Wednesday, March 25, 2009

TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009 - BANGKOK

TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009 – 75/69 – BANGKOK, THAILAND

We decide to get up early, well about 7:00AM so we can do some site seeing before it gets too hot and the crowds get so bad. We have the buffet breakfast today and it is really a big spread!

Back in the room, we work on the blog and get the laundry out. Unfortunately we don’t get out of the hotel till nearly 10AM and we are definitely not ahead of the crowds! We catch a taxi from the hotel to the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha. The taxi drops off at the palace gate. Tickets cost 700BAHT or about $20US for the two of us. We were here in 2004 and want to take some photos of the colorful buildings. The heat is stifling, there is not breeze and the crowd grows by the minute. We first walk over the the Emerald Buddha or Wat Phra Kaew. This is probably our favorite site in Bangkok.They seem to be doing lots of repair/restoration on various site this one included. We spend about 30-minutes taking our photos and then head to the Palace grounds for some more pictures. We really should have been here at 8:30 when it opened.

After resting and people watching in a shady area in front of the throne room at the Grand Palace, we catch a taxi to the flower market and walk the 2-3 blocks looking at the wonderful color and variety of the flowers and produce offered. The prices are truly unbelievable: 30BAHT (less than $1US) for a dozen LONG STEMMED roses; 2 dozen orchid stems for 40BAHT, etc. At this point, the heat and humidity have won and we catch a taxi back to the hotel where we change and go to the pool for an hour or so and enjoy a light lunch in the shade of our sala. Here, the breeze is blowing and we enjoy a quiet rest.We take a taxi to Carolyn’s tailor. It costs 161BAHT on the meter and takes 30 minutes in the traffic. Dick pays him 200BAHT and it is worth every penny as we arrive for Carolyn’s fitting cool, calm and collected. Her clothes will be ready at 4:00PM tomorrow.

After supper in the area, we cannot find a taxi that will take us back to the hotel so we use the sky train. It is crowded but cool and the three flights of stairs up and then down again is a bother for Carolyn but you do what you have to do. We arrive back at the hotel a little before 8:00PM, shower, work on this blog and realize we are having problems with posting the pictures for each day.Dick will work on that problem tomorrow.

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