We arrived in Bangkok in the afternoon, put on our backpacks and made our way to the hotel via subway. We picked the Eastin Grand +Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn as it was rated well and right off one of the subway stops. I don't feel so foreign here with our backpacks on as there are tons of people doing the same at the airport and train station. That hasn't been the case up until now.
From the subway, we passed a few huge malls and tall skyscraper, maybe Bangkok was going to be more advanced than I anticipated. Our hotel was fairly new, so we had a very nice room. After about 6 hours of driving and two flying over the past 36 hrs, we both wanted to work out. Holy cow was the gym nice. I rode the bike on the 14th floor looking at the hotel across the street as people played in their infinity pool. Having walked passed ours to the gym, I quickly lost motivation to workout. Seems to be a growing theme. I did 20 minutes, some stretching, a few weights before jumping in our pool with my gym shorts on. The pool was a great surprise as I did not know they had an infinity pool! Luckily, Kristen worked out for an extra hour, so I got some relaxing time at the pool!
At this point it was getting dark, so we showered and headed to the Silom district for dinner. We picked an authentic Thai restaurant. Ironically, when we sat down, it as called Oldies Cafe decorated in 70s US decor and playing oldies music. It was interesting to say the least. Despite being American decor, the food was awesome, all for about $14.
We walked back to the hotel where we saw just about everything for sale. We were offered all sorts of sex shows, ping pong shows, etc. all the scams warned against on the internet. We just took in the hustle bustle scenery. These sidewalk shops set up and tare down each night. Lots of work. Below is picture of my favorite tshirt for sale.
Kristen wasn't feeling well so we headed to bed early.
Day 13
We started today off with some needed relaxation. We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel. The hotels put on huge spread of breakfast and lunch items in both local and Western cuisine. We worked out and relaxed at the pool for a few hours. It was nice to finally spend some relaxation time. However, it was a last of two days in Bangkok, so we wanted to see some of city during the day.
We walked the street markets which looked like a 1990s rummage sale. It baffles me on how they got all of this stuff from America and other western countries. I was starving so I had some pad Thai from a street vendor which was delicious. We made our way to two other temples which you can see from the photos. I was really not feeling well so we didn't stick around for long at each of these.
We decided to take the public transportation on the river. It was supposed to be 3 baht ($0.10) instead of the 125 baht ($4) we paid to come. After about a 20 minute wait, we realized why it was only 3 baht. It may not have been the smartest thing we did in Bangkok. The boats were packed. The only reason we stayed on was because we were literally at the back corner where we could dive in the water if there were issues. However, the black smoke from the exhaust was disgusting. I have no idea where they get the engines. One other public boat tried to come to one of the piers where we were letting people on and off (we had to make 7 stops) and it literally hit the back corner were we were standing. There were some type of government officials on the pier taking pictures of our overcrowded boats and they witnessed first hand the craziness of it to all. Two weeks ago we read how a ferry in Thailand sank from being overcrowded. We now understand how that is possible. We couldn't even make it in the inside to pay. At least we didn't have to pay to risk our lives.
We eventually made it home safe and a shower never felt better. Between the people, the crowds, the exhaust and the view of the trash filled river, we were happy to be clean. At dinner we discussed how our government is not perfect and there is wasteful use of our tax dollars. However, we are happy to over pay to avoid the unsafe and unsanitary conditions that are in some of these countries.
We got dressed up and made plans to hit the crazy nightlife of Bangkok. Indian for dinner, rooftop bar for drinks, Nana Plaza to observe the crazy red light district, and RCA area for a late night club scene. Unfortunately, I was feeling awful and barely made it home after rooftop drinks. I was disappointed as I wanted to experience the night life in Bangkok, but I just couldn't make it. I needed to lay down. Oh well. It wasn't meant to be. I still don't know what I ate that Kristen didn't.
The rooftop bar was awesome. It was on the 61st floor and had only open sky above us. 360 degree view of the city. It was the first time that heights really bothered me. I am hoping that it is because of illness. We only had the iPhone so not sure how the video looks on a computer screen.
We called it an early night and were excited to fly to Phuket the next day. We really need a vacation from vacation. Just some beach relaxing time. No subways, no navigating city streets and crowds. Simple life of eating and relaxing and hopefully some recovering.
Click here for Bangkok pictures!
From the subway, we passed a few huge malls and tall skyscraper, maybe Bangkok was going to be more advanced than I anticipated. Our hotel was fairly new, so we had a very nice room. After about 6 hours of driving and two flying over the past 36 hrs, we both wanted to work out. Holy cow was the gym nice. I rode the bike on the 14th floor looking at the hotel across the street as people played in their infinity pool. Having walked passed ours to the gym, I quickly lost motivation to workout. Seems to be a growing theme. I did 20 minutes, some stretching, a few weights before jumping in our pool with my gym shorts on. The pool was a great surprise as I did not know they had an infinity pool! Luckily, Kristen worked out for an extra hour, so I got some relaxing time at the pool!
At this point it was getting dark, so we showered and headed to the Silom district for dinner. We picked an authentic Thai restaurant. Ironically, when we sat down, it as called Oldies Cafe decorated in 70s US decor and playing oldies music. It was interesting to say the least. Despite being American decor, the food was awesome, all for about $14.
We walked back to the hotel where we saw just about everything for sale. We were offered all sorts of sex shows, ping pong shows, etc. all the scams warned against on the internet. We just took in the hustle bustle scenery. These sidewalk shops set up and tare down each night. Lots of work. Below is picture of my favorite tshirt for sale.
Kristen wasn't feeling well so we headed to bed early.
Day 13
We started today off with some needed relaxation. We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel. The hotels put on huge spread of breakfast and lunch items in both local and Western cuisine. We worked out and relaxed at the pool for a few hours. It was nice to finally spend some relaxation time. However, it was a last of two days in Bangkok, so we wanted to see some of city during the day.
By the time we got ready, it was about 2:00. I wasn't feeling the greatest, but we headed out. We took a longboat up the river to the Grand Palace, which was supposed to be the top thing to see in Bangkok. However, we did not arrive until 3:20 so we could not visit. What kind of touristy spot closes that early. The crazy part of this excursion was the amount of scams going on. Kristen had read about them, and sure enough, we heard them all. They wanted to help us navigate to our next journey. They could sneak us in. They could get us cheaper tickets to the temples. On and on. We really didn't want to be bothered by them, but they were everywhere.
We walked the street markets which looked like a 1990s rummage sale. It baffles me on how they got all of this stuff from America and other western countries. I was starving so I had some pad Thai from a street vendor which was delicious. We made our way to two other temples which you can see from the photos. I was really not feeling well so we didn't stick around for long at each of these.
We got dressed up and made plans to hit the crazy nightlife of Bangkok. Indian for dinner, rooftop bar for drinks, Nana Plaza to observe the crazy red light district, and RCA area for a late night club scene. Unfortunately, I was feeling awful and barely made it home after rooftop drinks. I was disappointed as I wanted to experience the night life in Bangkok, but I just couldn't make it. I needed to lay down. Oh well. It wasn't meant to be. I still don't know what I ate that Kristen didn't.
The rooftop bar was awesome. It was on the 61st floor and had only open sky above us. 360 degree view of the city. It was the first time that heights really bothered me. I am hoping that it is because of illness. We only had the iPhone so not sure how the video looks on a computer screen.
We called it an early night and were excited to fly to Phuket the next day. We really need a vacation from vacation. Just some beach relaxing time. No subways, no navigating city streets and crowds. Simple life of eating and relaxing and hopefully some recovering.
Click here for Bangkok pictures!
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment