| | Mar 10, 2006 - Bangkok Again - Passport Pickup and Visas | (click to enlarge)
 |  | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Gardens at Luphini Park, Bangkok
| | Inside Luphini Park
| | An overview of the Kings reign at Luphini Park
| | Bangkok City
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Grand Palace
| | Grand Palace roof lines
| | Statue at the Grand Palace
| | Grand Palace
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Eric at the Palace
| | Grand Palace
| | Grand Palace
| | Detailed ornamentation at the palace
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | Grand Palace
| | Taxi driver snapping a photo while we are caught in traffic
| | Streetside tailor
|
|
| Bangkok, Thailand - Passports Pick-up and Visas
Leaving the serenity of the beach behind, we returned to the bustle, noise and pollution of Bangkok. A familiar city with our hotel even in the same neighbourhood as our last visit, it was like coming home. After all, when you are on the road for as long as we are, a stay in one place for more than five nights or a visit to a destination more than once, qualifies it as 'home'. Before any additional sightseeing around Bangkok, our first priority was to pick up our new passports from the Canadian Embassy and then visit the Vietnamese Embassy to secure a Visa. Both administrative ventures went quick and easy although we had to pay more for a rush Vietnamese Visa or spend an extra week in Bangkok waiting for processing. Why it actually takes five business days to put a full-page sticker in our passports is beyond me. However, for the extra $30 per person, they seemed to be able to stick that sticker in within 24 hours which is just what we needed.
Happy to be in possession of a new 48-page passport with only one page used for our Vietnamese Visa, we ventured off to further explore Bangkok - the restaurants, shops, malls, bars and nightlife. A highlight of this stay in Bangkok was a visit to the Grand Palace with its unique Thai architecture and ornately decorated buildings glistening in the tropical sun. As per usual, when we are impressed with something we go a little bit camera crazy taking hundreds of pictures between us. Unfortunately, we later found that Eric's camera was acting up and we lost all of his photos from the day. Since then, we have determined it must have been that memory card and all has been fine since. It was a big disappointment though as our pictures mean so much to us. However, on the grand scheme of things, after 6-months on the road and that is all we have lost, I guess we are doing pretty well.
We made another trip to our local travel agent who had arranged our flights to Phuket and booked to take the overnight train north to Chiang Mai where we planned to do a trek through the forests and stay with the local hilltribe minority people. Additionally, we planned to take a Thai cooking class and hopefully will be able to remember enough to actually cook a Thai dish when we get back to a kitchen 6 months down the road!
So, off we went to the train station where Eric unintentionally entertained a few dozen spectators as he toppled over onto his back with his backpack on. He had been sitting on the floor with his bag strapped to his back waiting for me to return from the store. Upon my arrival, he attempted to stand up and lost his balance under the weight of the extra 18 kgs on his back. Back down he went. He landed on his back and backpack first, before being tossed over onto his side, while myself and many others around burst into tears of laughter at the sight. I helped the struggling turtle to his feet and we were soon off on our journey northbound to the hills and jungles of Thailand.
www.carlhenderson.ca
www.imagestoframe.com
|
| |
| |
