Relaxed and happy in Bangkok Thailand!
Bangkok Thailand is our 46th city and our 25rd country in the last 8 months. We are not tired and bored but we are becoming a little more relaxed about our plans. The first indication that we are comfortable with traveling was while we were seated on the airplane and taking off, I looked at Bud and asked, “do we need a visa here?” Yep, it is true we boarded an airplane to a new country and we couldn’t remember if we checked to see if we needed a visa or not. In the back of my head, I knew we didn’t need one but I couldn’t remember confirming that we didn’t. We were too embarrassed to ask the flight crew if we did. We decided to give it a 50/50 chance and wait and see when we landed. To our relief, we did not need a visa. Next we arrived at our hostel and learned that I had actually booked our room for the following week. We were a week early. I had to stop and think, were we in the right country and city. Quickly I dismissed that error because we were allowed on the plane. So we were in the right place, just the wrong time. Somehow, we missed the double checking of the reservation. All, was good because they had room for us, however instead of a nice spacious room with a double bed we got a bunkbed in a tiny room. No problem though because we saved a few dollars. So why am I admitting all these humble fumbles and errors? Well, I figure we have graduated from cautious traveler to confident traveler. We are confident that we can handle any situation and we no longer need to micro manage our plans. Sure, we learned our lesson and we are back on track to double checking like we should. Even a confident traveler needs to responsible and organized. It is nice to know that even when we do error, we don’t stress and we don’t freak out. I am happy to know that I am a confident experienced traveler now that is relaxed, happy and ready for anything. Following is what we saw in Bangkok Thailand. Beth H.
We took a boat ride through the older part of a Bangkok that is on river Chao Phraya. The homes are now protected by a wall and a set of lock gates. The homes had become endangered by the rising of the water so the government stepped in and built a wall to protect the homes. In past time, the waterways were used to transport people and goods around the city.
We visited the Grand Palace and wandered around the large grounds of Temples and Stupas.
We took a tour to a traditional water market. They originally used because the population settled on the river edge. So, floating markets of boats were common and became the hub for communities. These types of markets remained popular up to the 1800’s when Bangkok grew and began to develop roads and rail networks. Right now, it is for tourist to enjoy a piece of Thailand’s past.
We also went to the Maeklong Railway Market. The train runs through the market 8 times a day at scheduled times. It is slow because it is near the end of the line. As the train pulls through the market the different vendors pull back their awnings but leave their inventory on the ground while the train passes over it. It also happens to be one of the largest fish markets in the area. We were a little shocked at the lack of refrigeration. Some of the fish are kept alive until you order it. It was a pretty interesting sight.
Following are a bunch of miscellaneous photos that I thought were either interesting or fun or both! Thanks again for following our amazing adventure!
