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Ok Babydoll, leave me alone.

So on the first day I got sick as a dawg, lost my passport then missed a flight and forgot stuff inside the hotel room. I also saw quite a shocking sight – 3 times. Other than that the trip was great.

It helps to have a knowreachable guide to make the stay totarry worth it speciary on long trips.

Airline - Thai Airlines: Food sucked. No individual screens on seats. Curiously the flight had the largest number of passengers wearing abayas and dishdashes of any flight I have ever taken out of Dubai or any other Muslim country. About half the passengers where wearing traditional Arab dress – strange, where could they be going? But the fare was 1000 dirhams less than Emirates – so I love the airline - thanks BabyDoll. Strangley enought the same 4 people sat acrooss from us except than on the return trip the 3 women were still wearing the abayas (with the face mask) but the man had what look like a Hawaian shirt on!

In Thailand we stayed in Bangkok and Chang Mai, also took as side trip to Cambodia and step into Laos (and looked across the border into Burma)

Some observations:

1. Bangkok is a very large city with between 9 and 12 million inhabitants (depends on what the taxi driver or guide says). It is hard to walk in the city – narrow sidewalks, dead end streets, street crossings not at intersections, sidewalks full of vendor stalls. So have a plan.
2. Wear socks. If you plan on visiting temples remember that you need to take off your shoes. I recommend you wear socks as many of the floors were sticky – I like to think it was the humidity although the weather was quite pleasant.
3. If there is a statistic for the larges per capita consumption of frying oil then Bangkok residents must have first place. They fry everything. The streets are full with fried stuff – unrecognizable – add batter and fry and it could be anything.
4. Transportation: Taxi from airport they all seem to be metered. However we took the Airport Limo (I never knew a Toyota Avalon qualified but) which only cost 1000 baht (about 100 dirhams). There are plenty of tuk tuk but if you are taller than 3 feet there are a waste as you can not see on either side of the tuk tuk as your head will be inside the Tuk tusk canopy – and you will be breathing all the pollution. Make sure the taxi driver engages the meter and negotiate the fare with the tuk tuk before you board. Bangkok also has a clean and quite skytrain and a subway – very cheap but not too extensive of a network.
5. Bangkok seems to have more temples than NYC (ok, different religion).
6. Hotels: In Bangkok we stayed at the Banyan Tree (checked out the metropolitan but decided to just stay at the Banyan Tree – to lazy to pack and go next door). We stayed on the 46th floor so had a view of the city – well whatever we could see thru the haze. This hotel must have the world’s fastest elevator from lobby to 46th floor in less than 10 seconds. In Chang Mai stayed at the Chedi. Would recommend both hotels.
7. Food: Nothing out of the ordinary – we like Thai food so we had that. Only different thing was a “morning glory” salad and saw bamboo worm salad on the menu.
8. Beaches: We figure these have sand, and salt water so we figure Dubai has those.
9. Elephant Riding: I rent a car already – no need.
10. Thai people love their King and royal family – never mind some of the apparent poverty and need for infrastructure repairs.
11. That smell – No, it’s not bad fish – just the sewage running underneath the pavement and the vents are there to prevent methane explosions and give tourist a whiff.
12. Massages: No happy ending massages – the reference to a massage parlor of the same name in a movie of the same name!

Here is what we did:

Bangkok:

1. Visited the Golden Temple (huge Buddha made from solid gold)
2. Visited reclining Buddha Temple
3. Visited Wat Poh Temple
4. Visited Marble Buddha temple
5. Visited Emerald Temple
6. Visited Golden Mountain Temple (many steps to climb)
6. Did a dinner cruise with Thai dance show (not the best but…ok)
7. Visited the Sunday market (same crap, different city)
8. Visited Jim Thompson’s house (some American guy who “revived” the silk industry in Thailand – something to do with the “King and I” costumes – non one has seen him since 1967). Very nice house.
9. Took at tour to the Bridge Over the River Kwai (Kwae in Thai) where”;
a. rode train over bridge and for an hour in the countryside
b. visited the Tiger Temple (subject of a Discovery Channel documentary…)
c. visited the POW museum at River Kwai
d. visited POW cemetery
e. walked on Bridge
10. Took a tour to Ayyatuya, the ancient capital of Thailand
a. visited ruins (amazing)
b. did a cruise of the islands on a long boat (narrow thing) – interesting
c. visited a Chinese temple on the way
d. visited the royal summer palace (during king Rama V)

