Wanderlust: Tantalizing Thailand (3)

Super Bowl Monday happened the last day we were in southern Thailand. Due to the time change and International Date Line, the game was actually held at 6 AM on Monday - Live. We were wandering around the village of Railay at sunrise seeking a place that had a satellite dish. The only other people out were still up from partying the night before or other American football fans. Remarkably, during this wandering we ran into a friend, Ryan, from Denver that was in Thailand for the week! The Super Bowl watching was deemed successful by the end of the second quarter when we (a) found a TV with a satellite dish, (b) wiggled the dish until service was found, and (c) found the correct ports to plug the sound wires into. By half time, 40 people were gathered around all rooting for New Orleans. It was great to catch up with an old friend and watch New Orleans slam Indianapolis.

Watching the Super Bowl in the early morning.

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After all of this fun, we had to think about our futures (for a little while at least). The lot of us, a pretty bush-league crew, walked into a tailor shop to be fitted for clothes with panache. Mom and Lynn had lovely dresses made and Dad and Ed had handsome suits made. Braden had numerous work shirts made and I had a fancy suit made. Yes, we are planning on going back to work sometime. Maybe…

Lynn, Ed, Mom and Dad sporting their new threads.

Meaghan being fitted for her suit.

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The final days in Thailand we spent in bustling Bangkok. Coming from small towns in Montana we exhibited many of the symptoms of culture shock: dizziness, a glazed stare, feeling of helplessness, excessive concern over one’s health, etc.

Ed enjoying the calm before the storm at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

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The main mode of transportation around Bangkok was the water taxis on the large Chao Phraya River. These oversized long-tail boats would rip in and out of the piers with boatmen whistling and horns blowing. Just getting on and off was a rush. We would need to do a head count and take a breather after each ride.

Dad, Lynn, and Mom riding in the ferry taxi.

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The boats would take us to our destinations around the city. The first night we spent along the Silam Road, taking in the city, doing a bit of shopping, and eating dinner in the seafood district. The next morning, we took the ferry to visit Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. The temple of Wat Pho contains the largest and most impressive “Reclining Budda”. The Grand Palace had an astonishing number of temples and beautiful buildings expressing Thai architecture. Lovely place!

Several of the sitting buddas at Wat Pho.

The giant reclining budda.

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Since we didn’t think we were getting enough pandemonium in the rest of the city, on our last day in Bangkok we went to Chinatown during the last day of Chinese New Year. Here, people were everywhere, streets were crazy, and alleys truly took your breath away (the parents forbade us from taking us down any more alleys). After a fine lunch of an assortment of Dim Sum and a little watch buying, we walked through the streets of gold, machine shops, and shark-fin soup restaurants. Our last afternoon still provided a ton of entertainment with some death-defying tuk tuk rides to gem distribution stores.