The Oriental, Bangkok

BKK and Chiang Mai Well we arrived in Bangkok after a train journey from Chumphun at 23.45 and arrived in BKK at 08.50. The tarins don't exactly go very fast, I think I could drive faster, as for anyone that knows my driving I am sure you would agree. During the day I went to the Oriental Hotel, one of the famous one's in BKK just to take a few pictures. I don't think they were very hapy with me just going in to take pictures and have a 4gbp coffee!!!!! We had one night in BKK, which was the...

A warm hello from Thailand! We arrived....safely and on time!! The flight was long although visioning what we had ahead, full of anticipation. Our first day in BKK was full of action. We took in as much as we could, and more than our feet were willing to put up with. We visited the world famous "Oriental Hotel", a trip along the Chao Phraya river and canals ("Klong's") was full of Thai third world culture. A streetside meal made Julie cough from the chili peppers, although in the end was quit...

On tuesday I went to see the Grand Palace (the kings crib). He doesnt actually live there anymore because 1. its a tourist spot and he probably couldnt even go outside. 2. when the king declared thailand a democracy, he decided he wouldnt live in the palace anymore. Now the king is a figurehead, like Elizabeth II of England. The palace is very beautiful. All the structures have thousands of inlaid colored glass that would probably take me 50 years to put together. The amazing part - the entir...

Ho lasciato Ko Tao e sono andato a Bangkok con mio zio. Dopo tutti questi mesi di ostelli e misere guesthouses finalmente sono in un bel albergo! L'Oriental Hotel di Bangkok. La citta in se per il momento non sembra niente di speciale. Abbiamo visto il templio che sicuramente merita, ma per il resto al momento davvero niente di speciale, vedremo poi nei prossimi giorni!

If I am but a speck on the face of this planet, I can never be surprised by the great distances I must travel to visit the reaches of the globe. Yet however far away the continents may physically reside, the experiences I have contain the unique ability to pull the world's corners remarkably closer together. And while every place I may visit occupies a special place inside me, there is a small collection of places that occupy an area very close to my heart. Thailand is one of these places. Si...

I'm not so sure about Bangkok - I feel like people are constantly trying to scam us. At the airport, the taxi line stand lists all the rules, like the use of a meter. Once you get to the taxi, they name a price, which is at least 4x the cost it would be by meter & as high as 7x. But no one will take you if you demand the meter, so Tanya has found that 3x the price has been acceptable. This happens anytime you try to take a taxi anywhere - some taxi drivers just keep driving when you ask i...

Greetings and blessings from the Cathedral of the Assumption in Bangkok! One of the priests here, Fr. John, has been kind enough to offer me the internet here in the rectory office. So here I am in the cool respite of the a.c. from the boiling sun..ah..... First mishaps: 1. Last night I locked my padlock on my PacSafe bag (secure little pouch) and somehow I accidentally reset the combination, aack!! So this morning somehow fortunately I had not locked it properly, but now the lock has, well, ...

Being back in Thailand is a bit of a drag, but for some reason the place seems more organised than before. The new Suvarnabhumi Airport is really well organised for Thai standards. The runway at night is full of amazing coloured lights and the terminals look really good from the outside. From the inside, they are very big, but are a little colourless and are made of grey concrete, metal frames and glass. There a lot of spinning metal doors and blue lazer lights on the glass roofs. There are a...

Hello from Bangkok! Our flight over was quite wonderful. Singapore Air was as perfect as always. The measl rivalled Chanterelle in Manhattan. The special pajamas, duvets for the full bed, Bulgari cosmetics, and full individual flat screens made the two day journey quite comfortable. I watched six movies and am quite caught up on my foreign films. We arrived refreshed and headed out on a longtail boat to the pal;ace. It is a must see first stop. We got there in time tofind out that it was clos...

I have to abandon my undying love for central and South America for one moment and express some love for Bangkok, Thailand. It was such an incredible city! We only got to spend two days there unfortunately but it was one of the most breathtaking cities I have been in. We got there a bit late due to the fact that the Royal Caribbean people are complete idiots and made it impossible to get off the ship. It was about a two hour ride from the port to the city which was perfect time to get some wo...