Saturday, December 8, 2012

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

We had a delightfully soft landing in Bangkok. Breezed through immigration courtesy of the US passports, bags were awaiting us on the carousel, and there was no que for the taxi. Three cheers when the driver had no problem finding the hotel (and took us to the correct hotel).  We arrived at City Point Hotel around 2:00 am to be greeted by the hotel staff with lemongrass & ginger tea. Within minutes we nestled into a clean, shockingly quiet room with a waterfall shower & free wifi (!)



Friday morning we were up by 7:30 & exploring the neighborhood by 9:00. Bangkok has grown up so much in the five years since we were last here. It took us much of the day to find familiar sights. And not very long to find some new & intriguing sights - including the Memphis style structure atop some city building.
We shopped for a man purse for Fran (his "murse") at the mall (I don't know that the Thais realize how offensive it is to tell someone to "f*uck off" when what you really mean to say is "we're closed right now.") and found our way back to the hotel courtesy of the "Bar Pearl Necliclace" sign.


We had our first Thai dinner at Cabbages & Condoms - arguably our favorite Thai restaurant. It's the not the best of the best food, but you can't beat the ambiance.



Today we took a river taxi to the Forensic Museum - tucked deep inside the Siriraj Hospital. I only wish (or maybe not) that we could have taken photos. The experience will never translate in words. It was like a Bodies Exhibit meets circus sideshow. Mutant babies were featured in square plastic boxes, & executed murderer/rapists were displayed in wood and glass boxes sealed with scotch tape - their feet resting in metal pans to catch the ooze from their moderately preserved but decaying bodies.
We needed some Buddha & humor to shake that off, so we headed to the National Museum.








Dead mutant babies aside - we couldn't be more happy to be in Thailand. We left a piece of our hearts here in 2000 during our first trip, and it feels like we can never get enough of the Land of Smiles.
Two more sleeps in Bangkok & then we head north to Ayuttaya.

 

 
 
 
 

2 comments:

Erica Leigh said...

ahhhhh, sounds amazing. so good to hear your travel voice. I love and miss you

Unknown said...

Hey Ames! Not sure if you have all your plans set but check this company out if you dont! They do awesome day trips! http://www.adventurecenter.com