King, King, Dad (King), Uber
Bangkok. Pictures/banners/billboards/statues of the King of Thailand are everywhere.
Like, everywhere. I mean, you really can’t walk more than a few minutes without seeing a likeness of the King. I asked one of my Uber drivers why, and he said it’s because everyone loves the King. Why? Because he does everything for the people. Okay, that’s cool. I don’t know, so I won’t speculate. I do know that I see a lot of really poor people here, doing what they can to survive – sex workers, their kids begging for money on the sidewalk, etc., and I guess the King is one of the richest people in the world. Dunno.
Here are just a few pictures I took, when I happened to have my camera out…
king
king
king
king
king
I guess they do a festival / parade called ‘Bike for Dad’ every year, to celebrate his birthday. His birthday was a month ago, and these banners are still up everywhere.
I used my first international Uber! My driver’s name? Kanut. Aaaahhhhh, I LOVE UBER! I was so excited to try it, and everything is exactly the same as in the states (including the driver may or may not know english). The cost is about the same as a taxi, which are cheap here. I’ve used Uber five times in Bangkok☺️
My FIRST INTERNATIONAL UBER😃
This trip cost 59 baht, which is about $1.68. I also love using it because I can just pay with my credit card, not having to use cash.
Bangkok is a really cool city. The Chao Phraya River runs through it, which means that part of their relatively reliable, cheap public transportation includes boats that shuttle people north-south through the city and beyond.
ferry boat
loading onto the express boat
old & new
chao phraya river
cool building
boat
I’ve done some sightseeing, but not much. I’ve more just hung out, drank coffee, talked with people. Bangkok is cool. I could see myself coming back here.
I toured Wat Arun and Wat Pho, both Buddhist temples. And I saw the Grand Palace, which is where the royal families in the past have lived, and the current King still has some official events. I didn’t go in because 1. I didn’t want to pay and 2. It was sooooooooo crowded! These hoards of people at the popular places to see are really exhausting! I didn’t think this one was worth it:)
wat
wat arun
wat arun
dragon
wat arun
garden:)
grand palace
I went shopping… and went to H&M… and I found a new bra! To replace this one:
secondary bra falling apart
AND I GOT A NEW SHIRT. They were $11 each. It’s a good bra! Wow, life is good😆
new clothes!
One must-do in Bangkok I totally agree with: Mango Tango dessert shop. It didn’t disappoint. Mango sticky rice (which I guess I like??) to die for:
mango tango!
Next up: Overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai 😁
New Years Eve Eve and New Years Eve
I finished up my 2015 year in Vietnam and Thailand, on NYEE and NYE, respectively😄
In Hanoi, I had just gotten back from my cruise in Halong Bay, and I took some time to walk around the city at night and check stuff out.
Happy New Year 2016 in Vietnamese!
lights @ park
st joseph’s cathedral – oldest church in Hanoi
neon
neon
setting up NYE stage:)
cool buildings
turtle tower @ night
cool buildings
This is what the traffic looks like in Hanoi – they make the sidewalk another lane of traffic for motorbikes! As someone told me, “It’s not my fault that they use the sidewalk for everything except walking!” Haaa!
One of ‘the’ things that Hanoi is known for is it’s Water Puppet Theaters. There is the ‘official’ one in particular, called Thang Long Theater, and I tried to get a last minute ticket to the show. It worked, and I got in! $5. It was………. Weird. It’s from a tradition that dates back to the 11th Century, when workers would be in the rice fields and get bored, so do impromptu puppet shows. It was in Vietnamese, which was fine and not what made it weird… It was just Weird. I couldn’t get many pictures because we weren’t supposed to be taking any, so I was sneaking. This is the best I got:
water puppets
water puppets
voice actors😂
On New Years Eve, I took a flight to Bangkok. A friend of mine from college (hi Katie😘) just moved to Korea, and she happened to be in town, traveling in Thailand and Cambodia. Two of her friends who live in the states met up with her, so I went to dinner and to see the fireworks with them.
Happy New Year!
dinner
figuring out which train stop to use😂
It was really fun! We DID see the fireworks. It was just from a vantage point that had a few obstructions😳 But it didn’t matter because I had a really great time catching up with Katie and meeting her awesome friends, Lizzy & Anna!
fireworks!
fireworks
traffic!
our upset cab driver
traffic we were stuck in!
I’m now in Bangkok, exploring. I really love it. It’s a huge city, so much to do and see, and it’s so pretty!
Next up: More Bangkok
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