I had planned all kinds of things for my second morning in Bangkok. Eating a delicious 8:30 breakfast at the hotel (a big part of the reason I was staying at the hotel was their reputation for amazing food), updating my blog from my in room computer with internet, repacking my bag, beating the crowds to visit the temples...all things I hoped to get done by noon.
Here's what I actually did by noon: I woke up. As a devout morning person, who is usually incapable of sleeping in past 7:30, it was very very weird to see 11:30 on the clock when I opened my eyes. The thought of missing the incredible breakfast I had been looking forward to since I checked in was devastating. Until I finally walked out at 12:30 and was greeted with a "Good Morning Ms George, are you ready for breakfast?" Ohmygod, so exciting. The pictures below show why:
I mean the fruit alone was to die for: pomelo (less bitter version of grapefruit), asian pear, dragon fruit (like white kiwi with more seeds, everywhere), papaya (i dont know about this one - still tastes like dirty socks to me), cantaloupe (also not my fave, but beautiful!), Rambutan (aka lychee lookalikes), watermelon, MANGOSTEEN (definitely my new favorite fruit)...add to that the amazing coconut pancakes, congee with yummy pork dumplings, yogurt with coconut...yum yum yum.Ooops #2
Finally done eating, I headed to the Grand Palace to get in my culture for the day. Unfortunately, in addition to my internal alarm clock, my normally fairly decent sense of direction was off today too and I walked for 40 minutes in the opposite direction from the Palace. I mean, the complete opposite direction. In my defense, Bangkok is impossible to navigate, even for the taxi drivers (see yesterday's blog), but still, this was a big, embarrassing, thank-god-Im-traveling-by-myself-right-now, "oops". In fact, for a bit of irony, it was a taxi driver that actually rescued me and whisked me to the palace. At least I got my exercise in?
Along the way:
If you look really closely, there's a bead of sweat dripping from the King's nose...
No wonder Bangkok is dirty...The Grand Palace was beautiful and surprisingly well-maintained (does gold leaf grow on trees here too?). A good way to spend an hour out of the busy city. Especially when youve been walking aimlessly in that city for almost an hour...
Ooops #3Still in good spirits, and my normal, overly optimistic self, I decided I still had time to get some internet in before heading back to my hotel to collect my bags and make my 6pm train to Chiang Mai. I was soon pulled into the wonderful world of gmail, gchat and excel (yes, Team Africa I'm working on the grand total for everyone, I promise). And then, all of a sudden it was 4:55 and I was very very very late for the train station.
I ran the 6 blocks to my hotel and walked in to the greeting of "Hello Ms George, we've been looking for you - we're worried about your train catching." Yeah, join the club! It was then suggested that because of the evening rush hour traffic, it would be best if I took a tuktuk rather than a taxi. I guess we all decided to ignore the letter the hotel had given me the day before warning me not to use a tuk tuk under any circumstances (they are known to swindle tourists and lure them into stores rather than taking them to where they want to go). Im guessing those rules dont apply when theres a Thai doing the flagging. I watched as my awesome hotel friend flagged one down, negotiated a very good price and sent me off to the train station with only minutes to spare.
Hooray for the tuk tuk! Normal traffic rules dont apply to them (or so I chooose to believe after my trip) and we were at the station in 10 minutes when it would have taken a taxi at least 30. After all that, I even had time to get myself a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee for the ride (Nicky - I was thinking of you, of course!).
Tuk Tuk to the Rescue!
Tuk Tuk Self Portrait
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