Daily Activities in Bangkok

Bangkok is high on the list of the city most people visit. I can understand why people come here. Once we were back from Cambodia, we had two days to catch up on daily tasks and activities planned by the university. One activity was to visit the fortune teller again so Sharan could compare notes on a previous, not so great, fortune. I had the same fortune teller tell my fortune my first day in Bangkok. You can see his photo on this blog. It took us about an hour to get from the university to the Reclining Buddha shrine where the fortune teller had his office at a table in a tent next to the many statutes on the grounds. He is 87 and "Mama" is 92. The first time we were there it was crowded, but not like this time. We could hardly get through the crowd with many celebrating Chinese New Year in additional tents and displays. For the New Year one could select a red tag and put it on a tree to honor the dead. At another stop you could bang the huge gong and have your photo taken. There were two or three more tents with various celebratory treats. We had watched the celebratory activities in our hotel in Cambodia and everything was bright with red and gold; twinkle lights in bushes and occasional fireworks. Once we passed through the crowd to the tent where the fortune teller was, we noticed a line waiting for their fortune. Since mine took about 30 minutes, we knew we had a wait. When Sharan was up she looked through the book that she signed in and we found people from Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Australia, the USA and various other Asian countries and Turkey. The booklet was full of tourist names and comments.  While I won't tell what Sharan's fortune is, lets just say that she and I can probably keep traveling for a while and in about 20 years we can start thinking about becoming elderly women! Ha! Sharan and I have managed to talk to people with "the gift" around the world and it is always interesting to see what they say about the future. We found that it is fun to imagine  the future and many of the things, even specific details, have come true. So why not get a peek into the future?

We needed to pick up a few things so braved the biggest mall I have ever seen with  1000+ shops and 6 floors. It is on land owned by the university and right outside the Allied Health complex and only 3 blocks from our apartment. Getting to the mall should be easy but braving the speeding traffic and crossing when it is safe is another thing. I already made a mistake about crossing traffic in Cambodia and ran faster than a screeching tourist bus that came at me from the left when I only looked right. My heart still pounds thinking about it. Sharan was in the center of the crosswalk when I ran to get to the curb but forgot to look both ways. Some man grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to safety and my guardian angel on my shoulder lost some of it's feathers that day. But we got to the major crosswalk this time in front of the mall and a kindly policeman stopped traffic for us so we could cross. The mall had groupings of businesses with one whole floor just for electronics and of course that floor was the most crowded. Another floor has mostly jewelry and the top floor has an indoor market of bargains. We need to return next week to that floor to finish our tourist shopping. I would guess anything one would need could be found in this mall and lots of great places to eat too!

Last night we joined the huge number of tourists again with a lot of Chinese tourists celebrating their new year but groups of people from Middle Eastern countries, many from Spanish-speaking countries, Thai families bringing relatives, Germans, Russians - big groups of men dressed in suits and the 5 of us. Boarding took a long time so fortunately, our hosts took us around another huge shopping area of high end shops. We stopped at the first shop of silk jackets and I spotted an absolutely stunning blue, purple and rose colored jacket in the window. So I tried it on, just to try on a beautiful jacket - almost like Joseph's coat of many colors. I have to say it was the most beautiful jacket I have ever seen and of course, all the women in the store and Sharan and our hosts all agreed I looked stunning in this jacket. Wow! I asked the price and it was very reasonable for a hand-sewn totally silk from Thailand jacket. But I didn't buy it! We went to a dozen or so other shops and admired other jackets and jackets that were similar but more expensive. If you want clothing made for you, this was the place with beautiful silk on bolts of fabric. They can make a suit or dress in 24 hours and deliver to your hotel and it is still cheaper than suits bought in stores here. I kept looking at the fabrics wishing I could take so much of it home. After an hour or so, I made a decision. I bought the stunningly beautiful jacket! I will post a photo that still doesn't show the shine and the features of the jacket but those of you who know me, you will see me out and about with my stunningly beautiful silk jacket from Bangkok!

The river cruise was so lovely! We guessed there were maybe 5000 people getting on various cruises and our hosts said they had a lot of trouble getting tickets because most boats were totally booked. What an interesting technique for boarding and unloading these ships. They were similar to a long boat with 2 stories. The top story had tables with very formal white table cloths, napkins, wine glasses, and a huge buffet. But there were 4 boats just alike lined up parallel to each other and parallel to the docks. They were tied to each other and gangplanks were in the middle first floor of the boats. So those with white orchids went first and walked through the hull of three boats to get to their boat, the 4th one from the dock. The 3rd boat boarded next and we were on the last boat, right next to the dock. Very efficient way to board 4 boats; on return, we were the last boat from the dock to disembark.

The food was very, very, good with varieties of dishes from other countries. I liked the spaghetti and it tasted familiar (maybe Ragoo). While eating and cruising down the river, we had music with a variety of dancers and singers. Before we returned the dancers had a huge crowd trying to dance with them. We chose to stay at our table and enjoy the beautiful lights of a night in Bangkok. This city is so large it is hard to get a sense of where sections are located and the cruise gives you another perspective of high rise buildings that are hotels and business headquarters. The skyline is not unlike Shanghai with many boats taking people on cruises. We even went past the hospital where the King is being treated. We saw many temples lit up at night and the bridge lighting showed how spectacular it is.

The one thing I could say and Sharan agrees with, these are some of the nicest people we have met and they have been generous beyond generous to both of us. Wait until you see my stunningly beautiful necklace handmade with blue beads and shell made just for me and my new purple cashmere scarf given to me by the owner of the silk shop!

We are now preparing for departure to Hau Hin in lower western Thailand. While Sharon has two full days of class, I may just have to check out the pool, the beach and the other amenities of the resort!