Floating Market

The one central theme of the trip so far is food. Food is everywhere - in parks, in alleys, on street corners, at markets. Where ever you turn there is someone with a wok and a flame or a knife and a pile of fruit. And it is always delicious and unbelievably cheap.
One variation of this is the floating market where food is served to you from boats. It took about two hours to get to the closest floating market (Damnoensaduak). You then flag down a boat where you are paddled throughout the market, or you can just stand on the shore and the boats will come to you.

Orchids

Orchids, exotic birds, and water monitors (huge lizards) seem to be everywhere.

View From My Hotel Room

From my balcony you can see the buildings on the other side of the canal and the one with its own roof garden.

My Bangkok Home

With the help of a travel guide, I picked the New World City Hotel, an inexpensive but centrally located hotel, close to the major tourist attractions. My room overlooks one of the canals and the hotel has created a green archway to hide the view of the canal-side houses from guests who sit outside by the canal having morning coffee.
It has become my home away from home and when I travel to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam on various trips, I will be returning here as my base. I think everone knows me as the American who has mangaed to blow out all the power in her room two days in a row and also the one who tries to speak the language (very badly).

The King's Birthday

On Dec 5, the King Of Thailand, HM King Bhumibol Asulyadej turned 82 and the country is still celebrating the event. This photo was taken on Ratchadamneon Klang Road (the Kings Road) and the entire road was completely covered in lights. Houses, Businesses, and roads are covered in his picture with banners and ribbons everywhere. The biggest surprise to me were the fireworks that began at 10 pm every night. No one warned me and my first night of jet lag, I turned in about 9. When everything went off at 10, I thought the hotel was under attack.

Mr. Max

The man himself - one of the best tour guides ever. Our small goup of 5 agreed that he was the best guide possible. He had a great combination of limitless energy and patience, sense of humor, and deep love of his country. The tour started at 8 and was supposed to end at 1pm. We were still going strong at 6 pm. Being Bhuddist, he was able to give us a rare insight into the religion and the significance of so many of the temples and statues that we saw. He even took us through some breathing and meditation exercises at one of the temples, (a place where these types of exercises probably originated!)

The Emerald Bhudda

This perhaps the most revered statue out of the thousands of Bhuddas in the city. Twice a year the King himself comes to the Palace to place a special golden cloak on the statue that is appropriate to the season.

View From the Grand Palace Monument

Fear of Heights

This is as far up as I could climb but even from there the view was incredible.

My Starring Role

Mr. Max, our incredibly energetic tour guide insisted on posing each of us as he took pictures. Once you see the photo you can tell that he's an old hand at this. As much as I resisted I finally got into the act for him and understand his direction.

Thai Dancers

Dancers were at the Palace and happily posed for the tourists upon request.

Royal Grand Palace

There really is a person in this photo..

Palace Temples

Each temple has such a unique style and everything is located so closely together that it creates sensory overload.

Royal Grand Palace

In Bangkok, if you visit only one thing - it should be the Royal Grand Palace and surrounding temples. When the city became the capital of Thailand in the mid 1700s this is where the King built his palace, as well as the dozens of surrounding unique temples.

On Dry Land in Bangkok

Boats are actually the most efficient and cheapest way to get around the city, but if you do need to travel on land, the Tuk tuks are the most fun way. Traffic is insane and driving follows British rules of driving on the other side. The only way to cross a street is to literally step out into traffic and have faith that they will stop. It took me almost 20 minutes to get across one street this morning on my own. One incredibly modern twist is that there are electronic maps hung over the roads that show upcoming intersections and possible traffic problems while you are driving, to help you make decisions about driving routes.

Don't Fall in the Water

This water monitor is about 3 feet long but they get much bigger. There are also crocidiles.

The Thai Royal Navy

Appropriately, the Thai Royal Navy sits side by side with one of the temples.

Canal Living

Very rich homes exist side by side with houses that seem almost completely open air. I can understand the need to have everything open and airy. It is the middle of winter now in Thailand and each day has been around 90 degrees F with very high humidity. I can't imagine what it's like in the summer heat.

Canal Living

When you leave the main waterway (Mae Nam Chao Phyray) and head into the canals, you find an eclectic mix of lifestyles and structures.

The Indian Connection in Thailand

Many of the temples show a strong Indian influence. Even the Thai language and its written form are borrowed from the Indian Sanskrit.

Thai Condo 4 Sale

Spectacular river views - 4 Rms for 2 1/2 million US Dollars.

If You Meet the Buddha Along the Way...

If you meet the Buddha along the way, you are probably in Thailand. There are 20,000 Buddhist temples in the country and 300 in Bangkok alone. No matter where you are in the city, you can look up at the horizon and see a temple nearby. The city is 95 % Buddhist and 4 % Muslim, but you can still find Christmas decrations throughout the city. Max explained that the King was very accepting of all religions.

Bangkok:The Venice of the Orient

Bangkok is all river and canals and my first day here was spent hopping from ferry to ferry to follow my guide, Mr. Max through the city. It was the perfect way to meet this vibrant city for the first time.

Greetings From Seoul Korea

Still trying to get to Bangkok and the journey has been interesting. The time thing is very difficult for me. Here it is 8:00 am Monday morning but according to my computer it is 4 PM Sunday afternoon - a 16 hour difference with the loss of one day. The 12 1/2 hour trip from Los Angeles to Seoul adds to the disorientation. Plenty of time to regroup with a 10 hour layover here in Korea. This is one of the newest and most beautiful airports in the world but I still feel trapped in designer store heaven. I thought about going out and actually seeing some of Seoul. I've been through this airport 5 times and I've never left it to see this country. It may not be the best time to try this. There is some huge quarentine process that anyone officially entering the counry has to go through. On top of that, it's 20 degrees F outside and I'm dressed for hot and humid Bangkok.
I guess the most important thing for me is to see if this blog entry actually goes through. It took almost 2 hours just to get to AOL from here. I've actually downloaded an entire Korean interpreter program just to get this entry out. Fingers crossed and hopefully the next check in will be in Bangkok Thailand, (where my new Korean interpreter program will be of absolutely no help). Cheers from Finally Ramblin!

The Countdown Begins

As of today I have 8/13 before the big trip - 8 days in this house until the movers arrive and 13 days in Santa Fe before flying to Bangkok. At this point the house looks like a terrorist group has come in and destroyed the place. I have to keep reminding myself that I did that! It's all part of packing up everything to put into storage.
Packing for the trip is difficult in another way. With snow still on the ground, trying to pack for very hot and very humid requires a lot of imagination. All I can think of is my warm hoodie and ski jacket. My guide book recommends that I not bring any clothes and just buy everything there. After all, Thailand makes many of the clothes that we wear, so why not buy it there and cheaper? This is really tempting as I try to pack 8 months worth of clothes in one suitcase.
To date, the most difficult part of the trip is leaving Kitty behind. She has moved to her new temporary home with a wonderful couple and seems to be settling in. I visit to see how the transition is going, but I think the visits are more about me getting used to leaving her behind.
It's all coming together and soon I'll be ramblin again and hopefully, sending you photos and updates along the way.