Typhoon Danielle hits Bangkok
Trip Start
May 31, 2011
1
16
27
Trip End
Sep 06, 2011
Where I stayed
Bangkok, Thailand
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
After a 24 hour journey to get to Bangkok, I figured she would be ready to crash out on arrival. How wrong I was! Evidently the best cure for jet lag is to go bar hop and do Jager shots, ending up at Insomnia disco. I am not sure if that is what they recommend in travel guides but we sure had an interesting night. What I can remember includes us racing down Sukhumvit road in a Tuk-Tuk screaming, but it is a little fuzzy.
One of the things I had read that was really impressive was the Ocean World, the largest aquarium in SouthEast Asia so we decided to check it out. I knew that the entry was a stiff 1000 baht (like $33), but had read it was worth it. Now when we got there, they gave us two options. The 1000 baht standard ticket, or the 2000 baht VIP package that included behind the scenes access, a fish spa, and DIVING WITH SHARKS! You know how I like VIP, so we took about 30 seconds to decide to go for it! They provide super stylish swimsuits and wetsuits ;)
I have been scuba diving many times and have seen sharks before but never like this! They were all around us and only feet away! We also saw schools of fish and several types of rays. This was in an aquarium and not out in the open sea so it was a bit less "wild" but the proximity made it a real rush. We used these big diving helmets a la Jaques Cousteau that made it sound like you were Darth Vader. They were really heavy out of the water but once you got in the water, you hardly noticed them. I really thought Danielle was gonna chicken out at the last minute, but she pulled through like the trooper I know she is and LOVED it!
After the shark dive, the rest of the aquarium was a bit blah, because who wants to look at stuff from behind glass when you were just in the tank with them! It is definitely worth the extra 1000 baht if you ever make it there for an experience you will never forget.
We also went to the biggest flea market I have been to in my life. It is called the Chatuchak Weekend Market and it is MASSIVE with over 6,000 stalls. They tell you if you see something you like to buy it immediately because you will never be able to go back and find that stall again and it is true! To put a market of that size in perspective, if you browsed every stall for one minute each, non stop for eight hours on saturday and sunday, it would take you two months to visit them all! They have exotic animals, puppies, art, food, and tons of other stuff! And most everything is dirt cheap, just like Thailand in general. It was here that we got our first foot massage that ended up being almost a daily ritual since it only costs $3-5 for a 1 hour massage.
We also tried to go to the palace but ended up getting there too late to enter (and weren't properly dressed since shorts aren't allowed) The river boat up to the old city area was awesome and I felt like we were in a James Bond film with the long boats with the long propeller sticking out the back. So we found a tuk-tuk driver who took us around to three of the sites, the Golden Mount, and one of the largest indoor standing Buddha and the largest outdoor standing Buddha. This is their version of the cathedral and they were so cool and intricate! They also had this big gongs that you were supposed to ring three times for good luck. I REALLY enjoyed that part! After that we were kind of beat but found a really cool restaurant right on the water that had some yummy seafood dishes. My love affair with Thai food continues!
After four days, we had done a lot of drinking and a little touring but it was time to head on to Pattaya and leave the big city life of Bangkok behind and hit the no so sleepy beach town!
