Thailand ~

Bangkok

Bangkok, Thailand was an adventure of a lifetime. Let me start by telling you how this came to be. My two companions Carmia and Shennell booked their trip to Bangkok through Groupon for a good deal, so I decided to join them, not knowing they had booked with a company I had just made a trip to Peru with. I had a great experience with Gate 1 Travel before, so this wasn’t a hard decision to try them again.

We were all set to go to the “Land of Smiles,” however on October 13th the King of Thailand, who reigned for 70 years, passed away. We were all in a state of shock and devastated. Moreover, we didn’t know what was going to happen on our trip. Would it be canceled, would there be political turmoil once we got there, and how would the Thai people receive us during their period of mourning? There were many questions, but we needed answers quickly because our trip was approaching.

After much research, we discovered that the Thai people were still welcoming visitors with open arms, but there were stipulations. (They want all visitors respectful during their full year of mourning. There is no entertainment for 30 days throughout the country from the time of the King’s death. All establishments in the city close at midnight or before. All citizens are to wear mostly black. The all-black attire doesn’t apply to visitors, but they ask that you do not wear any bright colors.) We had to make adjustments and changes to our wardrobe, but we were grateful our trip was still on.

The day before our trip another issue happened, Carmia missed her flight to New York. That is a story in itself that I will not explain, but eventually, she was able to join us later in the trip. The next day October 29th, our flight was for 11:00 am with Qatar Airlines from New York to Bangkok with a two-hour layover in Doha, Qatar. It was a very pleasant plane ride, and the food was okay. We didn’t get to Bangkok until Sunday, the 30th at 6:45 pm. Once we arrived, we met with our tour guide, Ellen. We told her about Carmia. She said it was no problem that someone would pick her up in the morning. She then directed us to our bus and handed out envelopes with more information about our stay in Thailand. Next, we were on our way to Century Park Hotel, where we stayed for our entire trip.

Bangkok reminded me of New York City, busy, buzzing with lots of traffic, and many buildings. On the other hand, I noticed everyone drives on the right side. Mostly all personal vehicles have black tinted windows. The best way to maneuver around traffic is either by train, motorcycle, or tuk-tuk (three-wheeled taxi). The motorcycles/motor-pads can sometimes fit up to three to four people, and no one gets ticketed. In fact, it a normal way of life out there.

Our hotel was contemporary but very nice. It had a pool, free WiFi, and breakfast every day. Soon as we arrived and assigned our room, Shennell and I went right up to freshen up. Then, out we went to explore the area around our hotel to find something to eat. The first restaurant we went to was a place called Mezzanine. We both had authentic Thai cuisines that were scrumptious! The flavors were amazing, and it was not expensive. It came to 600 Bahts ($17) for two entrees and two large cocktails. Not bad, right! After we had been exhausted from the long trip, we went in early for the night.

Monday morning, while eating breakfast we were greeted by our other companion Carmia, who finally made it to Bangkok. She was very upset after finding out Ellen lied about someone picking her up from the airport and having to pay 2300 Bahts ($65) to get to the hotel. We were in need of some tranquility and relaxation, so we decided to go for a massage. On our way to choose a place, we met a man named Mr. Sangvian sitting in a tuk-tuk, who would go on to be the gem of our trip. One thing about Bangkok is that you can find a massage place anywhere, but we settle for one called “Wonderful Massage” and that it was! We got an hour and a half Oil and Thai massage for 600 Bahts. It was worth every penny. I felt like I had been cheated all my life! I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to take my masseuse home with me!

Later, we went out amongst the locals to see more of the city. There were pictures and tributes to King Bhumibol everywhere. Black and white draperies hung on every building, and clothing stores filled with black clothes. The mourning of their King was very present.

Tuesday, we were scheduled to do a half-day Bangkok city tour and temples for 8:30 in the morning with Ellen. It was the only trip we purchased with Gate 1 Travel. Everything else we did was on our own. We were all happy in the end because we saved money and our tour guide Ellen was not informative nor a great host.

Our first stop was to the Wat Traimet Temple, known for its beautiful architecture. The temple has one of the largest Buddha of its kind made of solid gold. Next, was to Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). Also, house to many other Buddha images as well as the first Thai massage school. This temple was my favorite out all of them. Our last stop was to Wat Benchamabophit, known as the marble temple. It was gorgeous and has one of the best standing Buddha statues located there. One thing I learned about Buddha was that every different image you saw of him was made in the image of the local people and every gesture he does stands for something.

After sightseeing, we were dropped back at our hotel. Carmia, Shennell, and I were starving, so we linked with Mr. Sangvian again. He took us to a restaurant called Mathurot Place, known for good noodle bowls. I had the pork noodle hot and sour soup with a bottle of water. It only cost me 60 Bahts (almost $2). He then took us to the Chao Phraya, where we got to ride in a boat to view the river. Later that evening, we attended a show called Calypso Bangkok, better known as the Lady-Boy Show located at Asiatique The Riverfront. It was very entertaining; nonetheless, we ended our night by getting our feet attacked by fishes.

