Thailand 16 Chao Phraya River Tour Pictures

Map of the river tour


The tour boat


Fatso sitting on the boat


View up the river


Reclining Buddha

Wat Pho

Buddhas at Wat Pho

River traffic

Wat Arun tower as seen from boat

Wat Arun tower from the pier

Wat Arun tower close up

Jeff after climbing half way up tower

Statues on tower

Wat Phra Kaeo

Monks at Grand Palace

Jeff in front of National Museum

The Grand Palace

Dave with guard at Grand Palace

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Thailand 15 Chao Phraya River Tour

Jeff, Pueng, and I had a wonderful adventure on our first full day in Bangkok. We took the Skytrain to a station which is the access point for the Chao Phraya river tour boats. We bought one one day river passes which enabled us to exit the tour boats at as many piers as we wished. The boats ran about every 20 minutes so the wait wasn't great to re-enter another one. There are 10 piers which are cleverly numbered in the following order: Central Pier, #1, #3, #5, N14, #8, N14 (again), #10, #12, and #13.

Our first stop was Pier #5: Ratchawong Pier. The street leading away from the pier, Ratchawong Road, runs through China Town. There are scores of Chinese stores, restaurants, and outside vendors on both sides of the street. We strolled and window-shopped for about 3 blocks and then returned to the pier.

Our next stop was Pier #8: Tha Tien Pier. Here we walked a few blocks to Wat Pho which houses the largest reclining Buddha and the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand. The size of the statue is enormous and the the structure around it makes it impossible to get a photo on it's lateral side. The only vantage point is down by the feet. Nonetheless it was truly impressive. We then jumped on a ferry that took us across the river to Wat Arun. The impressive tall tower of this Wat is one of Bangkok's most famous landmarks. Jeff climbed about half way up and stopped when the stairs became blocked off to the public. We took another ferry across the river and picked up another tour boat.

Our last stop was one of the N14 Piers: The Mahraj Pier. Here a short walk brings one to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo complex. The compound is 945 thousand square meters encompassing over 100 buildings. Needless to say it overwhelmed us. However, we managed to see parts of the palace and the National Museum. By the time we had arrived at this venue weariness was already setting in on two of us and as a result we regrettably cut the visit short after about 2 hours. We were hot, thirsty, foot tired and suffering a mild case of Wat-overload. So, we dragged ourselves back to the pier, grabbed the next tour boat going back and returned to the hotel by late afternoon.

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Thailand 14 Bangkok Around the City Pictures

Interesting sign at Chieng Mai Airport


Jeff and Pueng


Majestic Suites


Skytrain station platform

View from Skytrain station

Typical traffic

Pueng


Sign for Men's Room in mall

Are his knees together or is that ....


Shopping alley

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Thailand 13 Bangkok: Around the city

My last 3 days (2 and a half, actually) in Thailand were spent in Bangkok. I stayed at the Majestic Suites located in one of the two entertainment zones. The hotel had been recommended by an acquaintence of my friend Jeff Chapin. The price was reasonable and outside the hotel the street and sidewalks were bustling with outside vendors, hotels, and bars, and restaurants of all types. Jeff lives in Hua Hin, a beach city south of Bangkok. He and his girlfriend Pueng took a bus up to spend the 3 days with me in Bankok and also stayed at the Majestic Suites.

The weather in Bangkok was a punishing 100 degrees Fahrenheit with about 90% humidity. And this was the high season! There are tons of people walking on the streets which makes it very easy to get split up from your party. We spent a lot of time trying to stay together. There is also a very large number of disabled and disfigured men and women begging. And a fairly significant amount of displaced families sleeping in doorways. The vehicular traffic is very heavy with taxis, buses, trucks, cars and thousands of motor bikes. One must be very cautious when crossing streets even on a green light.

There is a very efficient mass transportation system called the skyrail, running through most of the important districts in the city. We call these Elevated Trains (Els) in the states. One line ran right down our street with a station 2 blocks away. This became our only form of transportation. Interestingly enough, we could not hear it in the hotel. That's how quite they are. Most of the stations do not have escalators so we spent a lot of time and effort climbing stairs. Jeff and Pueng were masters at finding our way around.

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Thailand 12 Mae Sa Waterfalls and Doi Sutep Photos

Mae Sa Waterfalls

Entrance to Falls


Map of Falls


In front of one of the 10 cataracts

Foliage in park

Another pretty fall

On the trail, a tree blocks the path

Suspension bridge over river

Doi Sutep Wat

Busses lined up a base

View inside funicular

The Wat

Inside the Wat

Dic

Dave

Dic and Steve

Steve and Dave

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Thailand 11 Mae Sa Water Falls and Doi Sutep Wat

One day Steve and I visited the Mae Sa waterfalls located about 15 minutes from his home. The falls are composed of 10 different sites of the river at increasing altitude. Although not spectacular, each fall was somewhat unique. We parked at the third fall and climbed natural stone stairs to the eighth fall at which time we were sufficiently tired to call it a day. We crossed over the river then and returned from the other side.

The following day, Steve, Dic, and I drove to Doi Sutep Wat. This Wat sits high on a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. The drive to the base was serpentine and after parking and paying an entrance fee we took a funicular farther up to the Wat. Here, Dic and I entered the temple area where she purchased incense, candles and flowers that she made offering to Buddha. The edifice itself is a brilliant gold color as are the adjoining buildings. After that we three strolled around the outside of the Wat. The day was overcast in the city so I was unable to take an adequate photo of the gorgeous panorama from the top.

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Thailand 10 Golden Triangle Tour Photos

Golden Triangle Tour

Brochure of tour


The old geeser in front of the old geyser


The Silver Wat


Crossing the bridge to the Silver Wat

Map of the Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle sign

On the boat heading for Laos

Debarking the boat at Laos

Yes, I'm in Laos

Taking a drink of whiskey

Scorpion taken from a whiskey botthe

Whiskey bottles for sale

I bought this bottle

Myanmar border at Maesai

The northernmost point in Thailand

Candy for sale in Maesai

Colorful display of goodies in Maesai

Native hutch

Native living conditions

Hand made native rugs

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