(Due to technical dificulties of blogging in Thailand, I was unable to post until now, I'll try to get them all out ASAP)
Knowing that this portion of the trip was oddly partitioned, losing two days of activities due to Shavuot, we planned on spending the first day in Bangkok booking the trip with a Thai travel agent, spending the next 4 days doing activities in the northern city of Chang Mai, then heading south to the island of Koh Samui for the holiday, and then returning to Bangkok for the last couple days.
We got out of the airport and hailed a taxi cab. The driver, while walking us to the cab, punched another driver right in the crotch. He probably should not have told him we were heading to Bangkok. Who knew that was a Thai tradition?
After getting settled in our hotel room and getting slightly acclimated to the intense heat, we decided to head over to the Chabad Restaurant to get a hot meal. Since our hotel was slightly out of the way, we needed to take a Tuk-Tuk to the main area, walk to the train station, take the sky train a couple stops then grab a cab the rest of the way. This was going to be interesting.
Ok. Imagine combining the safety of a motorcycle, the comfort of a wheel barrow, and Liz's concern for traffic law (and her ability to drive with her eyes open), and you have a Tuk-Tuk. In a city that is almost in a perpetual state of gridlock, Tuk-Tuk drivers need to do whatever they can to cut time off the trip. The driver zig zagged through three lanes of traffic, ran four reds (around cars) and drove into oncoming traffic, all while acting like it was no big deal. I am pretty sure there is no better way to travel.
Once we got out of the Tuk-Tuk, we quickly praised the lord for granting us safe passage and headed into Siam center. I have never seen anything like it. Every inch of the side walks were covered with vendors yelling at the top of their lungs trying to explain why you cannot live without whatever crap they were selling; no matter how many times I declined, they still felt that I needed those cullots. Every other vendor was selling whatever animal they could get their hands on, from squid to cockroaches to jelly fish. As bad as those things looked, it was nothing compared to how awful they smelled. The closest thing I can compare the smell to is someone throwing up in my nose. Later, Liz and I had a long conversation trying to decide if the smells originated from food or actual fecal matter. This is a very special place.
The next day we headed over to the travel agent to plot out the rest of our Thailand stay. I am pretty sure that TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) offices are made of magic. We came in with absolutely nothing booked for the next two weeks and left an hour later with a complete itinerary, including flights, activities and hotels near Chabad restaurants, all much cheaper than when we had priced it on our own.
We left the office with our next two weeks planned and a feeling of being smarter than your average tourist. The feeling did not last long. Right outside of the TAT office was one of the thousands of tailor shops in Thailand promising custom made clothing at crazy low prices. I had always wanted a custom tailored suit, so I thought I would go in and hear what the guy had to say. The next few minutes were a blur and the next thing I knew I was signing the credit card receipt, after ordering a suit and four new shirts. The sales guy could Fistel with the best of them. At one point he somehow turned me into a salesman pitching to other Americans who accidentally wandered into the shop. At best I restocked my wardrobe on the cheap, at worst I learned a $300 lesson.
Afterwords, we headed to the airport to head out to Chaing Mai, where adventure awaited.
Knowing that this portion of the trip was oddly partitioned, losing two days of activities due to Shavuot, we planned on spending the first day in Bangkok booking the trip with a Thai travel agent, spending the next 4 days doing activities in the northern city of Chang Mai, then heading south to the island of Koh Samui for the holiday, and then returning to Bangkok for the last couple days.
We got out of the airport and hailed a taxi cab. The driver, while walking us to the cab, punched another driver right in the crotch. He probably should not have told him we were heading to Bangkok. Who knew that was a Thai tradition?
After getting settled in our hotel room and getting slightly acclimated to the intense heat, we decided to head over to the Chabad Restaurant to get a hot meal. Since our hotel was slightly out of the way, we needed to take a Tuk-Tuk to the main area, walk to the train station, take the sky train a couple stops then grab a cab the rest of the way. This was going to be interesting.
Ok. Imagine combining the safety of a motorcycle, the comfort of a wheel barrow, and Liz's concern for traffic law (and her ability to drive with her eyes open), and you have a Tuk-Tuk. In a city that is almost in a perpetual state of gridlock, Tuk-Tuk drivers need to do whatever they can to cut time off the trip. The driver zig zagged through three lanes of traffic, ran four reds (around cars) and drove into oncoming traffic, all while acting like it was no big deal. I am pretty sure there is no better way to travel.
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| Welcome to Thailand |
Once we got out of the Tuk-Tuk, we quickly praised the lord for granting us safe passage and headed into Siam center. I have never seen anything like it. Every inch of the side walks were covered with vendors yelling at the top of their lungs trying to explain why you cannot live without whatever crap they were selling; no matter how many times I declined, they still felt that I needed those cullots. Every other vendor was selling whatever animal they could get their hands on, from squid to cockroaches to jelly fish. As bad as those things looked, it was nothing compared to how awful they smelled. The closest thing I can compare the smell to is someone throwing up in my nose. Later, Liz and I had a long conversation trying to decide if the smells originated from food or actual fecal matter. This is a very special place.
 |
| Where are we? |
The next day we headed over to the travel agent to plot out the rest of our Thailand stay. I am pretty sure that TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) offices are made of magic. We came in with absolutely nothing booked for the next two weeks and left an hour later with a complete itinerary, including flights, activities and hotels near Chabad restaurants, all much cheaper than when we had priced it on our own.
We left the office with our next two weeks planned and a feeling of being smarter than your average tourist. The feeling did not last long. Right outside of the TAT office was one of the thousands of tailor shops in Thailand promising custom made clothing at crazy low prices. I had always wanted a custom tailored suit, so I thought I would go in and hear what the guy had to say. The next few minutes were a blur and the next thing I knew I was signing the credit card receipt, after ordering a suit and four new shirts. The sales guy could Fistel with the best of them. At one point he somehow turned me into a salesman pitching to other Americans who accidentally wandered into the shop. At best I restocked my wardrobe on the cheap, at worst I learned a $300 lesson.
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| Idiot |
Afterwords, we headed to the airport to head out to Chaing Mai, where adventure awaited.
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