Bangkok, Thailand

Sunday, October 23 – Bangkok, Thailand
WOW! Talk about saving the best for last, Bangkok was a visual and cultural orgy. We docked at Laem Chabang, the largest commercial cruise port in Thailand. The closest destination for tourism was Pattaya, a beach resort town on the Gulf Coast of Eastern Thailand. It was about a 45 minute ride and a free shuttle was offered. Gary had been to Pattaya many times while serving in the Air Force, so we chose to take a 2hr bus ride into Bangkok. There was concern for the flooding. While walking to a shopping area to exchang some US money for Baht (THB) we passed by sandbags in front of every opening. We took a taxi to Wat Pho. For 150 THB (about $1.50 US) we were able to see acres of amazing temples and Buddha shrines. The mosaics, bright colors and ornamental details cannot be captured in photos. It’s one of those things you must experience to appreciate. I could have spent several hours in just that one temple, but we knew our time was limited and there was so much more we had hoped to see so we hopped onto a Tuk Tuk for a brief ride to the Grand Palace. There is a strict dress code enforced and Gary was wearing shorts, so I spent an hour there while he did some exploring and shopping on his own. The admission was 400 THB for both the Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Again well worth the investment. There were some areas I was not allowed because I did not have a skirt on, and other areas that were closed because of the worship services in progress, but it was still an amazing sight filled with glistening jeweled mosaic buildings and statues. We saw some of the flooding when we walked to the Mae Nam Chao Rhraya River. The ferry pier was flooded with water as high as the turn stiles. Many shops were also filled with up to a foot of water. There were not many boats on the water because of the flooding, so we decided it was not safe to take a riverboat cruise. We started working our way back to the part of town where we catch our bus back, but stopped at Wat Traimit (the Golden Buddha). The story is that it was covered with clay to hide it’s value during the war. When a crane operator was trying to move it, he miscalculated, dropped and cracked it. The Buddha lay in the mud as trash until a priest discovered the center of gold. It is estimated that it consists of 3 – 5 tons of gold. It now is housed on the 4th floor of a beautiful temple.
The fun continued when we returned to Laem Chabang. We enjoyed a formal dinner, a great show of traditional Thai music and dance and then we went back out to the port terminal where Gary attempted to do some emailing and I enjoyed a one hour massage for $19. The ship departed at midnight. We have two sea days then we arrive at Singapore where we will sightsee just for the day and then catch a flight to Barcelona to begin our final cruise home on the Carnival Magic. The time has gone by so quickly and every stop has been an adventure I will cherish forever.