Getting to bed last night before the "party train" arrived barely happened. Actually, sleep barely happened after they arrived either. Teresa and I were picked up at 11:30 by a huge van en route to grab our new arrivals. Brian, Robin, Larry, and Judy arrived around 1 a.m.
We greeted them with beautifully aromatic "pomm-a-lie" to grace around their necks. The trip back to Teresa's was quick, filled with excitement over questions and stories.
Once we arrived and settled everyone into their proper abodes, we celebrated with a cocktail/ glass of wine in the late night delirium. Falling into our separate beds around 3 a.m., only to rise a matter of hours later to start our FIRST DAY IN BANGKOK!
Breakfast was a buffet of tropical fruits, yogurt, scrambled eggs, toast, juice and lots of coffee! We stacked into two taxis and headed to the pier. A ferry ride down the Chao Phraya showed us the households and lifestyles on the river. The ferry was loaded with people. We were fortunate to board the boat at one of its first stops, because by the time we had to jump off we were pushing through standing crowds. We all made it off and followed travel-guide-Teresa as she confidently lead us directly to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew.
The Grand Palace is the former residence of the monarch and the Wat (temple) is the domain of the Emerald Buddha. We collaboratively decided not to get a guide, so we just bubbled around the grounds awestruck at the elaborate detail of each structure. Glittering gold structures towering high, some completely covered with patterned mosaics of tiles and mirrors. Gold sculptures dance around the premises and cement gargoyles guard each of the many temple entrances. It is an amazing sight. We hiked around the block to find ourselves at the "reclining Buddha" temple. He is a giant gold finished sculpture, barely fitting into his temple! We took a quick lap around the grounds as Brian and Larry discussed the new religion they are creating and Robin and Judy conversed about Robin's new idea for a job and how tough finances are for kids-these-days in the United States.
Steve and Teresa stayed out front to talk with Gabriella and I just took pictures and worked on deep breathing.
Lunch was at a street-side cafe with menus that had English translations. Larry and Brian learned their next Thai phrase "Sing Song" which means two bottles of beer. You can only imagine how many jokes are still coming out of that one!
After lunch we jumped into two taxis to caravan to The Jim Thompson House before it closed. Jim Thompson is an American man who revived Thailand's silk exporting. His house is a traditional style Thai house surrounded by lush native plants in the middle of downtown. The taxis quickly lost each other leaving Steve's taxi team to go directly to Jim Thompson's House, while Teresa's taxi team (Robin, baby, and Brit) took a boat loaded with locals down one of the city's narrow water canals- what a trip!
After all meeting back up, the people who have been in Bangkok for longer than 24 hours left those who haven't to take the tour of Jim Thompson's house and to find their way back to Teresa and Steve's house in the 30 minute taxi ride! We called after an hour. They were close, but circling around the neighborhood looking for the complex! You can only imagination what happened in that taxi! Brian in the front seat, what was he telling the taxi driver? We gave him the three words to say, but communication got a little sticky. And since they had never seen T and S's in the daylight, no landmarks were sticking out! But they made it and now have a story to tell!
After a fantastic dinner at ti ban (the house or my house) cooked by the beloved Khun Iad, and of course a few cocktails to slow down the heart rates, everyone fell quickly to sleep once the outside noises of some party down the street ceased. The alarms were all set for 6:30 a.m. for the next day of intense tourism!
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