T H A I L A N D

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We arrived in Bangkok mid-day (on Saturday) and got settled into our hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River.  That evening, we went to a Thai a dinner show at the Orient Hotel.  The costumes were incredibly beautiful but the highlight was the very graceful female dancing.  It’s amazing how these beautiful Thai women have learned to become almost double-jointed in order to perform hand movements with the fingers bent back from the palm.  Exquisite! Then, there was the food at the Oriental Hotel; absolutely delicious and a glorious sight to behold.

The next day, we toured Bangkok beginning with a visit to one of the largest food and flower markets we’ve ever seen with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of vendors spread out over many square blocks.  Then, onto the Grand Palace – worth the trip alone!  Ed’s comment was that this should be the eighth man-made wonder of the world.  The Grand Palace is a compound of some 30+ buildings housing the royal residence, a monastery, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (carved from a block of green jade enshrined on a golden traditional Thai-style throne known as a Busabok) and much, much more.  The complex was established in 1782.

That evening we savored a fabulous Thai seafood dinner served on an outside patio in our hotel.  It was “all you can eat” and in addition to some prepared seafood dishes (we’ll never forget the Thai Blue Crabs sautéed with hot red chili sauce), we also selected fresh fish and seafood from trays on ice and it was then cooked on coals for us.  One of the best seafood meals we’ve had anywhere in the world.

On Monday, our guide (“Boom”) and driver (“Wut”) took us north to the pavilions at Bain Pai and then on to a former capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya.  Everywhere in the country are beautiful Buddhist temples with ornate facades and lovely gardens.  They are amazingly tranquil despite the large number of devoted Buddhists (and visitors) found in each one.  Most house a statue of Buddha on the traditional Busabok noted above.  We also went to the “monkey temple” a Hindu temple now overrun with wild monkeys.  Quite the sight to see these guys everywhere!

Our next day we went to our northern most destination, Chiang Rai, located in the “Golden Triangle” area where Thailand, Laos & Burma (now Myanmar) have a shared border.   En route, we stopped at Hukhothai, the first capital of Thailand.  We spent most of the morning with an unannounced, unscheduled stop at a remote primary school.  The children were as amazed by us as we were by them.  When we stopped in the fifth grade music class, the teacher had the children play on traditional Thai musical instruments some Thai music and some Western favorites– Oh Suzanna and Auld Lang Syne.  We had a wonderful time visiting the classes and speaking with the children, all of whom are learning English.

While in Chiang Rai, we visited the Ahka & Yao tribes, natives found in this area.  We also went into the Doi Mae Salong Chinatown settlement.  Then, we also went for a longboat ride on the Mekong River, familiar to us by name due to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.  We did cross the border into Burma (Mynamar).  However, it was such a terrible shock we didn’t stay long.  It was like the days of old when there was a West Berlin and East Berlin.  While the people in Thailand are reasonably affluent with lots of goods and merchandise and a fairly clean environment, Burma (Myanmar) was a stark contrast.

After leaving Chiang Rai on Thursday, we went to Chiang Mai, a city to the southwest of Chiang Rai.  Here we spent two days exploring various temples.  We also took a ride on an Asian elephant in a nearby plantation where the elephants originally were used in foresting teak wood.  This area of Thailand was filled with shops belonging to talented artisans and craftsman so we did our share of shopping here too.  We went to paper umbrella stores, a silk plant, a jade factory and a lacquer ware factory to mention a few.

Mid-way through our exploration of Thailand, we changed our mode of transportation.  Rather than viewing the sites with a guide and driver, we now switched to a sailing vessel designed to travel the coast and around various Thai and Malaysian islands.  To catch the ship, we first fly south to Phuket, Thailand to begin this next phase of the adventure.

The next week (Saturday-Saturday) was spent on a different island each day with the ship being sailed from place to place in the evening and nighttime hours.  The Star Clipper, our ship, is a 5-masted sailing vessel that can accommodate some 130 guests.  However, travel being down still, we had a fairly uncrowded ship with only some 80 passengers.  The only other Americans were four women who worked for the U.S. Embassy at various Asian locations (Vietnam, Brunei).  Most of the other passengers were the wealthy and/or aristocracy of Europe (i.e., The Netherlands, France, Germany and Great Britain).  We did some snorkeling in the incredibly clear blue waters off Thailand.  We also enjoyed hiking on the islands and viewing local wildlife like eagles.  We took a jeep safari in Langkawi, Malaysia that was a complete tour of the island.  Thankfully the couple we shared a jeep with were from the U.K. so we let them do the driving as they are accustomed to driving on the left.  While Ed’s done it many times, it was much nicer to relax and enjoy the scenery rather than concentrating on which way to get on the road.  Another highlight was a speed boat ride to James Bond Island (as it’s now known) where  the “Man with the Golden Gun” was filmed.  All in all, a very relaxing way to see some of the remote sites of the wonderful country of Thailand!

At the end of the cruise, we returned to Phuket, itself a lovely port city, and then we were off to Malaysia to begin our Borneo adventure (SEE, BORNEO PAGE FOR DETAILS).

Following Borneo, we then returned back to Bangkok for two nights on our own.  For sightseeing, we visited local shopping markets.  It was unbelievable how inexpensive and plentiful food was there.  We bought ½ kilo of raw peanuts and a ¾ liter bottle of fish sauce to bring home.  We also purchased food for dinner that night (including a half liter of beer) since we were staying at a suite hotel.  Total cost:  $4.04.  Amazing not to mention good!  It’s no wonder that every hotel and lodge had outstanding food because it was high quality and affordable not just for tourists.

We left Bangkok on Tuesday, February 26, at 11:35A.  After some 20 hours of flying, we arrived at Los Angeles at 12:45P that same day.  Despite going without sleep, we were able to enjoy a great dinner with Rich & Brenda Ruggiero who were gracious enough to come to our airport hotel.  It was a perfect way to end the trip before heading home to New Mexico the following day.

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BANGKOK - THE PLACE & PEOPLE

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THE GRAND PALACE - AN 8TH WONDER!

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EN ROUTE TO THE "GOLDEN TRIANGLE"

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THE "GOLDEN TRIANGLE" & THE NORTH
(PLUS BURMA TOO)

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CHIANG MAI 

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THE CRUISE SIGHTS

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