience ever. The movie was pretty good, too.

This concluded night one in Bangkok.

Maldives - Banyan Tree Resort

The last few days we have been relaxing in the Maldives. The Maldives is a group of islands in the Indian ocean southwest of Sri Lanka. Never heard about them? Probably cause its so dang far from the US and takes a long time to get here. Most of these islands are tiny, seemingly not more than a pile of sand and a few trees. They do have some very amazing reefs protecting them, and gorgeous waters.

After traveling through Sri Lanka, flying in to Male, and then taking a boat, we finally made it and were taken to villa #39. The room is a circular construction consisting of a bedroom, bathroom as normal. However, we also have a patio area with Jacuzzi and outdoor shower behind the room, and a breathtaking view out front. We have an unobstructed view of the ocean, the waves are heard throughout the day and night. We also have a small open-air gazebo with two padded lounges when you need to get out of the sun.

Most of our days have been spent getting some sun and snorkeling. This place has a marine biologist and runs a sea turtle farm. They collect the eggs from the island and raise the turtles in buckets and later pens until they are big enough to survive alone. Each day at 530p they feed stingrays next to the pier. These things remind me of our dogs; they know when its 530p and come out of nowhere for dinner time. After dinner each night they also feed leftovers to a group of very large nurse sharks. Again, these guys know when its dinner time. We didn’t see any in the reef on our own, only at night for feedings.

Days here are slow and uneventful for the most part. Lots of reading and swimming and sleeping. Not much to write home about. Next we will be heading on to Bangkok…. stay tuned.

2009 7-14

Mumbai

Mumbai is a big place. We flew in and were to the hotel around noon. Check-in was smooth and we were ready to go and explore in no time. We hired a taxi for the afternoon, which cost us about 4 dollars an hour. He took us to lunch and waited, then shopping to several stores. We got lucky with this guy; he spoke pretty good English and had some good shopping tips. He took us to some nice stores. I learned last time the goods sold by street vendors were not good quality. Most of their goods melted in water as fast as the wicked witch from Oz. We bought a few things to take home and went back to the hotel for some sleep.

The next day we had a driver and guide pick us up at 9am. Our guide was very Indian yet very familiar. He teaches a class to schools and takes students to a farm, has them grow foods, then harvest, cook, and eat. He was spiritual he said but no set religion. Loved breast feeding and recommended books to me about quiet home child birth. Vegetarian. Weighed maybe 85lbs. Long hair and a beard. Doesn't have a car, prefers to use public transportation or walk. Definitely a hippie. When he started complaining about formula and how women should breast feed it dawned on me... this is Dr. J Stinson as an Indian. I honestly laughed when he talked about the formula, the comparison so clear now.

He took us to several of the usual tourist sites. Victoria Terminus(train station in Slumdog Millionaire), Gandhi's Mumbai home and museum, a beautiful Jain Temple, and many others. We also checked out Dhobi Ghats. This is a laundry, row upon row of concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone. The clothes are soaked in sudsy water, thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry. Next they are ironed and piled into neat bundles. The most famous of these Dhobi Ghats is at Saat Rasta near Mahalaxmi Station where almost two hundred dhobis and their families work together in what has always been a hereditary occupation. Neat place, hard work, wonderful smell! Gotta love India.

2009 7-12

Michael says this post is too long (sorry!)

July 10-12

One of the things we haven't mentioned about India yet is likely one of the first things any Western visitor would notice--the traffic. Our guide swears that they have traffic laws in India, but we never saw any of them being followed. My first question to Michael was "why do they have lanes painted on the streets?" They completely ignore the concept of a lane. If three lanes are marked on the actual road, you're more likely to have at least 5 actual lanes of cars, with motorcycles and tuk-tuks in between. Horns are used incessantly--the noise is crazy! Motorcycles usually have at least 2 people on them, if not more. Many people have their children riding "side-saddle" and helmets are used sparingly. Tail-gating does not even begin to describe how you are supposed to drive. All cars are situated within inches of each other. Stopping short is unheard of...drivers keep their steady speed until right on another car and then slam the brakes. It's anxiety provoking at first, but after a few minutes I was used to and and it didn't bother me anymore. The only time I got worried was heading to the Delhi train station--our driver and another got out of their cars and started yelling at each other because the other guy would not let us turn. For a few seconds, Michael and I thought it was going to come to blows, but in the end, the other driver helped direct traffic so we could turn. Exciting stuff!

