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