Day 85 – April 10 – Bangkok, Thailand

We met Jim and Pepper for breakfast, checked out and then met our guide to ask if they could join us.  The guide called her boss and for a very reasonable amount, we were four or the day! 

We drove through parts of Bangkok around the Grand Palace before walking down a short food market street to the jetty for a boat ride.  There were lots of things being cooked since it was a Sunday and most Thai’s prefer to buy their food already prepared instead of cooking at home.

We boarded the long-tail boat, so called because it is driven by huge motor mounted on the back of the boat but the propeller is on a very long pool that is never very deep in the water.  They were very careful getting us all in the boat and the seats were more comfortable than the one’s the day before.

Our first stop was the Royal Barge Museum where we were able to get up close with several of the royal barges.  They were designed originally to be used as the King’s war vessel but with the advent of the Western Sailing ships, they became ceremonial in purpose.  They are made of teak wood and are quite something to see.  Each has a head that represents something out of Thai mythology.  They are bright and colorful and many have gold leaf.  We saw two men applying gold leaf to one of the barges that was under restoration.

After visiting the barges, we re-boarded our boat and took a very nice hour ride around the rivers and canals of Bangkok.  We saw temples, hotels, many local homes, some of which were very luxurious while just next door they were very poor, some of the city areas, some of the more rural areas of the city.  These rivers are very actively used by the citizens of Bangkok.  We saw children swimming, ladies washing dishes in the river, men washing clothes and many people fishing.  We all agreed, including our guide, that we didn’t understand how they could use the water for washing.

After our guide picked us up, we visited a handicraft shop.  It turned out to be the very same one where Fred bought Jan some very nice Safire’s after he discovered he had forgot her birthday..this was back in 2006 when they were on the Grand Asia Pacific Cruise.  Pepper was trying to find a Thai shirt and top but didn’t have any luck.  Jan and Fred each bought a shirt and then it was time for lunch.

We walked a short way down the street to another Thai restaurant for lunch.  While good, it wasn’t quite as good as the day before.  We had a pork meatball and sea weed soup, an egg omelet with sweet chili sauce, pork fried with garlic, beef with vegetables and green curry, which is a chicken curry.  The green curry was hot and Jan was the only one who really liked it.  Beer is a must when eating Thai food to tone down the spice!

After lunch we visited the Jim Thompson House museum.  Jim Thompson was an American who revitalized the Thai silk industry by taking some of the traditional fabrics to New York where he showed them to the Editor of Vogue Magazine.  She and her staff fell in love with them and made sure all of the designers saw them.  Now Thai silk recognized around the world as some of the best.  The house was interesting in that Thompson had purchased several house from different areas of Thailand and combined them into one single dwelling.  He was an architect so he used the traditional materials a little bit differently but created a beautiful home that is full of Chinese antiques.

The shop at the Thompson museum was very disappointing as it did not have a lot of silk but rather a lot of “logo” clothes from the Jim Thompson brand.

The drive back to the ship took about two hours and we arrived safely around 4:00pm.  During the conversations with the guide, she had said more than once that she liked wine but that it was very expensive in Thailand.  So Jan asked her to wait because she had something on the ship she wanted her to have.  Since we have an excess of wine purchased in Australia plus other wine given to us by friends, Jan got two bottles of champagne and took it down to Emy.  She was thrilled and said that she would share it with her friends at Thai New Year’s which is this coming week.

After the long drive and the big lunch, dinner was snacks in the room and an early bed time.