After experiencing a Seattle fall and a taste of a few winter days, 95 degrees F and 100% humidity is what we woke up to. Thank God our TINY hostel room has AC. By the way, the room is probably 7 x 9, with a bed covering basically the whole space and a small aisle to drop our backpacks. I guess I can't ask much more for $5 a night, but in all reality, this place is pretty nice compared to most hostels. After making arrangements with a travel agent, we hit the Chao Phraya River on a tour boat to downtown. The contrast to the Thai to the average US citizen's life was quite apparent. Bangkok is an extremely dirty city, with roads that would rank #1 in the US as far as congestion and BAD DRIVERS. The roads are so packed that instead of getting a cab, it's much easier to employ a tuk-tuk, which is basically a tricked out 3-Wheeler with a metal cage welded in the rear that seats 2 people in back like a chariot. This thing is fast and zips all over the place. It's quite scary, but if you like inhaling diesel fumes and paying 30 Baht (about 75 cents), these things will take you a long way. You can also rent motorcycle taxis and sit on the back, but I'm not that insane yet. Back to the river.... So we hit the boat and cruised up the river, which provided a welcomed breeze after already sweating about a gallon of water through my shirt. We were dropped at Wat Arun (Wat means "temple" and Wat Arun means "Temple of the Dawn"). The temple was in a word, awesome, and hopefully pictures will do it justice. These temples in Bangkok are amazing. They are so detailed, intricate, and full of gold Buddhas. HUNDREDS of gold Buddhas in some cases. I won't carry on with this, but hopefully the pics will turn out.
After visiting the grounds, we decided it was time to eat. Despite the very detailed map I have, we decided to walk into Chinatown and look for a restaurant. Well, that was quite a bad idea. In Chinatown, you can find 10,000 streetside stands selling half cooked chicken and dehydrated fish on a stick, so we kept walking. And walking. And walking.... 2 hours later, we were completely lost, famished, and desperate for ANY restaurant. McDonalds would have done it. Long story short, we found a fancy hotel with a Chinese Restaurant. We ordered some Thai dishes and listened to some REALLY tone-deaf Chinese women utterly destroy some tunes on Karaoke. The ambience was magic, let me tell ya... Following the meal, it was time to place a phone call to Panu, a business contact of my Dad's. I could tell Terri wanted to laugh, as it literally took me 15 minutes, a couple 4 letter words, and the aid of a hotel concierge to properly place a payphone call. The same routine followed on my 2nd phone call too. Apparently I'm a slow learner.
After impatiently waiting for the travel agent to book our overpriced plane tickets (does it really take an hour to book a plane and train ticket?), we rushed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Panu picked us up and we met his brother Chuck at "The Oriental," a REALLY tasty Thai restaurant. This is the best Thai food either of us has either had, by far. I ate till my next bite would have proven embarassing. Panu and Chuck were both quite friendly and we will call them upon our return to Bangkok in 30 days.
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