We arrived at our JW Marriott hotel pleased with our accommodations
and the large executive lounge (a long Greenwood tradition of the holidays in
the executive lounges J)
We had dinner in an Italian Restaurant (typical travel day comfort food) that
we all really enjoyed. Our first full day in Bangkok was an all-day tour of the
main temples in the city. We started in
China town with the Golden Buddha. Quite remarkable.
We then explored the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (with
the Emerald Buddha) and on the way learned about the passing of Thailand’s King
2 months ago. The country is in mourning
and have black banners everywhere, people wearing black and shrines to the King
all over the country. Typically, when someone dies in Thailand they mourn for
100 days, but since they are building a shrine for the King (of 70 years and
much beloved) the country will most likely stay in mourning until the shrine is
completed and the King’s ashes can be moved there, probably one year. There
were thousands of people, dressed in black, making the pilgrimage to the Grand
Palace to wait hours upon hours, to view the coffin and pay their respects to
the King. For tourists, that meant no
New Year’s Eve celebrations, no dancing, no fireworks etc. Good thing we are not big NYE people! The palace was exquisite and we really
enjoyed the history we learned from our fantastic guide UThai. He was so
insistent we take many family photos in all the right spots as he kindly asked
other people to move for us, “Thank you very much” the boys especially got a
kick out of him. We were really pleased
we decided on the guided private day tour because the added thousand or so
mourners made the grounds a little chaotic and very crowded. No photos were
allowed of the Emerald Buddha (made of jade) but incredibly ornate and
impressive.
We then got on a Long Boat to take a tour through the canals,
spotted a few “crocodiles” and Chao Phraya river and ended up at Wat Arun. Unfortunately,
the temple is under repair with scaffolding surrounding the main part of the
temple. Usually it is lit up at night
but not during renovation. The grounds
were still very beautiful and UThai took a few more photos. Then we had Pad Thai at a local restaurant
for lunch, it was the best I have tasted and most of us enjoyed it!
Wat Pho-with the Temple of the reclining Buddha, quite a
massive golden Buddha and interesting temple. As well as the Standing
Buddha. One interesting thing we noticed
everywhere were signs that said “Buddha is not a decoration, no tattoos no
decorations” declaring it was against the law.
We were exhausted by the end of the 16,000 step day but
really were impressed by the beauty and the opulence and felt like we learned a
lot about Thai culture and history. From
the movie “The King and I” the young Prince, taught by the English Tutor, who
became King Rama V and really opened up Thailand to become a modern
country. The King who just passed away
was Rama IX.
Diana, Mark and I finished off the day with dinner on the 62nd
floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel at Vertigo, an amazing rooftop restaurant with
360 degree views across the city. Food
was great, but American style pricing, not like our $10 Pad Thai for 5 people
total!
Our big adventure was our trip to Cambodia to see Angkor
Wat. What a day! It was a little
ambitious, but we survived. We were
picked up at 2:45 AM-yes AM, and had about a 3.5 hour drive to the Cambodian
border where we met an English speaking guide who helped us go through
immigration, get our Visas and cross the border where a new guide and van met
us to drive us to Angkor. The border town was poor with limited services and
many beggars, using their small babies to ask for money. The Guide told us not to give anyone money or
we would be immediately surrounded by everyone wanting more. It was hard to
walk past those babies. We drove another 2.5 hours to get to the town
surrounding Angkor Wat where the landscape changed dramatically including
having a convention center, 5 star hotels and Duty Free shopping. The tour was
interesting and the ruins were spectacular. This was the highlight for the boys
for certain. They are big Civilization
players so they were really interested in thie opportunity.
We also toured Angkor Thom and another temple ruins called Bayon.
Also impressive. We saw where a scene
from Tomb Rader was filmed, with Angelina Jolie.
We only had from 10-4pm to tour the area
because of our long drive, but we felt like we had good feeling for the place
and were happy we decided to go on the adventure. Our return trip was similar, about 6-7 hours
back home including the border crossing.
We were exhausted by the time we got home!
We knew we would be tired so we planned a casual day the
following day. Mark, Diana and I got
Thai foot massages at Health World, which were amazing, and cheap, $30 for the
three of us for one hour each. Then we went to the Shangri-La hotel for happy
hour by the river. Beautiful hotel and
lovely spot to relax. We had dinner in
the Teppanyaki restaurant at the hotel and I had the best “Boston Lobster”
ever, amazing the way she cooked it, first used ice to steam it, then she
grilled the tail. Yum!
Our final day was a half day tour to see some elephants
(very touristy) and then the Floating Market, again touristy but we enjoyed it
anyway. Mark, Diana and I ended our day with 2 hour Thai massages (again for a
whopping $45 for the 3 of us)
New Year’s Eve dinner was in the New York Steakhouse J in our hotel. We all had Filet Mignon and we ate every
bite! We watched fireworks in Beijing on the TV, and said Happy New Year!!
Off to Phuket today for some beach and relaxation!
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