We spent three nights in Jaipur, which is in the Northern, desert area of India. Jaipur is known as the pink city. This is because the Maharaja of the city ordered every building to be painted pink in 1853 during a visit from the Prince of Wales. The old city is still pink today (though it's actually more of a salmon/coral color than what we would typically call pink).

During our first full day in Jaipur, we met our guide, who is called KK (sound familiar Sam??) and our driver Vinay, to explore the city and also visit the Amber Fort. The fort is located on a hilltop that overlooks the city. It was in very good condition, considering it was begun in the 1500's and completed in the 1700s. Most tourists utilize an elephant ride from the base of the hill up to the fort. We decided not to do so for two reasons. First, because we were worried about the treatment and exploitation of the elephants for a tourist attraction. Second, even though it was early in the morning, it was already very hot and humid and our car had a fantastic air conditioner, which the elephants lacked! We later learned that the government regulates the elephant's hours of operation. KK told us that the elephants are only allowed to make four round trips per day and that they were well taken care of. We toured the fort and have pictures included below. On the way out of the fort, we visited an art gallery and found some small oil canvases that we purchased by an indian artist named Sasanka Ghosh.

This afternoon, we visited a local craftsman who showed us how the precious and semi-precious stones were finished and polished before being made into jewelry. We toured his jewelry store as well. There were some truly amazing pieces. We learned that Indian women love very large, ornate jewelry, which also tends to be pricey. We also visited a shop that manufactures marble products that are inlayed with semi-precious stones. The marble is all local to the country and the process of completing the inlay work is very labor intensive. We spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around and seeing the city with our guide and driver.

This evening, we were fortunate enough to be invited by our travel agent to his club (sort of like an indian version of a country club) for appetizers and drinks. We spent time visiting and getting to know more about India and it's culture. We cannot say enough about the travel agent we used and how wonderful he was to work with. Our entire time in India was seamless and smooth. He arranged all of our tours, drivers, guides and made wonderful recommendations for shopping and restaraunts. After leaving his company, we had reservations at a restaraunt in the hotel. The menu is divided into four sections that correspond with the cuisine of four disctint areas of the country, and even more specificially--what the royal families eat in each (Punjab, Rajasthan, Hyperbad and Awadh). We were fortunate to have a wonderful waiter who made fantastic suggestions. This was one of the best meals we have had by far and taught us that we do like Indian food!

After the meal, I (Kelley) visited the hotel's in-home palmist to have my palm read. (FYI--Indians believe heavily in astrology and palmists in this country are not like the hokey, neon-sign palm readers that you find in seedy areas of U.S. cities.) I provided the palmist with only my name, date of birth and nationality before he read my palm. He asked no questions, and it was very interesting to hear what he had to say. His first statement was that I am very independent and frank with my feelings (does that sound familiar????) He stated that I am very dedicated to family and have strong devotions to those I care about (for instance, would gladly give money to family in need but would be less likely to spend on self.) He stated that I do not like interference or criticism from others. He went on to predict what year I would have a child, made suggestions for lucky numbers, offered colors that would bring good fortune and offered medical advice. He also stated that my life line was long and I would live until at least 91. I tried to ask how he could tell all of this from looking at my hand, but he was a man of few words and completely ignored all questions. When we get back to Tennessee, I will play my lucky numbers he provided me in the lottery. We'll see how it works out! It was fun and an experience to remember.

