Steve's Big Adventure

[Laneco]

We both got to Bangkok on Friday. I arrived in the afternoon, took a shower and crawled into a fetal position in the bed until Steve arrived around 8:30 local time. Including the drive to the airport, I spent 29 hours travelling. The flight from SFO to Manila was 16 hours straight. I had seat 92K on a 747-400. Turns out to be an interesting seat as there are two seats side by side and the row ahead has three which means there's an odd sliver of space. Turns out to be just big enough to throw the travel blanket down and sleep a little.

Manila airport has an odd international terminal. I had a transfer (to Bangkok) on the same airline but had to exit security/customs and re-enter to be in the boarding area. It was kind of cool. Find the desk that says transfer, they have someone escort you through the whole process, multiple checkpoints, maybe 3 minutes of walking and it's done! If it weren't for that it would have taken forever to get through.

We're staying at the Dusit Thani, which is a very nice hotel. Wonderful service, great shops, etc. The room is quite affordable, but they getcha on the food. I think a double shot of espresso and Steve's morning mocha set us back $16. We had a full sea food dinner with strawberry smoothie drinks (don't know why that sounded good, but it did) for about $10 at another location.

I talked STeve into getting a suit made. Actually two. I think every man should have a suit fitted to him and this is a fun part of the vacation for him. Between being married to me and working in Afghanistan, I think the poor guy deserved something nice.

angela

[oldE]

Angela,

Way to go!

Now: Get off the computer and look after each other!

All the best
Les

[Laneco]

Oh no worries about that Les...

My apologies in advance to the Dusit Thani regarding this, but I humbly suggest they put sturdier beds in the rooms. I SWEAR it was an accident!

angela

[BRPORSCHE]

God I am happy for that man. Tell him to stay safe in a-stan and enjoy the hell out of you on this trip.

Effing A. That's the American Dream,

[mossguy]

Originally Posted by Laneco

Oh no worries about that Les...

My apologies in advance to the Dusit Thani regarding this, but I humbly suggest they put sturdier beds in the rooms. I SWEAR it was an accident!

angela

Angela,
This has got to be the post of the year!

Best,
Tom

[TimT]

Wow I haven't stayed in the Dusit Thani since 1983 :-(

BKK is a great town...

those double seats in the back of the 747-400 should be kept secret!!!

They are like business class seats on the cheap

Funny anecdote... I just returned from Beijing from a visit with my wife.. We celebrated my birthday while we were there.. (the big five-oh)

Anyway she bought me a shirt among other things.. it was a XXL from a trendy Beijing store... I tried it on but felt like I was going to do an Incredible Hulk on the shirt LOL

We were able to get a refund from the store when I accompanied her for the exchange... she explained my "da dudze" ( big belly) and big shoulders LOL

[Joeaksa]

Wonder if they have any rooms with heavy duty beds?

[imcarthur]

I love the broken bed.

My wife and I had an incident like that in Rome . . .

Enjoy yourselves!

Ian

[Tobra]

Angela you are delightful, thank you for sharing this.

Two words, honeymoon cystitis

[Laneco]

Yesterday was full of adventures! Most were really cool, one a little scary, and the last one was flat out hilarious (hint - ping pong ball show...).

We took a walk early in the morning. The food at the Dusit Thani, while extraordinary in every way, is absolutely absurdly expensive even by US standards and organized robbery by Thai standards. A coffee and an espresso was $15 US. Much better to eat from the local establishments. Took an early morning walk and found a spot where local people were eating. Spent about $3 including two bottles of water (street vendor). As we continued our walk, a nice fellow struck up a conversation with us and suggested a tour. Sounds like fun. We hopped a tuk-tuk and headed for the pier. A two hour canal tour including a stop at a snake farm/zoo. The canal trip was REALLY cool! The snake farm/zoo, well, let's just say the zoo standards differer around the world. One monkey wanted his back scratched and Steve probably spent 20 minutes obliging. They did have a cassowary there. Now that is one Jurassic looking bird. Seriously, this thing is a dinosaur with feathers. I don't know if it would club you to death with it's head or eviscerate you with it's beastly clawed feet.

This is our tuk-tuk driver (our favorite so far - he's been driving a tuk-tuk for 22 years and is still alive to tell about it).



And the cassowary beast.

[Laneco]

We continued up-river. There is an incredible mix of architecture in Thailand, and a river trip is a great way to see that. Things got a bit hinky at this point. There were only four of us in the boat, Steve and I and a nice couple from Belgium. The boats themselves are very interesting. Long, narrow, made of wood with diesel engines in the back. The driver moves a big lever up and down that lifts the engine (and the prop) out of the water.



The driver pulled up to another pier. Steve and I hopped off - this was the stop for the Royal Palace. The pier was bouncing up and down wickedly in the rough water and the boat powered away. Startled, we realized that we were alone on the dock, then two tough looking fellows head down the plank. They demand 20 baht each to walk up the plank. They didn't actually say what it was for, but they blocked the way. The argument started. Much yelling and waving of hands. Another boat is approaching, and their shouting becomes much more urgent. One yells "Royal Palace, pay 20 Baht". Okay, we're far enough away from the Royal Palace that we cannot even see the spires. The other boat docks and around a dozen people disembark. The toughs let them walk by. Now I realize we are being had. I start arguing - "Hey, 20 baht for him!!" "20 baht for HER!" and neither tough wants to make eye contact or say anything. Now I know I"m being had, that this is a shake-down however minor. The last of the group is making their way up the plank and I step in behind them. This ensues an elbowing match of which I am quite capable of taking care of myself in! THen they both step in front of Steve. Well now that's just plain foolish, because all 280 pounds of Steve is heading up the plank. There's a sound like a large bowling ball hitting pins and Steve's through the "20 baht" gauntlet.

