Thailand

USA to Bangkok
January 12-15, 2013

Lauren and I are departing tonight on a 26-day trip through parts of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.  I was fascinated with Thailand in the 1970's when I was there with my own mother, and it seemed fitting to begin our next-generation mother-daughter trip here in what was once the ancient kingdom of Siam.  

I've planned this as a private trip for us, working out the details of our itinerary based on my own research with assistance from a Cambodian-based travel company called Journeys Within.  We will have a different private guide and driver in each country we visit, and never have to contend with big groups of tourists or buses.  Just the way we like it!

Our Cathay Pacific flight departs from San Francisco and will arrive 14 hours later in Hong Kong.  After a 3-hour layover, we board our flight for Thailand and arrive in Bangkok at noon.  

When we clear customs at Suvarnabhumi Airport, we look for our guide among the throngs of Thai cab drivers and tour operators holding up signs with their clients' names, but we don't see her at first. 

That's because she's only 5 feet tall and is holding our sign  at waist level.  We make our introductions, and our guide says to call her "Sunny."  Her real name is "Son," which means "pine tree" in Thai, but she says that depending on how foreigners pronounce it, the word can mean either "heel" or "naughty," so "Sunny" is just better.  

She has a nose piercing, cornrows in her hair, braces, and a crooked smile.  She wears many metallic necklaces and a phone earpiece in one ear.  Strung over her shoulders are an iPad in a red case, a big vinyl satchel with tassels and sparkly things, a Disney Little Mermaid bag,  and a loaded Union Jack backpack.   On her feet she wears "Angry Bird" shoes.

Bangkok International Airport

Sunny's Angry Bird shoes

Sunny and Lauren buying street food

After spending the night at the JW Marriott in downtown Bangkok, we depart early the next morning for the pier on the Chao Phraya River, the "River of Kings,"  carrying our picnic of street food dangling in plastic bags (grilled pork, sweet potato & banana in coconut milk).  While we wait for our boat to arrive, we overhear another tour guide (with a  less-than-perfect command of English) tell his group that when they board the boat they could make themselves comfortable by "spreading their legs."

When the Grand Pearl River Boat arrives, there's a saxophonist on the bow playing an amplified version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."  Huh?  We find seats on the open top deck which gives us a great view of the river and the riot of colorful long-tail boats and other watercraft that zoom back and forth with no apparent right of way.

We drift past Wat Arun, The Grand Palace, and many other traditional Thai buildings in brilliant white, red and gleaming gold, all with magnificent Siamese architecture that hearkens back to the era of the ancient kings.  Temples with steep layered rooftops and pointy upturned ends rub shoulders with modern city office buildings.  

We pass under a few very low bridges, which require all of us on the upper deck to stay seated or risk being beheaded.  There was no announcement, so I'm glad we weren't standing!  After a couple of hours we disembark at the Wat Chonglom Pier, and walk past a drainage ditch where several children are splashing and swimming.  They wave and grin at us.  We are met by our driver, who will take us north to the King's Summer Palace and then on to the ancient city of Ayutthaya.

Bangkok to Ayutthaya
January 16, 2013 

The king's Summer Palace complex at Bang Pa In was first built in 1632, but went into decline during the 18th and early 19th centuries.  Most of the present buildings and manicured gardens were constructed in the late 1800's by King Chulalongkorn.  The most striking feature is the small pavilion standing in the middle of a serene lake, which is used during special ceremonies.  The royal residence is called Warophat Phiman, or "Excellent and Shining Heavenly Abode."    

Strict dress codes apply to visitors entering the residence.  No bare shoulders, shorts or pants, and colorful wrap skirts are passed out to women who aren't prepared.  The conservative head coverings of these Muslim tourists didn't make up for the pants they were wearing, so all were asked to don Thai skirts.  An interesting fashion statement!

Sunny must put on a Thai skirt as well to hide her skin-tight leggings; Lauren and I are wearing skirts today so we're already "appropriate."  

In the reception hall on our way out, Sunny pauses to chat with one of the uniformed Thai guards, who soon produces a few bottles of rice wine that she's kept hidden under a table; she's selling it on the sly.  This isn't entirely legal, but Sunny buys one anyway. 

To be continued . . . much more to come!..