The following morning, we visited the City Palace, whose compound houses the residence of the current Maharaja of Jaipur. The Maharajas no longer have any political power and this is a title for show only. We also visited the observatory, which was very fascinating. One of the previous Maharajas, in the 1700's, was very intelligent and was passionate about astrology and astronomy. He commissioned the building of a very large observatory, which contains multiple instruments that calculate things such as the position of the sun, where the sun is in relation to the signs of the zodiac and more. The world's largest sun dial is located there and it is accurate within 2 seconds due to it's large scale. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy on this day and we were not able to see the instruments work.

We spent the rest of the day shopping and relaxing. We visited a workshop where we learned about traditional block printing, which is a craft that is passed down through families. We also visited a local art store and purchased a painting that we both fell in love with. This picture has very vivid colors and depicts a typical indian city street full of tuk-tuks. Tuk-Tuks are small, motorized vehicles. They are everywhere in India. They are made to hold maybe four adults max, but it is not uncommon to see 7 or 8 people crammed inside. We took a picture of the canvas and you can see it below. We cannot wait to get home and get it framed!

2009 7-11

Various travel pictures

Here are pictures from Kelley's camera. Michael has been taking the majority of the pictures with his fancy-dancy camera, which we have shared with the rest of the blog postings. These pictures begin at the Nashville Airport and end in Jaipur and include several things in between.

Kelley's Pics

Frankfurt - Delhi - Agra

The past few days have been very heavy on travel, so there has not been too much to blog about. On Tuesday evening, we left Michael's family who were staying in Munich for several more days. We caught a train to Frankfurt. We were only in the city long enough to sleep and grab a quick dinner before catching an early-morning flight to Delhi.The flight was about 8 hours and we arrived in Delhi late in the evening due to a time change. I (Kelley) had heard horror stories from Michael about the chaos of the Indian airports. When we got off the plane, I braced myself for the worst. We were both pleasantly surprised at the ease of getting through customs and obtaining our luggage. It was not the nightmare Michael had experienced in his previous trip to the country. Once again, like the night before, we were only in the city long enough to eat a quick dinner and head to bed to prepare for an early morning train ride to Agra, which is where the Taj Mahal is located.

The train system in India was a great experience. The train was cool, clean and had tons of leg room. They served a complete meal and even gave everyone an individually wrapped flower. When we arrived in Agra we were greeted by our driver, with a sign with our names, and our guide. We headed directly to the Taj Mahal. The palace is just amazing. There are really not enough adjectives to describe how beautiful it really is. The Taj was commissioned by a Mughal emporer in memory of his wife, who died in childbirth. It took 22 years to build and was completed in 1653. Mark Twain said the world can be divided in to two groups; the people who have seen the Taj and those who haven't. After seeing this in person, I understand.

We left Agra in the afternoon in order to head to Jaipur. It took about five hours for the trip. We were able to see a lot of the countryside during the trip. In Jaipur, we checked into our hotel, the Rambagh Palace. It was truly a royal welcoming. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a man with a huge "umbrella" made of velvet and adorned with gold sequins and beads, who escorted us to the front door. We were greeted with cool, wet towels to help us cool off. We were also given a traditional "welcome" of a flower lei and a red dot on our foreheads. We were taken to our room, where we were checked in in-suite and provided with welcome drinks. The room is amazing. We have a sitting room, 1 1/2 bathrooms, bedroom and dressing room. You can tell that the place was built by royalty! The hotel grounds total 60 acres and are just amazing. At around 6pm, a man began playing a flute in the central gardens which we could hear in our rooms. At 730pm live music and dance were performed near the restaurants. We enjoyed dinner, the show, and then a famous Polo Martini in the polo bar before heading to bed.

2009 7-9

Munich Sparkles

The last few days we have been exploring Munich. I read somewhere that Munich is the German equivalent of New York. It is a beautiful city, much older than anything we have in the US. People were a bit more pushy, but generally nice. More people here speak english which is a big help when you get lost.This city, like any big international city, has anything you could ask for. Restaurants, bars, night life, shopping, museums, churches, etc were everywhere.