Cambodia:
Decided to take a side trip to Cambodia to go visit Angkor Wot and other ruins. It was an interesting journey as we missed our connecting flight in Phnompen. It took for ever and a day for them to “process” everyone’s visa – simply hand writing a sticker and sticking it on your passport (and oh yes, plus $20 per person). Since we missed the flight I wanted to call ahead to our guide and let him know we would be late. Well it was nearly impossible: no phones where you can call with credit card; no calling cards available; and no one had enough credit on their mobile to make the call even though I promised to pay them in dollars, etc. We even went to the tourism office – but they spoke no English! Finally we met “Madam Imelda” at the post office who said “1 minute 2 dollar” and I made my 15 second call and paid here. She had some interesting eye shadow and stuff on her nails – this was probably a part time job. We finally flew to Siem Reap on a propeller plane!

It was all worth it as we:

a. Visited Angkor Wat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat
b. Visited Banteay Srei http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banteay_Srei
c. Visited Bayon ruins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayon
d. Visited Angkor Thom (where they filmed Tomb Raider) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Thom
e. Rode around town (Siem Reap) which has grown from nothing to a place with many hotels, etc. (they had 2 million tourist to Cambodia last year – who knew). Just five years ago they barely had any visitors – land mines and political conflict did not help.

All the above sites were just amazing.

Chang Mai, Thailand:

Flew from Bangkok to Chang Mai. Nice quieter than Bangkok – the whole Chang Mai County has only 2.5M people.

In Chang Mai:

1. Visited a temple up on the hill (forget the name but everyone goes there). Great panoramic views from the temple. On the way stopped at some “hill people village” – souvenir shops really.
2. Took a tour to the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos, and Thailand). Long day 13 hour journey. During the tour:

a. Stopped at hot springs (same crap, people boil eggs in them…)
b. Tour on the Makhon river an a very small and very fast boat
c. Made a stop over in Laos (just long enough for a passport stamp and stroll around.
d. When to the Burma border crossing. The whole area looks like any Chinatown in any big town. Did not cross border (seen enough Chinese trinkets already…)
e. Visited some Hill People – Long neck women and others. Kind of a sad scene – bunch of disrespectful tourist taking all kinds of pictures and not buying a single thing!
e. Visited a few bathrooms

3. Visited a number of Temples in Chang Mai
a. One with underground chambers/tunnels
b. The oldest temple in Chang Mai
c. Some other temple that had a high school on the grounds (about half and half between students who are monks (or novices I suppose) and non-monks.

4. Did the massage thing in Chang Mai.

Lastly: Tipping - I think everyone knows that tour guides depend on tips. So please tip these people. They are paid meager salaries and depend on your tips. I am always amazed at people that pay $20 for a tour, ask all kinds of questions and favours from the guides and will not leave a tip. On this trip there was an elderly couple traveling with their son (45+) who took a ½ tour to the mountain temple. The guide was very helpful to the couple and made sure they were comfortable and show them the best locations to walk around etc. At the end of the tour they left a tip of $1.50 – ok some people might say, “it is a personal thing” or “I only tip for good service”, or “some people can’t afford it”. C’mon don’t tell me people travel from Europe (yes) to Thailand and can afford a fancy hotel but only leave a $1.50 tip (50 baht). And by the way, on the tour to the Golden Triangle, which was a 13 hour journey, half the people did not leave a penny (out of a group of 12). I hate that!

Well, there are hundreds of things to do in just a few places in Thailand (and that is staying away from the beaches or trekking anywhere).

That’s what I remember. If I owned a camera I would have taken pictures.

great stuff there mate

Nice report you're making us envious for your trip

Looks like you got quite a lot packed in in a short period of time. Well planned ..

Dont think I will be that adventurous on my trip. It would evolve hotel, massage, eat, shop (for me it will be waiting for the others to do their shopping!), massage, hotel, eat shop - you get the drill.

I am certainly not looking forward to the flight and hopefully I dont bump into the same 3 abaya women. Out of curiousity though, how do you recognise them in their outfit and masks ?

BabyDoll wrote:Looks like you got quite a lot packed in in a short period of time. Well planned ..

Dont think I will be that adventurous on my trip. It would evolve hotel, massage, eat, shop (for me it will be waiting for the others to do their shopping!), massage, hotel, eat shop - you get the drill.

I am certainly not looking forward to the flight and hopefully I dont bump into the same 3 abaya women. Out of curiousity though, how do you recognise them in their outfit and masks ?

By size, the one nearest me easily weighed over 300 pounds. Barely fit on the seat (the tray could not be open) - must have been tourture.

Neat.. Very nice read.

I missed something..What was that shocking sight ?

