I spent the entire flight to Bangkok trying to plan what we were going to do in Thailand. For the moment we had a ticket for the flight there, that we were on, and a returning flight from Bankok to Saigon on AirAsia, the only airline I know that still uses the sex appeal of their stewardesses to sell tickets. In the end, I went with two nights in Bangkok, two nights in the south on the island of Ko Samui and two nights in the north in Chiang Mai. After collecting our luggage at the airport, we immediately went to buy tickets with Bangkok Airways. It occurred to us that we were doing a lot of flying on this trip, but none of us as much as my mom, who in her three weeks of vacation will have flown on fifteen planes.
On our first night in Bangkok we got rained on. But lucky for us, the rain was short lived. Furthermore, rain was advertised to go on for the entire length of our trip there, however we were lucky that the storm on our first night was to be the last rain we would see on our trip.
[The Wat at Ko Ratanakosin, the Grand Palace]
Our second day we head over Ko Ratanakosin, the Grand Palace of Bangkok, which used to be inhabited by the royalty but is now a tourist site. Bangkok has no shortage of transportation options, so we took the really fast sky train for part of the journey and a river taxi for the other half.
However, when we got to the entrance we were turned away by a worker who said it was closed for a ceremony until noon. He recommended another couple of sites we could see in the mean time, quoting how much it would cost for us to get around with different forms of transportation. He advised that a tuk-tuk would be the cheapest, as it would take us around, wait for us, and bring us back for only 30 Baht[<$1USD]. He shows us on our map the places we should see, and as we thank him for his advice he calls over a tuk-tuk driver for us. While we're riding to the first temple, my dad recalls something we read in Lonely Planet about a scam that sounded very similiar to what was going on: You show up to a temple, someone pretending to work there says its closed and offers you a cheap ride to some other sites, but you have to stop in a bunch of shops on the trip, where the drivers get commission. Sure enough, after we explore the first temple the driver says that he's going to take us to the center where the shops are. We politely say that we're not interested in shopping, to which he quite rudely tells us to get out of his tuk-tuk. A bit upset in being scammed, we found some small consolidation in that we didn't pay, and that the price of the taxi back to the Grand Palace was also 30 Baht, so we got to see this extra temple and didn't lose a penny over it. Just a bit of pride.
[Our Captor]Back where we began, we went through the gates of Ko Ratanakosin[which were open since 8am] and spend a couple of hours exploring the splendor.
[This Jataka tells the Thai version of the Ramayana and circles the entire inner wall of the temple complex]
[I followed the entire wall, depicting the entire story which would take days to tell, and this was the only character of thousands who was looking right at the viewer]
[This Jataka tells the Thai version of the Ramayana and circles the entire inner wall of the temple complex]
[I followed the entire wall, depicting the entire story which would take days to tell, and this was the only character of thousands who was looking right at the viewer]After lunch we made our way to another nearby Wat that housed a Reclining Buddah[depicting his death] which was 46m long and 15m tall.
All Watted out, we took another river taxi and went to what may be the tallest building in Bangkok to share some expensive drinks and see the sun set over the city. On the way home, I made us stop at the Siam Paragon to check out the bookstore, where I bought a couple Hurakami books and Haunted. Very small English book selection back in Saigon, usually limited to travel themed books for backpackers[On The Road, Bill Bryson, The Beach, etc.]
The next day we flew to Ko Samui. Not much to report, other than spending two days on the beach, doing little of anything but relying and getting a sunburn. Wifi was tricky, though, as hotels charged the equivalent of $1 for 15 minutes. In one quite cafe, that I picked so I could Skype with Daphne in peace, the owner offered free wifi. But when I was running out of power and wanted to plug in, the drunk German spinstress tried to charge me for using the power. Luckily I found another spot with a better connection and better vibes.
One of our favorite things about Ko Samui was the airport that looked like a resort.
[This is already past security]
At the gate, our airlines offered free food and drinks, as well as a meal on every flight regardless how short. They were still running their airlines like it was the nineties!
As on every flight, I spent the time researching what there was to do in Chiang Mai. The city was home to some three hundred temples, so after checking in we spent the remaining day light exploring the temples of the Old Town.
All Watted out, we took another river taxi and went to what may be the tallest building in Bangkok to share some expensive drinks and see the sun set over the city. On the way home, I made us stop at the Siam Paragon to check out the bookstore, where I bought a couple Hurakami books and Haunted. Very small English book selection back in Saigon, usually limited to travel themed books for backpackers[On The Road, Bill Bryson, The Beach, etc.]The next day we flew to Ko Samui. Not much to report, other than spending two days on the beach, doing little of anything but relying and getting a sunburn. Wifi was tricky, though, as hotels charged the equivalent of $1 for 15 minutes. In one quite cafe, that I picked so I could Skype with Daphne in peace, the owner offered free wifi. But when I was running out of power and wanted to plug in, the drunk German spinstress tried to charge me for using the power. Luckily I found another spot with a better connection and better vibes.
One of our favorite things about Ko Samui was the airport that looked like a resort.
[This is already past security]
At the gate, our airlines offered free food and drinks, as well as a meal on every flight regardless how short. They were still running their airlines like it was the nineties!
As on every flight, I spent the time researching what there was to do in Chiang Mai. The city was home to some three hundred temples, so after checking in we spent the remaining day light exploring the temples of the Old Town.
After seeing enough temples to last us a few years, we explored the Sunday Night Market which we were lucky enough to arrive during. The prices here weren't that flexible on account of them already being so cheap. I bought Daphne a couple purses made by Hilltribe people, and my parents bought Aidan a panda shirt.
[A merchant scouting for prospective customers]
[To honor the Queen]
[To honor the King]
The next day we got on a plane to head back home. Though it shouldn't take too long to write about a trip that only takes hours, this one will. So I'll have to save the conclusion for later.
[...]
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