Well, my sister and I arrived safely in Bangkok late on Monday night. After an exhausting day, it was such a treat to have our driver waiting patiently to take us to our hotel.
We arrived to a beautifully spacious, clean, and air- conditioned room, and a breakfast buffet awaiting us in the morning. Upon waking up, we were both starving and went down to check out the buffet. With chicken stir fry, beef and vegetables, noodles, thai soup, omelets, fresh pastries and fruit, we were already in heaven! After a massive breakfast, we were ready to face the day. During our first morning, we thought it would be best to get acquainted with the enormous city. We stepped out at around 9 am, and the city was already alive. There were endless clothing and souvenir stands, along with lots of street food. I went a little overboard with shopping on the first day, but the beauty of Bangkok is that I could buy a dress, skirt, souvenir shirt, "hippy pants", and a wallet, and still only be down $20. What got me even more excited was how cheap and delicious the food is in Bangkok. With pad thai for $0.65. meat skewers for $0.30, banana and nutella crepes for $0.65, and so on, I knew that I would not have to resort to being a starving backpacker in southeast asia! I must say, the pad thai was incredible. They have all of the noodles out and make it right in front of you within minutes.
We met our grandma's friend, Bunny, and her husband ,Vira, later in the afternoon and they were so amazing, helping us plan the rest of our trip and inviting us to learn more about the culture. The following day, we were invited to a Buddhist ceremony, where their son's new home was being blessed by monks. The ceremony for the blessing of his home was such a raw, unique, and unforgettable experience. My sister and I followed the lead of Bunny and her family, and sat on the floor, with our hands in prayer position as the monks chanted in perfect harmony. It was incredible because the floor was perfectly white, allowing for a beautiful reflection of the monks in their orange wraps. After the first round of prayers, the monks were led to a fully prepared Thai meal, while the rest of us socialized over some beverages and waited for them to finish. After the monks finished the final set of prayers, including splashing blessed water on all of us and the walls of the home, we all sat down to a wonderful meal. It was great to exchange stories with Bunny about our grandparents and get to know the family better. I can't express how fortunate I felt to be able to have welcoming family friends in such a foreign place that greatly assisted us in understanding Thai culture.
On Thursday, we were meant to have our big temple day, or wats as they are called in Thailand. We arrived at the Grand Palace, which is meant to be the most popular wat, in what we felt were modest clothes. Immediately, the scheming tuk tuk drivers, who are known to fool tourist into fake tours so they get gas commission, told us we had to wait until the afternoon to go inside because we were not dressed appropriately. Surprisingly, we believed them without checking inside and continued walking to find a better deal. Luckily, we found a semi-honest tuk tuk driver who told us about the commission he received by taking us to tourist offices and silk shops so we played along because he was a nice enough guy. Along our little journey, we saw several different architectural styles of wats and more buddha statues than I could ever imagine! In the end, we got to see several beautiful wats and the mansion where one of the kings lived. So, basically, we gave up about an hour of our day to help out our driver and in return we had a free tour of the city! Luckily, we survived the infamous tuk tuk driver scheme with no harm done! Unfortunately, by the time we finally got back to the Grand Palace we were exhausted, so we figured we would just go early the following morning.
Later in the night we were supposed to catch a river boat and head down to another area of Bangkok. We ended up missing the last boat but met a really nice Mexican couple and headed to a popular area, Siem Square, for some drinks. We had drinks at a massive outdoor beer garden, then decided to eat some late night street food, which ended up being a poor choice. I got a beef skewer and took a bite into it realizing it wasn't warm, which isn't a good sign. Given that I was a little buzzed from the beers consumed throughout the night, I foolishly ate it all. On our way to the Grand Palace in the morning, I felt so terrible, breaking out into an awful sweat. I kept thinking it would get better but by the time we walked all the way to the Grand Palace I gave up and had to head home! So, needless to say, Friday was spent curled up in the fetal position near the toilet. I guess it was another welcome to Thailand! I haven't been able to eat much since then so lets hope it all gets better soon. Today we arrived in the old Thailand capital, Ayutthaya, to see some ancient architectures of the wats, and will continue north tomorrow.
We met our grandma's friend, Bunny, and her husband ,Vira, later in the afternoon and they were so amazing, helping us plan the rest of our trip and inviting us to learn more about the culture. The following day, we were invited to a Buddhist ceremony, where their son's new home was being blessed by monks. The ceremony for the blessing of his home was such a raw, unique, and unforgettable experience. My sister and I followed the lead of Bunny and her family, and sat on the floor, with our hands in prayer position as the monks chanted in perfect harmony. It was incredible because the floor was perfectly white, allowing for a beautiful reflection of the monks in their orange wraps. After the first round of prayers, the monks were led to a fully prepared Thai meal, while the rest of us socialized over some beverages and waited for them to finish. After the monks finished the final set of prayers, including splashing blessed water on all of us and the walls of the home, we all sat down to a wonderful meal. It was great to exchange stories with Bunny about our grandparents and get to know the family better. I can't express how fortunate I felt to be able to have welcoming family friends in such a foreign place that greatly assisted us in understanding Thai culture.
On Thursday, we were meant to have our big temple day, or wats as they are called in Thailand. We arrived at the Grand Palace, which is meant to be the most popular wat, in what we felt were modest clothes. Immediately, the scheming tuk tuk drivers, who are known to fool tourist into fake tours so they get gas commission, told us we had to wait until the afternoon to go inside because we were not dressed appropriately. Surprisingly, we believed them without checking inside and continued walking to find a better deal. Luckily, we found a semi-honest tuk tuk driver who told us about the commission he received by taking us to tourist offices and silk shops so we played along because he was a nice enough guy. Along our little journey, we saw several different architectural styles of wats and more buddha statues than I could ever imagine! In the end, we got to see several beautiful wats and the mansion where one of the kings lived. So, basically, we gave up about an hour of our day to help out our driver and in return we had a free tour of the city! Luckily, we survived the infamous tuk tuk driver scheme with no harm done! Unfortunately, by the time we finally got back to the Grand Palace we were exhausted, so we figured we would just go early the following morning.
Later in the night we were supposed to catch a river boat and head down to another area of Bangkok. We ended up missing the last boat but met a really nice Mexican couple and headed to a popular area, Siem Square, for some drinks. We had drinks at a massive outdoor beer garden, then decided to eat some late night street food, which ended up being a poor choice. I got a beef skewer and took a bite into it realizing it wasn't warm, which isn't a good sign. Given that I was a little buzzed from the beers consumed throughout the night, I foolishly ate it all. On our way to the Grand Palace in the morning, I felt so terrible, breaking out into an awful sweat. I kept thinking it would get better but by the time we walked all the way to the Grand Palace I gave up and had to head home! So, needless to say, Friday was spent curled up in the fetal position near the toilet. I guess it was another welcome to Thailand! I haven't been able to eat much since then so lets hope it all gets better soon. Today we arrived in the old Thailand capital, Ayutthaya, to see some ancient architectures of the wats, and will continue north tomorrow.
Great adventure! Sorry about the bad beef. I had something like that happen on my honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas. I would have liked to blame the burrito, but I have to believe the Tequila was the culprit. In your case, I bet it was the beef gone bad.
ReplyDeleteLora and I are planning our mini-van excursion to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, AZ this Sunday - Wednesday. I think I am on my own for the Sedona spiritual vortex and Indian legend tour.
Love to you and Julie on your journey.
Lisa, Your trip sounds great. Hopefully you guys had a great new year. Love, Dad
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