More Bangkok and headed to the islands…

After visiting the ruins in central Thailand, Nicole and I took a train back to crazy Bangkok. We had no choice but to ride 3rd Class: hard wooden seats, no air conditioning, and very crowded.

There was alot we wanted to do and see in our last day in Bangkok. We asked a tuk tuk driver to drive us to the our first destination and he asked for 600 baht! We laughed at him and walked away…what did he think we were, amatuers? We have quickly learned that all tuk tuk and cab drivers will aim to rip you off. We also knew that we shouldn’t pay more than 50 baht for where we needed to go. We headed to the Golden Mountain, where we climbed to the top of the building for 360 degree views of Bangkok. We then made our way to the Grand Palace, which was indeed Grand. The palace was the former royal residence and today is used for by the king for certain special occasions. We were told that we had to cover our shoulders and wear pants that covered our knees. But when we arrived we were told we couldn’t enter unless we had long pants to our feet or a skirt. We were each provided a sarong to wear over our pants, meaning we were now wearing two layers of clothing in ridiculously hot humid weather. I feel sorry for whoever had to wear my skirt after me! Once we were styling in our new sexy skirts, we began touring the grounds. The area was huge with buildings and statues covered in gold and brilliant colored gems.

In the afternoon we headed to the infamous Chatuckak weekend market. Covering 35 acres, it is the world’s largest open air market! We were completely overwhelmed by the amount of stalls, people, and variety of goods. Apparently 200,000 people visit the market each weekend. As if we hadn’t shopped enough already, we later took the sky tram to Siam Square, the area known for it’s large posh shopping centers. This shopping area was in sharp contrast to the market, with stores selling Versace, Armani, etc. We made our way to the basement of the mall which contain the largest food court we had ever seen. My mexican food craving was finally satisfied with a surprisingly good burrito! Of course there was a McDonalds with quite a different selection of value meals appropriate to the Asian appetite and complete with a praying Ronald! We were both stunned to see an Outback Steakhouse as well! I have to admit that I miss the blooming onion!

I was more than ready to leave the crazy crowded streets of Bangkok when we boarded a plane headed to the island of Phuket. We spent two days in Phuket, and in our opinion…this was two days too many! We both HATE Phuket! In the islands defense, we have only spent time on Patong Beach and realize that the other beaches on the island may be very different. The streets are very dirty, extremely touristy, and there is alot of traffic. We spent our first day lying in lounge chairs on the sand under an umbrella. This might sound quite heavenly; however, the mood was spoiled by the endless number of locals who approached us nonstop and disrupted our sleep or reading to try to sell us stuff. It did not matter if you avoided eye contact, or had your earphones on, you were still approached and asked to buy something. We eventually just stopped saying NO, and ignored them completely. It was SO annoying! And our stroll through the main drag last night left each of us disturbed and eager to get off this island! Nicole describes the the main road, Bang-La Road as “horrid as any street in Daytona, Florida come spring break, times 10!” We were overwhelmed by the number of trannies, practically naked girls, dirty old men with young Thai girls, and the countless invitations to ping pong shows! We both agreed this was not a place to bring your family on vacation! I am so annoyed with and tired of hearing the Thai boxers advertisments blasting from the trucks they ride around in with a fake boxing ring on top. “Tomorrow night, tomorrow night, tomorrow night, Thai boxing show, Thai boxing show, Thai boxing show, tomorrow night”. It’s like an annoying broken record!!!

Tomorrow we take a boat to Phi Phi island where we anticipate that our experience will be very different and much better! I am SO excited to spend the next two weeks on beautiful tropical islands!

After 2 weeks in Thailand, I have seen alot of things that I love and hate.

I LOVE…

To see photos of Bangkok CLICK HERE!

To see photos of Phuket CLICK HERE!