A few things I noticed here. First, Munich (and Germany) is much more open to and comfortable with nudity. The city was hosting a nude photography exhibit and all throughout were billboards/banners advertising it with an old 1920's era photo of two topless women. The corner newspaper rack had a front page picture of a naked girl, I think announcing her as a new lady of the night in town. They also have a huge city park that has lots of nude sunbathing. Could you imagine any of this back home in the bible belt? The other thing I noticed is that Munich is much more male fashion forward than citys in the US. They have department stores geared toward men, as well as tons of small fashions store like at home for the ladies. We also noticed lots of mens shoes, some good, some weird. Dan Mandel, if you're out there, you would love Germany and the shoes.

We spent most of our days here walking. Our first day, after arriving midday by train, we went and saw many of the normal tourist sites in the center of the city. It was Kelley and I only this night and we just walked around for a few hours before heading in for the night. The following day we toured several art museums in the morning. These were awesome! One museum, The Old Pinakotek, had paintings from around 1400-1700 AD. The New Pinakotek had more modern paintings and art by masters such as Van Gogh, Monet, Gaugin, and Rodin. The best part--beer breaks in the art museum. Everyone was doing it! The paintings were great, too.

We met my family who had spent an extra day in the countryside, had dinner and did a bit of random walking. My brother again ordered the seemingly weirdest thing on the menu, octopus this time, which I again tried. Not bad for this one, tastes like a chewy shrimp with tentacles. We later went to the Hofbrauhaus for more beer. The Hofbrauhaus, for those that don't know, is an old bier hall. It has a large open room with picnic style tables and an oompah band. Lots of fun. The beer you order comes as a liter beer. After finishing those off, it was time for some sleep. We cabbed it home.

The following days were much of the same. We walked for a few hours, toured a church, museum or old building, then a beer break. Rinse and repeat. I really like Munich although I think I am the only one in my party. My parents prefer small, Kelley prefers boring. I think it would be awesome to live there for a few years and really get to know the place.

From here we are heading to Frankfurt for our last day in Germany, then on to India.

2009 7-7

Happy 4th of July!

The next day was July 4th. No fireworks, no cookouts,no Americanism here. Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday back home.

We spent the morning on top of a mountain.The Zugspitze is the highest point in Germany, towering at 2962m. We took a cable car to the peek, a 15 min ride. Cold! Very cold! Temp dropped about 40 degrees at the peak. The views on the way up are fantastic, but the very top was covered by clouds. You can walk out on to a glacier from the summit. Many crazy people were actually hiking from the base, a 2 day hike supposedly. We were going to, but due to time issues decided to just take the cable car(haha). We took some pictures, bought some postcards and headed back to the hotel.

We packed and headed by train to Munich.

2009 7-4

Cinderella's Castle

July 3 we had reservations to tour Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle was built in the 1860's and is the inspiration for Cinderella's castle at Disney. It took about an hour for the drive through winding mountain roads. It is absolutely stunning here. When you arrive at the castle area, you park at the bottom of the hill it sits on. You then can walk 45 minutes up, take a bus, or take a horse-drawn carriage. We opted for the horses and thankfully had no problem with emissions. These were some smart horses, they stop right before the steppest last 5 minutes of the road. We slowly made our way up to the gates, snapped a few pictures, then headed inside for our guided tour. Worst tour guide ever. The tour lasted only 30 minutes. We could not hear or understand the guide. All I remember is that they said it was built by King Ludwig (maybe the second??) and that he only lived there for 172 days before dying mysteriously. Supposedly he went crazy. To hide the truth, they killed him and the Psychiatrist that diagnosed him as crazy. I think he died because of all the steps in the castle and the walk home everyday. That combined with a lack of showers around would kill anyone.

