The Travels of Eric and Lorna

We got up a little early, since we wanted to get the the Bangkok branch of the Thailand National Museum by 9:30 so we can take the weekly free English tour. It was raining on the way to the museum, and for a time while we were on the skytrain it was pouring. No matter, though, museums are perfect for rain days. We did have a minor setback on the way there; we took the river taxi to a dock a little north of the one we took the last day, and got off on N10, or Tha (pier, in Thai) Phran Nok ( see map here ), in the hopes that we could take a cross-river ferry and get to Tha Prachan, or at least Tha Makarat, both of which are a good bit closer to the museum. Unfortunately, the cross-river ferry took us back to N9, or Tha Chang, so we had a bit of a walk to the museum. No big deal, though, as we got to walk along the Sanam Luang , which is a big open area adjacent to the Grand Palace where various ceremonies take place. It's pretty much the only large open area in the part of B...

After a great lunch at a place called Wat A-roon Cafe (which is right across the river from Wat Arun) we took the cross river ferry over to Wat Arun. The price of the ferry recently increased, so it cost 7 baht, or about 21 cents, for us both to cross. Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn , is an extremely impressive structure. It is across the river and just downstream of the Grand Palace area, and makes a beautiful sight as you go by it on the river. The central central prang is huge, as you can see. It is also really cool because of the way it is decorated. It is completely covered in pieces of ceramic. Not tiles, but actual plates and cups and the like that have been put on it. Close examination of these reveals that extreme care was taken in placing the pieces, such that the flowers are formed out of plate parts, with the edges of the plates carefully preserved. The overall result is extremely beautiful. The whole thing is decorated like this. There are stairs you can climb f...

Today we took the river taxi up the the dock near Wat Pho , which is just south of the Grand Palace. Wat Pho's claim to fame is the giant Reclining Buddha, but there is a lot of other cool stuff there as well. For example, there is this 'mountain' that demonstrated various yoga and massage positions. This is here because Wat Pho was actually established as a university, and is still the foremost school for learning Thai massage. They also have their own website. Here is a general view of the compound. We found Wat Pho much more charming that Wat Phra Kaew, because while the latter is very nice, it is kind of too perfect, whereas Wat Pho is a little more worn, and seems more real. Also unlike Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho has resident monks, which adds to the feel, I think. These guys were my favorite. They are farangs, and are said to represent Dutch traders from the Ayutthaya period , when the capital of Thailand was located in that city, which is north of present day Bang...

Today we decided to go see the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew , which is inside the palace grounds. To get there, we rode our Skytrain line down to the end of the line, which is right at the river. We then got on the Chao Phraya river taxi. This was extremely enjoyable. The taxis stop at the many docks along the river to load and unload passengers. They are fast, however, and you can't dawdle. In some cases where only a person or two are getting on or off, they may literally stop for 5 seconds before they are off again. A woman with a little metal tube with change in it, that she shakes a lot so you can hear her, comes around to sell tickets. The trip up the river to the pier where the Grand Palace is located costs 15 baht, or about 45 cents. An unbeatable bargin, in my view. The river along the river is very nice; it's cool and pleasant. This is pretty much the best way to travel in BKK. Here's a short video of the ride. We get off at the North 9 dock. The do...

We are having trouble getting our sleep cycles back to normal. I could not go to sleep until after 4 am last night, and then woke up at 6, went back to sleep at 9, and slept until 2 pm. Not good. Gotta get that sorted out before Monday, when I have to be back at the office. Anyway, the second day we were there, Sunday the 27th of January, we decided to check out Chatuchak Weekend Market . Some people claim that this is the largest market in Asia, with between 8,000 and 12,000 stalls, depending on where you read. All I know is that it is massive. The nice part is that the Skytrain goes right there; it is at the northern terminus of the longer line. I think that pretty much anything you want could be found at this market, if you could find it. We had a copy of Nancy Chandlers excellent Bangkok shopping map , which helped a lot, but it was still a challenge. It was packed with people, crowded, stuffy, chaotic and amazing all at the same time. Some people apparently stay here for ...

OK, I have managed to drag myself away from Bioshock for long enough to start the more in depth, illustrated trip report. We'll see how long I can resist the allure of this fantastic game. BTW, if anyone reading this likes games, or humor, and you have not seen Zero Punctuation yet, you really owe it to yourself to check it out. It is brilliant. OK, so the first day we were in Bangkok (BKK) we pretty much took it easy. We walked down to the Skytrain (think Chicago's el trains, but newer and nicer) station about a 5 minute walk from the hotel and rode up to the huge MBK mall . Holy crap, is this mall enormous. First off, it's seven stories tall, and fairly large laterally as well. There is a whole floor that is almost entirely cellphones. Here is a view of the central atrium area. Among the many amusing things here was the Ronald McDonald that wais passersby. Pretty funny. We got lunch that day in the food court at the mall. Now, food courts in Thailand are m...