St.Lucifer wrote:Neat.. Very nice read.

I missed something..What was that shocking sight ?

On three occassion there were beggars at the market who were burned almost to a state of non-recognition (no hair, no ears, no nose just one eye, horrible, horrible sight). One of them was a child of no more than 12 years of age - They were at the sunday market. I could not figure out the reason for this - I asked a guide on another day and she said it could have been a cooking accidents or "disputes" (jealusy) , etc. I thought it might have been monks who burned themselves in protest but she said that did not happen in Thailand. Whatever the reason, I can't imagine the pain they sufered and the child whose bones are still growing must be in scrutiating pain on a daily basis. Where is the King?? You know they will be spending countless millions for the funeral of the Queen's sister - an 84 year old woman - priorities, priorities...

Concord wrote:

St.Lucifer wrote:Neat.. Very nice read.

I missed something..What was that shocking sight ?

On three occassion there were beggars at the market who were burned almost to a state of non-recognition (no hair, no ears, no nose just one eye, horrible, horrible sight). One of them was a child of no more than 12 years of age - They were at the sunday market. I could not figure out the reason for this - I asked a guide on another day and she said it could have been a cooking accidents or "disputes" (jealusy) , etc. I thought it might have been monks who burned themselves in protest but she said that did not happen in Thailand. Whatever the reason, I can't imagine the pain they sufered and the child whose bones are still growing must be in scrutiating pain on a daily basis. Where is the King?? You know they will be spending countless millions for the funeral of the Queen's sister - an 84 year old woman - priorities, priorities...

Hmm terrible.... disheartening to read or see but cant pretend we are blind or the world is all rosy.. cant we do something? atleast to get the attention of some organizations towards them? atleast to do something for the kid..

This is an on going issue in that part of the world.
I also know of cases where the children are kidnapped and then sent to the street to work as beggar or prostitutes. Yes kids!

To the extend the mastermind will chop off hands and legs of kids so that they appear more pitiful when begging on the streets.

BabyDoll wrote:This is an on going issue in that part of the world.
I also know of cases where the children are kidnapped and then sent to the street to work as beggar or prostitutes. Yes kids!

To the extend the mastermind will chop off hands and legs of kids so that they appear more pitiful when begging on the streets.

We have a lot of those cases back in Indian suburbs. The worst part is.. Once in the business, they wouldnt wanna do any other work.

St.Lucifer wrote:Once in the business, they wouldnt wanna do any other work.

They wouldnt or couldnt ?!

BabyDoll wrote:

St.Lucifer wrote:Once in the business, they wouldnt wanna do any other work.

They wouldnt or couldnt ?!

They Wouldnt.. coz some of them make a lot of money through begging.
Imagine an begger in India that lives in one of the metros. Lets suppose he begs in the railway station on an avg a train has 10 bogies with each having 76 berths or so. On a typical day atleast 50 trains pass through a busy platform..considering even a very low % of commuters give money.. it can be quite a large sum.. add to it that they dont live in expensive houses, no car, they dont buy clothes, no taxes, very few worries of financial burden. Add all this and it makes them stick to it.. It is sad.. but true..

Concord, how was the weather in BKK when you were there?

BabyDoll wrote:Concord, how was the weather in BKK when you were there?

The weather was Great. No rain, low humidity and the temperature in the 80's. A couple of days it was hot as we walked at midday through the outdoor sunday market. Rain does not start till May.


Oh, I almost forgot, carry toilet paper/tissue (more of a concern for females) with you as public toilets do not have it (nor do they have soap).

Many public toilites are paid, 5 baht (1 dhs) but it does not mean they have toilet paper, soap or a toilet - more a hole on the floor variety..

Concord wrote:Many public toilites are paid, 5 baht (1 dhs) but it does not mean they have toilet paper, soap or a toilet - more a hole on the floor variety..

Not to worry, I dont intend to rough it out there. Will bring my own pottie. Which reminds me, I need to get one soon !
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We did Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand in April last year. Over Easter if I recall correctly. Absolutely loved every second of it. Cambodia is not to be missed!!!

FWIW, I used two websites to book all of my accomodation. Both were fantastic. Good reviews and pretty accurate in the info they provided as far as I could see. Best thing was that you couls actually look up both and compare rates against each other. Well worth doing as there was significant variations.

asiarooms.com

wired-destinations.com

Rate them both highly. Also used tripadvisor.com to get a bit of "independent" feedback.

if anyone is going down to bkk, do drop me a note.

could give some feedback on this city like hotel, transport, leisure etc
depending on budget and time available.

cheers