Staying in Bangkok - Saturday afternoon at Wat Arum

Yesterday got a little nuts. The group decided that the flooding in Siem Reap was bad enough that we did not want to make the trip. The road from the airport was washed out. Even if we could get to the hotel, many of the sites would be flooded. No one wanted to take a chance on getting sick, either.

So we decided to hang out in Bankok for the week. After a hurried flurry of airline and hotel cancelations and new bookings to stay in the hotels we're in, we agreed to meet at one of the other hotels at 2 PM and figure out what to do from here.

We went back to Chit Lom Central for lunch - taking the sky train this time. Much faster than the cab. We learned how to buy tickets. It's somewhat like the Atlanta and DC subways, except you can only pay the exact fare. I'll take some pics today. You get a card that you insert in the turnstile at your starting point and again at the end point.

We thought that the Amari Boulevard hotel was near Chit Lom Central, but the map must be wrong. It is actually between us and Chit Lom Central. The doorman at the department store assured us we did not want to walk and got us a cab. Good idea.

The group decided to head out en masse (8 of us) for Arum Wat. We took the sky train to the boat pier and then one of the commuter boats up to the Wat. The river is above normal as this is the rainy season. Many of the piers had rigged extra planks from shore. All the water you see in this picture is usually a waiting area for the boats.

The boat guys are amazing. All the piers have huge tires as fenders. The boat comes alongside, the guy in the stern leaps off and puts a loop around the bollard and tweets (whistle) when he is off and when the line is secure. Then the driver backs the boat until it is alongside the pier. People hop off and others hop on. The whole process takes about 30 sec unless there is a big crowd. Sometimes it takes about 10 sec. See Monday's post for a picture.

This is what is called a "long tail" boat. See Monday's post for another picture.

The picture above is the view from the top of the stupa at Wat Arun.

Here's a view of the stupa from the river.

This stupa is unusual in that it has pieces of pottery embedded in it. All those flowers are made up of pieces of pottery. Sometimes whole dishes, sometimes fragments. We're headed out to the countryside today (Sunday) with a private van to see some markets and another wat. More later if I get a chance.

As we were leaving there was some nasty looking weather to the south - just where we were heading. Fortunately, it passed over us. 

We have dinner at a small restaurant called Tongue Thai. groan. Almost as bad as Thai Tannic in DC. 

Usability fun

Microwave - note the setting advice for dumplings, noodles and herbal steamed fish. 

Right side of the washer panel

 Left side of the washer panel

 Right side of the dryer panel

 Left side of the dryer panel - I found this totally confusing last night. Cupboard? Strong? Did I mention that the name of this dryer model is "Intuition"?

 Ever wish that you could really close the curtains without a clothespin? Note the overlapping tracks. East solution.

The train station is a good place to find usability fun. Let's look at the ticketing process and a display inside the train. 

First you find the fare, based on the stop you want. No changing your mind once you are on the train! And no putting BT 100 on the card so you can reuse it. You have to stop and buy every time. Unless there is a pass system that we don't see. The green line is the E/W line and the blue is the N/S line. 

Then you select the fare using the push buttons, put in your coins and get your ticket. The interface here is pretty straightforward. At this station, you can only use coins so you get change at the kiosk, which employs 2 people. Other stations take bills and the panel is more confusing.  Choosing the station is a touch screen and you get to say you want more than one ticket at once. I don't have a shot of that one yet - it slows everyone down. :-)  BTW, the largest coin is BT10.

Some of the trains have a typical route display - you need to count stations. Others have this nifty display. The red lights (far left) show where you have been. The green lights show what is coming up. The intersection is this station; and it updates at each station. When your station is flashing, get off the train!

The station platforms are marked where the doors are and where you should stand to avoid getting in the way of those getting off. The train doors always line up with these displays. 

Saturday 24 Sept: More adventure

We missed an email from our Cambodian guide yesterday. Apparently there is significant flooding in Siem Reap due to a tropical storm and as of yesterday he could not access our hotel. Last night he sent another note saying the water was receding, but we should wear short pants, or be prepared to roll them up. Checking the news this morning, 200 tourists had to be evacuated by air and boat yesterday. We're trying to check on the flight status, but all the "estimated" fields are "n/a". Whee.

