We settled into an interesting hotel in Bangkok, The Atlanta, which must have been set up by a guy with a verbal SAT of 800. There were signs and booklets everywhere, in perfect English, imploring guests to mind the rules of the house. "NO Sex Tourists! NO drugs! Those who wish to engage in such activities are kindly asked to stay elsewhere." Evidently, there are lots of people who come to Bangkok for seedy reasons. Maybe Bangkok used to be two words. The place was kind of a combination of dingy and grand, but at $20/night, we were delighted with it. That reminds me of another one of the cute signs in the hall: "No Complaining. At these prices, you haven't the right." So, we won't!
Lisa, once again, got some nasty stomach bug. Why does this always happen to her? Seems like clockwork: new country, new malady! So the 2nd day we just lay low and read books. She was particularly bummed, as she loves Thai food, and this meant she couldn't have more than a few bites of it. By the third day she felt well enough to go exploring. Lisa had pulled a slip of paper from beneath one of the many detailed maps set out for hotel guests to peruse. The heading read: fast and pleasant way to Old Bangkok. So, armed with this info, we headed for the "SkyTrain", a marvelously efficient and clean (and air conditioned!) subway system that flies overhead. After about 10 minutes, we got off and walked a few hundred feet to the boat-taxi ramp. A few more Baht (35 Baht = 1 US $) and we're on our way up the big river to see the temples. First: the Reclining Buddha. This Buddha (see photos, which we've yet to upload!) was HUMONGOUS! I think it must have been 200 ft long, and at least 20 feet high. Completely covered in gold, he lay in peaceful repose, idly eyeing the throngs of tourists who circled him, looking for the perfect shot. Second: The Great Palace.
This is a huge complex, spanning at least four city blocks, which formed the Royal Residence. It contains numerous temples, meeting halls, and monuments, all separated by exquisitely manicured grounds. It was so serene, yet smack in the middle of Crazy Bangkok. The most popular site was an emerald Buddha, about 2.5 ft high, presiding over a huge ornate hall on his golden throne. At each major religious festival, people come in and change this Buddha's finery. We got in, snapped our photos, and got out! Of course, we had to take our shoes off, as at all temples we've entered since arriving in Asia.
Needless to say, after more than five months of traveling, our site-seeing glands were starting to dry up, so we decided that was enough and went to look at some bootleg software. There were thousands of titles, all for about $3 ea for CDs with 5 programs or more a piece. After that we just headed back to our hotel, bought our tickets to Phuket, had dinner with a nice French couple from the plane in, and went home.
Next stop: Pattaya.
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