Photos: You can view my shared album on the web:
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0DGgZLKuo3zPK
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0DGgZLKuo3zPK
Bangkok has been fabulous. We checked the weather reports before we left and
saw temps in the mid 90's and thunderstorms. It has been that hot and very
humid, but we have not been rained on, yet. Most of the tourist attractions in
town have been heavily trafficked, but we have been on our own for most of the
out-of-town visits.
The more than 24-hour travel to Bangkok from San Diego was high quality food
and service, even during the long layovers where we hung out in the United
Club. We arrived late Monday, slept in Tuesday morning, and started with the
Temples Tour Tuesday afternoon. The Sulhthai Traimit Golden Buddha (3.5 tons of
solid gold) and the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho were the most impressive. Who
knew that this would be the first of what seems like dozens of temples that we
visited this week.
Dinner Tuesday was at the Vertigo Restaurant on the roof of the 59th floor of
the Banyon Tree hotel. Fabulous view, meal, and service--and just a 20-minute
walk from our lodging.
Wednesday morning we took a private tour of the Royal Grand Palace grounds, the
Emerald Buddha, and the Temple of the Dawn. Private tours are the way to
go--just a couple of bucks more than the "jump on the bus an go" group events,
but in a private car with a guide. That evening we visited a local Thai
restaurant, "Sara and Janes's" for an authentic low-end but nice Thai meal.
Thursday we took a full-day private tour to Thailand's first Capitol, Ayuthaya
(sounds similar to "how you say it"). En route, we toured the grounds of the
Royal Palace at Bang Pa-In, also known as the Summer Palace. Ayuthaya is a
ruins, quite fascinating as it was the capital of the Kingdom of Siam and a
prosperous international trading port from 1350 until razed by the Burmese in
1767. The ruins of the old city now form the Ayutthaya Historical Park, an
archaeological site that contains palaces, Buddhist temples, monasteries and
statues. (See. More temples.). We returned on a rather unimpressive river
cruise--but the food was very good.
Friday was an exceptional outing, with a visit to the floating market, an
amazing place, followed by the JEARTH Museum, cemetery, and bridge
memorializing the over 100,000 that died building a railway from Thailand to
Burma. This set us back on our heels a bit and made us reflect on the
atrocities of war and man's inhumanity to fellow humans.
Saturday was higher spirited with perhaps the best cooking class Sarah and,
certainly, I have had. The chef at the Blue Elephant Restaurant (a short walk
from our lodging) began by leading us to and through a local market, advising
us on how to buy the best ingredients. His people then demonstrated four entree
preps, and we cooked the same following their direction. Our reward was eating
our own cooking as served in the Blue Elephant restaurant.
Today has been a catch-up and workout day. We are going to the Blue Elephant
Restaurant for dinner tonight to enjoy the professionals' talents.
Tomorrow we take a full-day trip to Khao Yai National Park before we leave just
after midnight for Shanghai. We arrive stateside Tuesday morning.
Sent from my iPhone
Warm Regards,
Charlie Hopkins