I also realized that I have not taken any pictures of Kath's favorite things - like the shelves in supermarkets. I'll start a separate entry for usability stuff for those of us who care about it. There is a 7-11 down the street where we bought water yesterday. But the detergents were a mystery. We can get detergent for the washer here at the hotel for BT60, but where's the fun in that? It's only BT10 at the 7-11 - if we can figure out which kind has the bleach in it and avoid it. LOL.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that the Thai's drive on the left. Reminds you that Thailand - formerly Siam - was part of the British sphere of influence.

You also note the ubiquitousness of the US culture when you see all the Starbucks, Subways and Au Bon Pains. Thai street food is the original fast food - cooked to order. Who needs Subway?

Lunch and afternoon stroll in Bangkok

We decided to take the hotel Tuk Tuk (shuttle) over to a shopping center. I can see where riding in one of these that is going fast would be a bit scary. Metered taxis in BKK come in a variety of wild colors. Yellow and green Corollas; hot pink, bright blue, red. After we decided that the shopping center was a high-end mall, we took a cab to another one that Jim said had a food court that was pretty good. We were able to get a ride in one of the hot pink taxis. Even the seat covers were hot pink.

Hot pink taxis

Traffic is pretty bad. It took about 20 minutes to go between the shopping centers, but the fare was only 63 Bhat - about $2. We took escalators up 7 floors to the "food loft". About a half a dozen vendors selling Thai, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese food, smoothies, and dessert. Interesting payment system. They give you a 2x 8 card with a bar code. You choose what you want from a vendor. They scan the bar code and print a receipt. You find a table and a waiter takes the receipt and brings your lunch - cooked to order. When you are done, you take the card with the bar code to the register. They scan it and you pay the bill. Here's a pic of the mango and carmel crepe Michael found for dessert and one of the food court.

After a nap we set out with Dick to find a sim card for his phone. We walked back to the first mall and found the cell phone store. Sim card was BT150 or about $5. Since everyone was falling asleep, we decided to have dinner at the hotel and call it a night. Out of here at 10 AM tomorrow for the flight to Cambodia.

Here's a pic of the traffic on the street where our hotel is.

SE Asia Itinerary - 2011

The other one is for last year's trip.

Today - Bangkok
Sept 24-29 Bangkok
Sept 30 - Fly to Bhutan
Oct 1 - Thimpu
Oct 2-4 - Punaka - camping
Oct 5-8 Bumthang Valley
Oct 9 - Wang
Oct 10-11 - Paro
Oct 12 - Fly to Bangkok
Oct 13 - Fly home

Outbound to Bangkok

All those miles I racked up back in the 90s flying American out of San Jose paid off this week. We were able to fly business class on Cathay Pacific to Bangkok. When you have a 15-hour flight, it makes a huge difference. I love that the seat can be fully flattened into a bed. And a duvet, no less.

Between the Chicago - Hong Kong leg and the Hong Kong- Bangkok leg, we got dinner 3 times in 24 hours.  Once shortly after boarding in Chicago (check out the menu), again an hour before landing in Hong Kong (it was dinner time there) and a late supper at 10 PM. CP managed to serve a 3-course supper on a 2 hour and 20 min flight. Salad and bread, choice of entrees, including a nice lamb curry, and ice cream for dessert. Clearly, we're not in Kansas anymore. I'll get a pic of the control panel on the 777 on the way home.

The other advantage of biz class is Fast Track through passport control. We got to the hotel at 2 AM Bangkok time, which is 2 PM EDT. We managed to get a few hours sleep, but making the 12-hour change make take a couple of days. We're staying at a Marriott Executive Apartments that Michael's brother recommended. Large, 2-room suite with kitchen, washer and dryer. Nice.

Dick and John should show up later today and we leave for Cambodia after lunch tomorrow. If we get out and get some pictures today, I'll post them later.