TUCK IT IN BOYS.......THE LADYBOYS OF CHIANG MAI

After an hour flight north, we are in CHIANG MAI, still Thailand. Staying at a beautiful hotel close to the street market and night life. Speaking of night life, saw a great show last night after the best dinner yet....mine was equivalent to 3$ Canadian.

A bowl of Kao soi curry noodles and we were off to see the boys......don't think I need to say anymore, the pictures tell the story.

Not great pictures, but you get the idea. We had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs and a few beer.

We walked though the huge night market and will head back there tonight for some shopping. Today we are off to cooking school and perhaps a bike ride this afternoon. 

Stay tuned....

GRAND PALACE

Bright and early this morning, and we were off to the Grand Palace. To show respect to the Thai people, and in memory of the deceased King #9, we were told to please wear long pants, sleeves, and dress all in black. Of course it was the hottest day yet, 35 C. 

The palace grounds are beautiful, like a gilded Disneyland. It was built in 1782, and has been beautifully maintained.

 

The original residence no longer houses the royal family. The deceased king is lying in state here, and the Thai people are lining up for 6-8 hours to have their allotted 5 seconds to show their respect. 

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is also on the grounds. The actual statue is quite small, and was carved from a block of jasper in the 15th century. It is the most important Buddha image in Thailand. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take a photo of it.

THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY....OUR THAI MASSAGE

We decided to have a low key day today. We will be meeting up with our group at dinner tonight. After breakfast we headed out for our first Thai massage. Best 20$ (Canadian) each, we have spent. A 2 hour massage that left us feeling totally relaxed and wonderful. Not sure which part was my favourite, it was either the foot massage that made me feel like a hole opened up at the top of my head and any stress and tension just poured out, or near the end when she was working on my scalp, and it felt like a chicken scratching the ground for food. I hope my shoes still fit, cause I think my toes are longer now.

On our way back, we couldn't help but notice some fine cable work....our telephone friends will appreciate this...

Morning commuter traffic... there are 11 million people in Bangkok and I think they all have a car and a motorcycle or scooter. The lights are long, and the bikes all make their way to the front. When the light turns green, off they go like thunder.

Longtail boat on the river, we will be going on one tomorrow.

If I were to bottle a perfume and name it Eau de Bangkok, it would be the essence of gardenia ( from the flower market) blended with garlic pork (street food) with just a touch of mothball.

Update....met up with the group we will spend the next 18 days with. Seems like a great mix of Canadians, Americans, an Australian, a Brit, and one lady from Germany. Our guide, Zoom Zoom, is from Vietnam. We have a busy day tomorrow, then fly to Chang Mai. Will post again when I can.

THE HOT STREETS AND COOL CANALS OF BANGKOK

After a great nights sleep, and breakfast at our hotel, we headed off on foot to find the boat to take us to Wat Pho, Temple of the Reclining Buddha. We had a good map and directions from our hotel clerk, who told us it was a fifteen minute walk. 20 minutes later, we succumbed to the pressure of Tony the Tuk Tuk driver who had been following our wrong turns. We should have known, but we got in, told him where we wanted to go, and off we went....in the other direction. He did take us down some amazing streets, and through a market, but then dropped us off at the wrong pier, the one that has the $1500 Bhat boat ride, instead of the $15 Bhat one that we wanted. We had only paid him $20 ( less than 1 Canadian dollar) so we were able to laugh it off as we walked to the right pier. It was a cheap lesson and a fun Tuk Tuk ride.

Pictures from the boat ride...

We went to the Wat Arun first, on the West Bank of the Chao Phraya river.

Back on the boat to cross the river to Wat Pho.

The actual Recling Buddha is so big, you cannot get a full picture. It is protected by large wooden posts every 10 feet or so. This is the best I could do.....

Tom decided he has now seen enough temples......not sure when to tell him we have about 20 more to go. Better buy him a few Chang beer.

We wandered the streets, slowly heading to the pier, and found the most amazing flower market.

They also sold vegetables...and fruit

We had a great day, it was hot and we were pretty tired when we got back to our hotel.

We stopped at a 7-11 to buy a couple beer to enjoy in our room, only to be told the don't sell the beer til 5pm! It is now 5:03, so I must go. Here are a few more pics we took along the way today...

1 Canadian dollar is about 26 B, the food is very cheap here.

Yummy mango, 10B, less than 50 cents...

SOUTHEAST ASIA, AT LAST! THAILAND, SO NICE TO MEET YOU

It never ceases to amaze me.....how quickly these long haul flights go by. Our first flight was 12 hours and 50 minutes, and I can honestly say, it didn't feel a minute over 13 hours. After a 2 1/2 hour layover in Hong Kong, we were off to Bangkok. 21/2 hour flight, and a 30 minute drive and we were at our hotel. The weather is beautiful, 29 and no humidity that we noticed. We were tired, but it was only early afternoon, so we decided to walk the neighbourhood.

Ray, here is our ice cream man!

The people of Thailand are in mourning, having lost their king late last year. There are tributes and banners everywhere honouring him. 

We had a great time walking up and down the small streets, some like alleys but with traffic. Food carts and stalls selling almost anything lined both sides in spots.  We saw a lot of unrecognizable stuff on the food carts, and although we are definitely game to be adventurous, we didn't feel today was the day to be brave. We found a little restaurant and ordered our first Thai beer.

Yup, I am tired.

We had an amazing meal and enjoyed sitting streetside and people watching.

A casual walk back to the hotel and looking forward to catching up on our sleep. Also looking forward to seeing the sights tomorrow with rested eyes.

Stay tuned....