We woke up at the Dream Hotel in the middle of Bangkok and whipped out the map of the city we got from the front desk. Usually, we are both intense planners when it comes to traveling, but for some reason we had both decided to be very relaxed about this trip. With no guide book and very few plans of what we would do, we opened the map and pointed to whatever looked cool. We decided to try to get to Wat Phra and the Grand Palace first. After loading up on some MickyD's coffee (it was all we could find!), we walked to the nearest subway station and realized that it would not be as easy to navigate the city as we thought. With station names like "Mo Chit" "On Nut" and "Phra Konong" we had to be a little bit more careful that we were going to the right places. We asked a station worker which way to the Grand Palace and she said (or so we thought) "Saphan Taksin" which took us to the end of the red line to the river. It was the wrong place. But, it turned out to be the perfect start to our day because we hopped on a river ferry and floated our way up to the area where the Grand Palace really was. On the way, we saw beautiful temples, hotels and markets, and got a taste for river life in Thailand.
Our first taste of Thai food came after the boat ride, when we sat along the river at a restaurant and order Seafood Green Curry and Spicy Thai Shrimp Salad. Both were delicious and almost unbearably spicy. But our stomachs were satisfied and decided to explore the neighborhood and make our way to the palace. The city was spectacular. With the perfect hot weather, the bustling people and a character that was so uniquely Thai, I couldn't get enough of the scene. I loved seeing the old, colorful tuk tuk cars and the orange clad buddhist monks walking around in a city of exquisite, Thai architecture. We finally found a massive, high white wall that reminded me of a mix between Greek and Indian design. We could see a golden tower emerging from behind and I knew that we were at the Grand Palace. The tower that we saw was actually a part of the temple called Wat Phra, which is on the palace grounds and is the most famous and sacred temple in all of Thailand. We made our way inside and were shuffled into line where we were given sarongs to wrap around our legs, as it is not acceptable to show skin on the temple grounds. We snapped some pictures of the tower and then purchase tickets to get onto the temple grounds. We never could have imagined how unbelievable the temple could be once inside. Everything was covered in gold and jewels, and the tower, temples and statues glistened magnificently in the bright, hot sun. We were both stunned. I had thought the Golden Temple in Japan was amazing, but this place had even more brilliance and omnicense than I could have imagined. We lingered for a good hour, snapping hundreds of photos and stepping into the temples for moments of silence, until we finally decided to move on. Pleased with our first Thai experience, we spent the rest of the afternoon checking out other temples, such as the Sleeping Buddha, and wandering the city. That night we ate amazing curry soft shell crab and then made our way to famous Khoa San Road (backpacker central) to meet a couple of my friends who were passing through at the same time. We had drinks on the crazy street and then listened to live music and went home smiling at the success of our first day.
On our second day, we woke up and got right to it as we only had until 1:30pm and then it was off to the airport for our flight to Koh Phangan. Sarah was a trouper for getting right on schedule with me, despite the jetlag she was feeling. We started with brunch and opted for Chinese dumplings as it was the Chinese New Year that day. After, we headed way up to the north of the city to the Chatachuk market. We only had 40 minutes to experience a place that I could have stayed at for hours! We did some quick shopping, checking out the beautiful silk tapestries, antiques, clothing and tried some Thai ice cream, but the time flew by and we had to head back for our flight. Had we known we would have been delayed for an unknown reason at the airport for an extra 2 hours, we could have stayed a bit longer. But of course, thats all a part of the adventure...and we were in for a lot more where that came from.
Chapter 2 coming soon, until then, pictures are up at
http://picasaweb.google.com/
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