Bangkok was on my list of places to see- a major city, amazing statues and temples but also there is great shopping in Thailand. Stuff that would cost US$8 in Singapore is US$3 or less in Thailand. You can get beautiful blue and white Chinese pottery for US$1. With all this great shopping to be had all 5 ladies each packed an extra duffle bag.
This time of year is very hot in Bangkok. Being used to the hot temperatures in Singapore, we thought we'd be ok, however we were mistaken. Singapore is usually overcast and fairly cloudy. Thailand has clear skies and is sunny. That sunshine shinning through with temps in the upper 90's gets you really sweaty.
Our tour of Bangkok stated off with a beer to take on a long-boat ride through the city canals. This was a great way to get a quick view of canal living. Some homes were rickety and should basically be condemned while others we beautiful wood vacation homes. Like many areas there is a big disparity in wealth and it seems when you own something you keep it forever. The main canal that runs through the city is also used as a way to get from one end of town to the other quickly. You are able to see temples and even the Grand Palace from the boat ride.
Along the boat ride we had a one man floating market saddle up to our boat. His boat was filled with little trinkets and souvenirs to bring home. a couple little elephants were purchased and will be added to our ever growing collections. Our long-boat dropped us off at Chinatown for our shopping outing. We came across a great jewelry shop where nothing was over US$3! YAY.
We thought it might be fun to ride a tuk tuk back to the hotel a driver claimed all 5 of us could smooch in. Sitting on a hump or the floor would have been ok for 10-15 minutes but with Friday evening traffic it got quite cramped for the 40 minute ride. Lesson learned, but it was fun- kind of, well at least memorable.
The next day we headed to the floating markets near Bangkok. It was about 1 1/2 hour van ride away, and we passed tons of sea salt fields. Did you know that Thailand farms sea salt? - Now you do!
The floating market was really unusual. People live all along the canals and have long-boats to go up and down to canal front shops to do buy things. Our tour guide told us now the floating market is basically for tourists now, but in the old days this is how they would shop and barter. Along the canal people have shops either on the cement or actually in a boat. You pull your boat up alongside and make your purchases. The most surprising thing was seeing food being cooked and sold right on a boat. An older lady would have her propane tank on her boat, fired up a gas flame, cooking some famous Thai meal and selling it for a $1. I kept wondering how many boats have burned down with an open flame on a wooden boat.
After shopping off the boat, we headed inside to the store fronts. Here's a picture of me working a deal for some Adidas gym bags for Katie and Jen. With language and accent barriers you basically pass a calculator back and forth say, yes, no, or too high until you reach an agreement. My friend, Rose, had her currency converter handy so I could get my quick currency conversions helping me get the price I wanted. I'm not a great bargainer, but our tour guide told us pay 50-60% less than whatever they first offered. The thing I like most about shopping in Thailand verse some other Asian areas, is they are nice. You say no, not interested, they leave you alone. They seem to almost enjoy the bargaining and hey if the price you want is too low they won't sell.
After a long day of shopping we stopped in a fish spa. This has been something I thought I should try someday, so why not now while it's super inexpensive. If I didn't like it (and guess from that photo) I only wasted US$6. What did I really think- here's the deal- having little fish nibble on your skin is very ticklish and feels mildly disturbing since you know what is happening. I got a little wigged out when the 5 inch fish started nibbling (biting) on my feet. I decided I must have a lot of dead skin since it basically looked like I had black boots on. About every 2 minutes I couldn't handle it and had to pull my feet out for a break. Eventually, I got smart and decided to only put my heals in. I'm not ticklish there and need the most dead skin removed there (desperately in need of a pedicure- which is more my speed). In the end my feet were very soft and lots of dead skin was gone, but once in my life is enough.
Our last day was temple sight seeing day. I think we hit almost all the major places on this 100 degree day and then had planned to head straight to an airport. Yup, we will smell great! Our tour guide took us to see the Reclining Buddha. This statue was huge- probably 40 feet high and 150 feet long. Originally it was outside and then they built a temple around it to preserve it better.
Another buddha we saw was the solid 18 karat Golden Buddha. I believe our tour guide told us there are 400 buddha statues in Bangkok- obviously some more famous than others. This one was discovered to be solid gold when while they were moving it, it dropped, cracked, and they could see it simply wasn't gold flake covering metal, it was solid gold through.
Our tour continued with visits to Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. There were so many beautiful temples and structures all around. The ornate designs were covered in gold and colored glass.
The end of a sweaty touristy day and terrific trip shopping and sight seeing in Bangkok had concluded in a nice air-conditioned airport. Good thing, there were duty free stores with perfume counters.
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