Category Archives: Thailand 2005

Just a quick note to let you know that we have landed safely in Chiang Mai and are tucked into our cozy room at the Pornping Hotel. I have a lot to share and hundreds of new pictures, but we have been extremely busy. I barely have time to check my e-mail once a day, let alone download the images and prepare a blog entry.

We just returned from an elephant sanctuary and a fabulous lunch in the country. Next stop – the Pornping pool. (I just love saying that.)

It looks like tomorrow (Friday) will be a slow day, so check back for pictures soon…

I already have w-a-y more photos than I have time to post them on my blog.

We visited the Grand Temple and the King’s Palace yesterday, where we saw a gorgeous Thai dance.

All of the images I have posted thus far are unaltered from the original camera shot with the exception of having scaled them down a bit for the web. I do not have a copy of PhotoShop with me, so I can’t perform my usual magic. That’s about to change though, because in about five hours, we will be arriving in Chiang Mai, where my friend Chris waits with his Mac Powerbook.

We hired a long boat for an eye-opening tour through the canals of Bangkok. These whacky, unweildy boats can be seen zipping up and down the river all day. They’re fine – as long as they’re going straight. Turning presents a challenge for a boat with a long drive shaft attached to the boat about six feet above the water line. Things tend to tilt wildly at the slightest hint of a turn.

On the canals of Bangkok, structures range from sublime to squalid.

We visited Wat Arun – the tallest in Bangkok, where I stuggled to suppress an almost overwhelming urge to dangle my doll.

We sweated through the heat and humidity at Wat Pho, where we visited the enormous reclining Buddha. (Sorry Joe – your advice about the massage comes a bit too late.) We ran out of steam before making it to the Grand Palace – a trip we’ll make this afternoon.

Afterward, Kelly treated herself to a massage and facial at the local spa. See how content she looks? In the evening, we scouted out the local restaurants. We have more or less settled on lord Jim’s in the nearby Oriental Hotel for dinner tonight – and not JUST because of the catchy name!

OK, we’ve been here just over 24 hours now. You’ve heard it before, but Bangkok is hot and HUMID. Not as bad as Bali, but close. The air quality has been pretty poor since we got here, but I guess that’s to be expected with the non-stop traffic snarls, and what appear to be loose anti-pollution laws.

Our room on the 15th floor of the Shangi-La is fabulous. We have a sweeping view of the ever-busy Chao Phraya River and the jam-packed Sathron Bridge. The staff is very kind and helpful. We had no problem negotiating one-half room rate for our first half-night in the hotel. The hotel seems to be less than half full. Most (if not all) of the guests seem to be westerners. Lots of Germans. One black.

The food has been excellent thus far. The “free” breakfast buffet offers enormous variety, and evertyhing is really delicious. I know – I tried it all. :-)

We had planned to visit a highly recommended Italian restaurant in the hotel last night, but jet-lag slammed us both hard at about 8:00 PM, and we opted for room-service instead.

Today we are planning on doing some sort of river tour. Maybe we’ll check out the canals or visit a temple or two. More soon!

Just a quick note to say that we made it safely and are getting acclimated to the lovely humid conditions. Our hotel room is beautiful and we will be posting photos soon!