The Thailand Tales – episode 1

The old city complex Bangkok

In May, one of the travel sites that I subscribe to posted a limited deal that had a trip to Thailand. It was a week, airfare, hotel, most meals and one excursion. There were optional excursions that you could also book. We opted for 3 additional excursions. The price was less than $1000 each. How could we NOT go to Thailand?

There were some complications. The overseas flight left from NYC and we had to endure some vaccinations and medications that my physician insisted we take. (I went to China for 2 weeks last year and needed none of these.) I booked the trip before even consulting with Don knowing that I had 24 hours to pay for it. Now all I had to do was sell him on it.

One of the Stone Giants that guard the Old City

Don was sold. I declined to mention the vaccinations and medications up front. We pondered how we would handle the flight from NYC. My sister lives in NY and I could always drive to her house and leave my car. My problem was solved when Jet Blue Airlines offered one way fares to NY from Dulles for $38. I checked to see if the reverse trip was also being offered at this rate. It was, so I booked one-way fares up and down. I couldn’t drive less expensively when you factor in gas, tolls, food and wear and tear on our vehicle.
(Travel tip: I subscribe to Travel Zoo and Airfare Watchdog internet sites. I have a standing look-out for flights from Dulles to NYC (my family) and Dulles to Orlando FL (Don’s family). When something amazing comes along, we book it.)

Our scheduled flight to NYC had a 6:00 am boarding time. We were up and showered when the alert arrived to my phone saying that the flight was delayed until 9:00 am. We started to relax and then another alert hit stating that the plane would actually be leaving at it’s originally scheduled departure time. Fortunately, leaving on a Saturday morning is a good thing in the D. C. Meto area. We sailed to Dulles without problems. Aside from the crazy emails, Jet Blue is a great airline. If you have never flown with them I highly recommend that you do so. Ample leg room, in-flight wifi and entertainment, snacks and drinks. We also received TSA pre-check which lets you go through the security check without having to remove your electronics, liquids, shoes, coats and belts. That is always a welcome addition.

We learned that this is a Chinese buddha saint and not a Thai Buddha image.

Our overseas flight was through China Eastern Airlines. Last year when we went to Beijing we were fortunate to have a relatively empty flight. We had an entire row to ourselves directly in front of the bulkhead. Lots of room to stand, move and stretch out. Not the case this time. This was a full flight. We were able to select our seats and chose a two seat row in the very back right in front of the galley and bathrooms. This left us with room to go behind our seats to stand and move around. Chinese airline food is the worst ever and after they ran out of chicken and rice we were left with pork noodles for dinner. The flight attendant apologized and promised us first pick for breakfast. We were hoping to avoid the horrible Asian breakfast known as congee.  This gruel-like rice porridge was introduced to us during our travels on local Chinese airlines. Fortunately, we were given another breakfast choice. Unfortunately, we missed our connection in Shanghai and they passed us all through Chinese immigration in record time so that we could board our 4 hour connection to Bangkok.

The pool at our hotel
Mandarin Bangkok

We arrived at 2:00 am and were exhausted since neither of us were able to sleep on the flight. Fortunately, our tour guide and bus were waiting for us and it wasn’t long before we hit the contemporary Mandarin Hotel in Bangkok. We were informed that our first excursion would leave at 9:00 am that morning and by the time we got to our rooms it was almost 3:00am. Don was able to fall asleep for a few hours but I had no such luck. We went to breakfast at about 7:30 am. The good news was that this was to be a bus tour that was an overview of the city of Bangkok and we would return by the early afternoon. Despite the Bangkok traffic our tour completed relatively early and we caught a little nap. I felt fortified enough to attempt to figure out how to use the toilet remote control. Our lovely hotel room included a state of the art Japanese style toilet. You need an engineering degree from M.I.T. to work this thing. Hey, my advanced degree is in the sciences. I must explore this in the interest of research. Here is the control panel, now you figure it out.

To he who sits on the throne.

I was unprepared for just how hot Thailand temperatures would feel. This is the start of ‘Winter’ there and the temperatures were in the mid 90s every day. Our tour guide, the adorable Mr. O, informed us that Thailand has 3 seasons: hot (Winter), hotter (the rainy season) and boy, it’s hot (Summer). When you do your research and see that the average daily temperatures would be in the 90s you think: “No big deal. It’s 90s in the summer in Virginia.” What I failed to realize is that in Thailand you are so much closer to the equator so that 90 degrees there feels nothing like 90 degrees in Virginia. Add to that the 97% humidity every day and we were changing clothes twice a day and showering 3 times daily.

Our leader
Mr O

We decided to venture out into the streets of Bangkok after being somewhat reinvigorated by our short nap. Our guides had set up a station in the hotel lobby and provided us with detailed street maps. They had all the main areas of the city marked out in relationship to our hotel and gave us a synopsis of what could be found in each area. The most notable thing so far was that the entire city was mourning the loss of their beloved King Rama IX. Many were clothed entirely in black or had black armbands or ribbons attached to their sleeves. All major buildings were adorned with black and white bunting and their were huge images of the King along the streets, on buildings and fences. The likenesses were always present, they were not just put up after his demise as we had suspected. Mr. O informed us that every Thai household has as it’s major decoration a Buddha image and just below it a portrait of the King.

Memorial tributes to
King Rama IX

Behind Don are mourners lined up to view the King’s body.

We fended off the line of taxicab and tuk tuk drivers outside our hotel and started walking the mile to the MBK Center. We passed several universities along the way and noted that all the students were in uniform. Skirts and white blouses for the females and dress shorts with white shirts for the males and these were college kids. Every student in Thailand wears a uniform from elementary school through the university level.

Students at a Thai school all in uniform.

Upon our arrival at the Ma Boon Khrong Center we were schvitzing like a noodle in hot broth. The air-conditioning is one of the reasons this enormous mall is so popular. That and the fact that it contains 7 floors of small vendor stalls mixed in among large branded shops. It’s goods are super cheap by American standards and haggling is expected. It also houses numerous entertainment venues like movie theaters, karaoke bars, video arcades, escape rooms and tattoo parlors. One of the things it is most famous for is it’s amazing food court. This is what we came for since we had missed lunch and were now hungry for some good eats. When you arrive a hostess hands you what looks like a credit card. When you find something you want to eat from one of the many vendors they will swipe your card when they serve your food. There are also bars there that follow the same procedure. When you’re finished and ready to leave you hand your card to one of the cashiers who totals you up and you pay at the exit. The most difficult thing was deciding what to eat because their were so many delectable choices ranging from Thai, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Korean and Italian. We both went with Tahi favorites: a red curry, beef and vegetables with chili peppers, rice and Tom Yum soup which is a spicy/sour broth with prawns made with stuff like lemongrass, lime, chili peppers and ginger. Add to that 2 beers and 2 Thai iced teas and we had dinner for about $15.
The mile return trip to the hotel helped us walk off that feast and as the sun was going down it was a little cooler. The next morning we had a 9:00 am bus call to head to the old city to visit Wat Pho and the reclining Buddha. Hopefully, I’d be able to sleep tonight.

Follow