Bangkok , Day Two: Ayutthaya and Lumpini park

The events described in this post took place on or about July 2nd, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.  For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'



As I already related to you, I retired early after a long day of sight-seeing and temple-gawking. But fear not gentle reader.... It's not that I am succumbing to old age just yet. It was not out of weariness that I hit the hay early, but out of a knowledge of what the next day had in store that I crawled into my bed at nary a ten o'clock. I did this because I knew that I would have to be up early in the morn. A bus would be waiting for me early to take me to the old capital of the Thai empire... Ayutthaya!!!

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The tour I had already booked went up to Ayutthaya. It's a magnificent sight. The ruins themselves are broken into about 11 different sites (maybe more) We hit 4-5. There were so many cool sites in the ruins that I really can't go into it here. Nonetheless, it was an absolutely fantastic experience. I hope that the pictures above can paint the faintest portrait of how awesome it was. There were so many really great places in the tour, but I must say the reclining Buddha was one of my favorites, it was immense!!! On the way back, we got to get in a ferry boat and cruise down the river, That was awesome and relaxing, as well as a great way to end a day full of visual stimulation.

After the tour I took a few hours in downtown Bangkok (Silom, where my hotel was). One of the cool things about where I was (beside the close proximity to 2 Starbucks in walking distance) was Lumpini park. It's kind of Thailand's answer to Central Park or the Boston Commons. As you can see from the pictures, it's quite beautiful. The landscaping was quite pretty, and the atmosphere was generally chilled and quite convivial. The kicker for me was (and this is not a unique thing for Bangkok), is the amount of dogs that were just hanging out everywhere. It's such a departure from the Middle East, where dogs are considered dirty animals, and generally cast out of society. In Thailand, dogs are considered auspicious, and one can generally find them everywhere. If you know my general attitude toward dogs, you know that it earned Thailand a lot of points by having them around. As you will see in the photos, there was a lot of climate change during the tour. One minute it was overcast and drizzling, the next it was sunny. Mother Nature's 'mood' vacillated between these two poles all day. It made for some dim photos. So please excuse the lighting in some of them.

After I had my fill of that natural gem encapsulated inside the urban sprawl of Bangkok, I went back to the hotel. This time to check-out. I grabbed myself and jumped in a taxi to Kosan road. That famous street where every East-Asian backpacker and traveler eventually walks down. I grabbed some street pad thai, waited foo my departure, and was off on the overnight Bus/Ferry combo trip to the islands. Tomorrow, Ko Tao!!!

Bangkok: Temple crawl and Spa tourism

The events described in this post took place on or about July 1st, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.  For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'
I must say, after enduring a long, hot, and mind-numbingly boring early Summer in Oman, I was completely ready for a Tapeten-wechsel (German for a change of scenery). After arriving in Bangkok, I quickly found my hotel room, put my things away, and made it out in the streets for a preview of what this strange city was like. I made no delay in finding what was to be my 'guide' for the next two and a half days in Bangkok. His name was Thomp (I don't know why it has a 'P' in it either), and he was a Thai in his early twenties who drove a Tuk-Tuk. If you've never been on one of those, it's kind of like a scooter-powered rickshaw. They weave in-and-out of traffic (due to there fast 'pick-up' and sub-automobile size), and one has the feeling of being one step away from the emergency room at all times. Though the ability to see your sorroundings as well as taking in the scenery while motoring around a new city is well worth the risk.

I spent the first evening letting Thomp guide me around some of the local 'sites'. Much of these consisted of 'girlie bars'. For the uninitiated, these are places where forieners go, buy over-priced drinks, and then you pick a beautiful Thai from a line-up that appears in front of you. After you make your selection (and you have to choose one, you can't get away from that), you are forced to engage in banal conversation with this girl. I was very nonplussed by these of these types of places. Thomp couldn't understand that though, most probably because the majority of male visitors (esp. those traveling alone), have some kind of a 'sexual-tourism' itinerary. After I made us leave the first three places he brought me to, I think he got the idea... I wasn't there for that. I retired early, and had a nice long shower in my hotel room. The room I was in was quite lovely, with an excellent view... I spent a while just looking out the lights of Bangkok before drifting away into a pleasant slumber.

The next day I was up early, and out of the 'house'. I only had two days in Bangkok, and there was a lot to see. I had some breakfast and headed out(Here's a tip for travelers: don't take Hotel taxis!!! Walk a few blocks and get a lift on the main drag). This first day the 'to-do' list was immense. I had already scheduled something for the next day (a tour), so today was all me, so-to-speak. I won't go on with the details of my tourism regime, but I will say that I visited many of the 'must-see' sites of Bangkok including, Wat Pho, Wat Mahathat, and a few other temples whose names escape me at the moment. For those of you who have done the 'temple crawl', you know what I mean.  You just wander around in and out of these things while you are in the 'Temple District'  The photos are in the web-album linked above. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

At the end of the day, I retired to my hotel for some dinner and a brief nap.  Upon awakening refreshed, I set out once again.  This time to enjoy one of the real attractions of Thailand... the Thai Massage.  Thai Massages are excellent, and for those of you who have not yet had the pleasure, I sincerely recommend treating yourself to this type of pampering.  It's not like any massage I've had so far.  Basically, it's like someone doing Yoga to you,  stretching you this-way-and-that.  It's a real treat, and the way you feel afterward... :).  Following the spa, I boogied back to my room and got some shut-eye.  I had a very early morning... tomorrow, Ayutthaya!!!

Flying out (Muscat to Bangkok via Doha)

 The events described in this post took place on or about June 30th, 2010 in Muscat (Oman), Doha (Qatar) and Bangkok (Thailand).  For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'

 Any journey starts with a single step.  One, which usually,starts over a threshold.  An act of leaving, an act of escape.  This one was no different.  It started in Muscat, in what some call an airport.  Others see it as a portal of sorts.  Whatever you would like to see it as, this is where this trip started. 

I write this post only for the sake of continuity and narrative.  Not because it is exceptionally important.  We know that all things start somewhere. If I didn't mention it, you would have probably guessed (correctly of course) that it began in exactly such a place.  I am mentioning it though.  As previously stated, not because it is exceptionally important, but because it does need to be documented. 

The trip starts as most do.  I showed up to the airport, waited longer than I had wanted to.  I wandered through the duty-free at Muscat.  As usual, I didnt  find anything that I wanted, and was amazed that things aren\t cheaper than what I could get elsewhere.  Finally I got into a plane.  We took a short flight to Doha (Qatar).  We disembarked, I wandered around another airport.  This one however, had an even larger duty-free (the Doha Duty-free takes up most of the airport).  Again, I have the same two realizations that I mention earlier.  This time, a bit more pronounced and prominent, relative to its size.

When the time came for me to get in the final plane that would take me to Bangkok, I could not wait.  We boarded the aircraft and were promptly on our way.  After another five hours on the plane, we touched down safely onto the tarmac.  With Iphone firmly in hand, I cued up Rush's 'A Passage to Bangkok'.  This was the my first installment of theme-music of my Asian sojurn. 

This is how it all started.  This is how this story begins.  Not uniquely, not in a new, bold and exciting way, but begin it did nontheless.  Now that this seemingly uneventful genesis has been told.... we can get on with business of the telling.