Quick Trip To Phuket

If you want to get away from the city and experience some beaches, then Phuket is the place to go. Wednesday, we took a 7:45-morning flight to get there and we arrived at 9:30 a.m. We didn’t have anything booked to do out there but knew we wanted to hit a beach. As we were looking for tours to do, many travel agents were telling us we came too late that you needed to be out there by 7 or 9 a.m. to catch the boats. At one point we felt very distraught until there was one tour company that gave us exactly what we wanted. There was a tour leaving at 11 a.m. that would take us to a Wat Tham Temple (Temple Cave), Phang Nga Bay (James Bond Island), canoeing, to a beach (Nai Yang), and provide lunch for us for 1600 Bahts ($45). We were elated!

Everything that we saw was so breath-taking, and even though they didn’t give us that much time to explore the sites, the tour was still great. Also, we didn’t get a chance to go to Phi Phi island because time wouldn’t allow. We only scheduled ourselves for a day and had to catch an 11’o clock flight back to Bangkok. It was still fun to get out of the city and experience the countryside of Thailand.

Back in Bangkok

Thursday, we were up early again for a Floating Market Tour we booked with a company called Theo Express Travel Service. The tour was two hours away from Bangkok. The travel agent told us we had an option to do elephant trekking as well, just to let them know at the end. So off we went to the Floating Market. It was marvelous seeing commerce being conducted on different boats and seeing the way the community lived. In the end, we thought we were going to do elephant trekking like the travel agent said but the person in charge of our tour told us we should have stated that at the beginning. I was highly pissed because riding an elephant was a dream of mine to do while in Thailand, so soon as we got back I went to Theo Express. The travel agent apologized, and offer only one option for us to do which didn’t satisfy our needs. We left and never returned to do business with them again.

Unfortunately, most of the day was gone, so we rested until it was time to leave for reservations we made at Vertigo Grill & Moon Bar at Banyan Tree Hotel for dinner. This restaurant was pricey, but the view was spectacular! We could see all of majestic Bangkok! Later, we went for a foot massage. Then, we took another tuk-tuk to see the rest of Bangkok’s nightlife. There wasn’t much to see because like I said before everything closed early; however, we found ourselves racing tuk-tuks with some French tourists we met and eventually found a spot that was open for some dancing. Talk about luck, but it was shut down by police at 2 a.m.

The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of Emerald Buddha) was closed for some time because of the King, but now it is open to visitors. We got a chance to see it on Friday. It was incredible. The details of the architecture were astounding, and the Emerald Buddha was awe-inspiring. Be that as it may, my attention kept focusing on the citizens of Thailand pouring into the palace to pay their respects to the King. His remains are still there for a period, so everyone from around the country can get an opportunity to say goodbye. We didn’t get a chance to see the King, but it felt like we were a part of the procession. As the day progress, it was time to leave, so we decided to go to Chinatown. We stayed there for a bit and closed our night at Pingpong (A red light district area) with souvenir shopping.

Our last day in Bangkok was bittersweet. We were sad that we had to leave, but happy because we all missed home. That early Saturday morning, I was excited because Mr. Sangvian’s brother drove us to a place to do elephant trekking. Once we got there, my excitement changed from what I saw. Instead of it being a natural experience with the elephants, it was more so a tourist attraction. Some of the elephants had chains on them, and they all went down the same path over and over again. I felt for them all. Overall, the experience was okay, but I wouldn’t go to that elephant trekking again.

Soon after, we went to the floating market to do more shopping. We didn’t make it back to the hotel until 2 p.m. and had to be out of the room at that time. We were moving like a speed of lightning, but we got out before being charged extra. Carmia, Shennell, and I had one last Thai cuisine and then we left on our Gate 1 bus at 5’o clock to catch our flight for 8 p.m. We made it back to the USA early Sunday morning and were exhausted from a fun-filled week!

Thailand is such an extraordinary place and has so much to do that I have to go back, and I left a piece of my heart there!

Kop Khun Kha (Thank you) Thailand! See you again!

Here are some tips to consider while visiting Thailand:

– Use lots of Sunscreens
– Stay hydrated because the sun will drain you
– Use Mosquito Repellent
– Bring a map of the city with you when exploring
– Mostly everything is negotiable
– Never take the first deal. Keep working to get the price you want or close to it.
– Do not exchange all your money at the airport or hotel. You can find better rates.
– For tuk-tuk, 150 Bahts or below (Depends on distance) is a good price to take you around the city. For taxi 300 Bahts or below (Again depends on the distance)
– Look around for the best deals when it comes to tours. Never let them tell you this is all they have. They can create something specifically for you.
-Gas-X and Imodium is your friend
– Learn some of the Thai Language
– Lastly be kind, courteous, and smile

Enjoy my pictures and video!

Any questions please email me!

Press Play For Video Below!

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