Why make an issue fro 40 baht (about $4)? Because I had put all the money in one place while I was in the boat (bad idea, always keep some money aside in case you're getting robbed - give the lesser amount). I was afraid if I opened the wallet, that they'd demand everything in it and we would have no way to get back to the hotel. At this point, pretty clearly, we won't be going back to this dock. So now we're a LONG way from the hotel...

Found a market, had a great barbecued pork snack, then took a peaceful taxi back to the hotel with a very nice driver. I should point out that Thai people are truly lovely, the toughs were an exception.

angela

[Laneco]

Steve wanted to go to one of the night markets. As dusk settled, we headed out from the hotel for the Patpong market, just a short walk from the Dusit Thani. Supposedly, this market had cleaned up it's seedy reputation. Well, let's just say that in Thailand, it appears you can buy, or at least rent, anything...

As we approached the vendors, there were quite a variety of merchandise on display. I, of the bed-breaking fame, am certainly no prude, but sex toys sold on the sidewalk? Hmmm... Then a fellow approaches me with a bunch of laminated pages. You would NOT believe what was on the pages! Graphic pictures of sex acts. Man/woman, woman/woman, man/man and assorted beasts - an absolutely menu of depravity. I'm talking about things that I would seriously like to UNSEE.

Okay, so now I know. Politely decline and don't look. It's not rocket surgery. The market itself consists of a center aisle and two outside rows. It seems to be an unspoken rule that the sex vendors stay to the outside rows, so the center aisle is pretty hassle free. OF course, sometimes the merchandise you want is on the outside. I was negotiating for a silk robe for our daughter. As I finished the transaction, I glanced back at my husband. He was talking to a Thai gentleman who was holding one of the "menus" and he had a goofy grin on his face. AFter 20 years, I know when I've been the end of a joke... The conversation went like this:

THai Guy - Ping Pong Show? Only 100 baht! (you'll need to look that up, I will NOT describe it).
Steve - No thank you.
Thai Guy - Ping Pont Show! 100 BAHT!!
Steve - No. I"m not going to pay for that. My wife can do that and I don't have to pay at all (for the record, I DO NOT HAVE CARNAL KNOWLEDGE OF the PING PONG BALL!!!)
Thai Guy - Really? She want job? WE pay her good!

When Steve relayed this to me (and told me what t he ping pong ball show was) I laughed so hard I nearly split a gut!

Welcome to Thailand!

angela

[pete3799]

Hey......it would have been better then the half time show at the super bowl.

[MMARSH]

Wow, missed this when you originally posted. Glad Steve is doing well. Enjoy your time together.....well actually from the looks of it,looks like you are

[Joeaksa]

Angela,

You are really bringing back memories. It was much worse years ago but sounds like at least part of it stayed in the gutter.

Glad to see you guys having fun!

Joe A

[Laneco]

Yeah, Joe, we can take or leave (mostly LEAVE) Bangkok. I'm not a city person at all, so a place with 12 million people is, shall we say, discomforting for me. We did a tour to Ayuttaya. THe tour was 9 hours and unfortunately, we only got one at at Ayuttaya. We could have easily spent the day just at that location. It is absolutely stunning.

angela

[Laneco]

Then on to Samui! Whereas Bangkok is hectic, frantic, and aggressively commercial, Samui (while still commercial) is much more laid back. We rented a couple of scoots and rode all day, all over the island. Each was a 125 Honda, looks like the model they sell as a Metropolitan in the US. Great running little bikes. Would have like a little more juice, but the 125 was enough to get up the hills and move out of the way of traffic. It's been a few years since I've been on a motorbike. I sold mine when the economy began to hit the skids. Wow, I really missed riding a motorbike, any motorbike, even a scooter.

The area in front of the hotel is sandy beach and the snorkeling is pretty poor. We kept moving out and finally got far enough out to really begin to see fabulous coral and some fish. We were far enough out that we were picking up some current and decided to head in. Took a full hour to get back in. Stupid Americans, we had put sunscreen on and kept our shirts on while snorkeling but FORGOT to sunscreen the backs of our legs. Aye carumba! Won't forget that ever again!

We to a trip out to the Ang Throng Marine Park which consists of 42 islands and the immediately surrounding waters. Takes about an hour in a fast boat each way. First stop was a stunning reef. Fish of every kind, spiny sea urchins that were probably nearly two feet across with brilliant blue markings, parrot fish, and sea cucumbers (or maybe slugs) as big as a man's arm. Headed over to beach for sea-kayaking, then to another island with an inland salt-water lake. If you've seen the Leonardo di Caprio move "Beaches" - this is the lake the group went to. An absolutely fabulous day. This is a "do not miss" if you're ever in this part of the world. Couple of shots, including "Monkey Island" named because it looks like the profile of a monkey.

Oh, and we got to ride an elephant! Elephants are AWESOME!!!

angela

[Joeaksa]

Next time do the Maledive Islands off of the tip of India. After what you wrote about Bangkok am sure you will like it a lot more.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Next time do the Maledive Islands off of the tip of India. After what you wrote about Bangkok am sure you will like it a lot more.

Yep...but the really cool thing is you guys are getting out there. Steve's Big Adventure is/will change the way you look at the world and each other.

All the best, Kids! Travel safe and my sincere wishes for continued happiness.

BTW, ping-pong shows are tame compared to the dart shows...if Mama-san asks you to hold a balloon, DON'T!

[jdlowery]

Fun report! When in Bangkok always see the ping pong show, the cigarette show, the razor blade, show, the ice cube show, etc... I was an active participant in the ice cube show. Someone had to catch the cubes.