One night in Bangkok...

And my first foray into Bangkok WAS only one night. I flew from Auckland NZ, to Sydney Aus, to Bangkok Thailand and arrived at 2:00am to see the smiling faces of Miranda and Livio in the hotel lobby. Please see the lovely picture to your left. Yes, Miranda is HOT...Livio...I'll let you girls decide. We spent the next day sight seeing before we hit the airport later that same day to fly to Krabi.



As most of you guys know...Bangkok is well known for it's beautiful women, thai boxing and ping pong demonstrations. Fortunately or unfortunately...I didn't get myself involved in any of the above. I'll think I'll keep in that way for my last week in Thailand as well.

Gus would be so disappointed. He is the master when it comes to Thailand. I think I would have felt better with a drinking partner. I sense being drunk and alone in Bangkok is a BAD idea. And from what I've seen and heard...it's not that easy to pick out the "lady boys". Now that scares me!! I saw the movie...The Crying Game...that was enough. I wouldn't want to live through it and then have to kill some one and spend my life in a Thai prison. No thanks!!



However, we did manage to jam a lot into that first day. We crammed ourselves into the skytrain...and I mean crammed. I think sardines in a can have more room to move. We hired a private long boat and cruised the river heading for the largest temple and Grand Palace. Unfortunately, the temple was holding a private ceremony so off we went to the Grand Palace. I had to "rent" long pants as you can't wear shorts into the palace or even into any sacred places I would soon learn. Nothing like wearing polyester pants when it's high 30's outside. The only good thing about those pants...I think I've sweated all the beer I consumed in NZ out of my body now.


Here was my first look into an ancient culture. Everything was larger than life and ornate (I mean really ORNATE) up the "whazoo". Most of my pictures barely catch a glimpse of the size of the temples, statues, sculptures, paintings decorations, etc. It was all very overwhelming and all soooo different from anything I've ever seen before. I found it almost impossible to comprehend that the sights I was looking at dated back to between the 9th and 15th century.

However, I guess if I put it in perspective of when the Leafs last won the cup...it's about the same timeframe. Go Wings Go!! However...there are sooooo many temples that you soon get used to them and then it's like...another ancient masterpiece..."nice I guess, but I've seen nicer" It really is a shame as they are all awe inspiring.

The Thai people are extremely friendly, very spiritual (most are strict Buddhists), love their king very much and take their history very seriously...so if you ever come over here...Bangkok can be a pretty crazy city, but you must respect their heritage or find yourself in a lot of trouble. Believe it or not...I was on my best behaviour! I loved seeing all the monks in their orange robes (no chance of me becoming one...don't worry), but always felt bad to take a picture of them...so any picture of a monk was done by stealth.

Upon entering Bangkok...the first thing you realize is...it's big, busy and in my mind...a fairly dirty city. People are hustling (trying to sell you anything and everything...ALL the time) and bustling everywhere...as are scooters and motorbikes (at any time you could see 20-30 of them waiting at a stop light. Many pedestrians and motorcyclists wear masks to stop the odor, dust and pollution. For those of you who are daring...I suggest giving a go with Thai traffic. Everyone is weaving in and out, scooters/motorbikes going the wrong way and pedestrians trying to live another day. Crazy!!

I spent two days by myself in Bangkok after Koh Lanta and what did I do...of course...I went to see more temples, palaces and things older than I can comprehend. I think that's what you're supposed to do when your here. However, I believe there is MUCH MUCH more to Bangkok than I seen to date...so don't let me give you a false impression. I think Bangkok is a very different city when the sun goes down. I also think it's for the daring or the crazy. You decide if you fit the mold. I'm still testing the waters.

The one thing Bangkok does have is shopping. You girls out there would love it. The MBK centre and the high end malls are HUGE and you can buy anything you can think of.

And lastly...I took this picture of these Buddha sculptures in various postions (meditation, calming the seas, telling your family not to fight one another and so on...) because I felt "one" with the Buddha since I knew 7 of his positions. I would soon learn that there are close to 80 different Buddha positions. I guess Buddha and I aren't that close yet. I'll keep working on it.

More Buddha...