After the castle the plan was for some German pizza. I have heard for 30 years about Eddie's Pizza. This was a little pizza place my parents would walk to from their home and supposedly the best pizza in the world. Although Eddie's is no longer in business, we found an awesome place, had great pizza, many beers, and some banana splits. We headed back to the hotel to relax and get some rest.

2009 7-2 Castle

planes, TRAINS, and automobiles

Jet lag was tough our first night. Neither of us slept more than a few hours. I couldn't sleep past 3am local time. I decided to walk around Aschaffenburg at about 5am. Things are quiet and peaceful this time of the day. I found a bread and pastry shop open and bought a variety to take to the room. I wish we had this type of bakery back home. The pastries were delicious!. Later at breakfast, we all got food from the hotel's buffett. My brother arrived a bit late and when he did I noticed a horrible smell. I figured maybe he had stepped in a diaper and had you-know-what on his shoes. We quickly discovered it was stinky cheese he had on his plate. Why would anyone eat something that smells so bad?

The next few days we spent time in the Bavarian Alps. We took an early train out of Aschaffenburg and arrived to Garmisch about 3 hours later. Train trips are easy once you learn what to do. Some trains have both assigned seats and open seats. It took us a while to figure out out how it works. I felt like Forrest Gump--every time we went to sit down someone would say "seats taken" or "can't sit here" in German. Now we know how it works and it's better.

After our arrival in Garmisch we stepped off the train to see BMW flags everywhere. This weekend is BMW bike week, a huge biker fest for BMW riders. We were told that 35,000 bikers were in town for the event. This is not the same crowd of bikers we see back home during bike week. No leather, no tatoos, only well-dressed, clean cut looking people. The country here is amazing. Huge mountains everywhere, absolutely stunning. The next thing we noticed was a Mexican restaurant and a gentleman's bar right next to the station. Interesting place.

We went about 1/2 a mile to our hotel, the Reindl's Partenkirchner Hof. It is a very nice establishment. My family had a group of 3 rooms with an outside yard on the ground floor. The kids and Grandpa loved playing and getting dirty. Weather here in the mountains is much colder, only about 74 as a high. We ate at the hotel's 5-star restaurant. Most everyone had normal food, but my brother ate calf kidney. He ate it, i tred it and would not try it again or recommend it. Chewy and tasted like it would smell bad is the only way I can describe it. We explored around town a bit, had a beer, then headed on to bed.

2009 7-2.5

I just flew in from Nashville...

and boy are my arms tired.

We departed for the airport this morning at about 10am central time, No problems getting to the flight. We had a connection in Chicago and then boarded Air India to Frankfurt. Most of our plane was not headed to Germany. Almost everyone was going on to some stop in India. We got really lucky and happened to be next to a nice lady with a cat on board. They had given her an entire row, and she seemed glad to let Kelley sit with her. We both ended up with an empty seat beside us.

My seat companion was an older Indian lady that spoke no English. She smiled at everything I said but had no idea what was going on. She somehow turned her overhead light on and when I tried to help her I found myself speaking Spanish phrases. "No es aqui" and "si" didn't register with her either. I don't know why, maybe it was residency, but I just assume everyone speaks Spanish.

The flight was long but uneventful. Air India is very relaxed, great hospitality, would bring you anything you asked for. My only complaint would be the lack of movies in flight, Delta last year had about 25 new movies and tons of entertainment, we only had 3. Hellboy 2, Mama Mia, and Sisterhood of the Pants Party. Lots of Indian movies though.

After the flight we took a short train ride to Aschaffenburg. This is a small town near Frankfurt where my parents lived and were married in. Its a nice, quaint place. People seem nice so far. We toured around the city in cab and on foot. Things have changed a bit since they were here last 40 years ago. We got some beer and good food. Gellato stuff is awesome and everywhere.

I took a few photos today and will try and post them.

2009 7-1

Hope everyone is well back home,
Michael