A Good Sine in Bangkok!

Well, we made it to Bangkok without any further difficulty from our extended layover in Hong Kong.

The bags arrived with us, and we were able to get help finding a regular taxi to get us the the hotel. It was rush hour, and the ride took at least 45 minutes from the airport. But even with an extra charge for the toll road, the fare was only around $12!

The Imperial Queen's Park Hotel is a nice place. Right downtown Bangkok, about a 10 minute walk from the train. Our local friend, whom we hosted as a GSE team member several years ago, is Sine. She choose our hotel, and made our reservations for us. When we arrived, she had called ahead and left a note there welcoming us. Only 10 minutes after we got there, she called again to make sure we were settled in OK. It is a great feeling to be so far from home, and feel like you have family here looking out for you.

Kim and I got to the room and hit the shower. after close to 24 hours of travel since we left Reno, we were definitely ready! We had a great Thai dinner in the Hotel Restaurant called the "Park View". And it does! It is immediately adjacent to the park the Hotel is named for. A very nice city park, complete with beautiful gardens, statues, and fountains. Kim has the camera, so once again you will have to wait on pictures.

The next morning, our friend Sine, came to the hotel, and personally escorted us to the train station. There we all three traveled a short stretch to "Victory Square" where she put us on a 12 passenger shuttle bus bound for Hua Hin. It was so helpful to have a native speaking guide to help as no one spoke English!!

The ride was uneventful, with one bathroom break on the way (about 2 hours). We arrived in Hua Hin, and Sine had arranged for the shuttle to take us directly to the hotel. The Sofitel-Centara. Wow! What a place. It is a large two story rambling colonial style hotel, with open air lobby and dining areas. Huge manicured grounds with imaginative topiary shrubs. Rabbits, deer, geese, monkeys, and of course elephants. There are several pools, and it is literally on the beach overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. Ten minutes after we arrived, as we were checking in, Sine called from Bangkok to make sure everything was OK! She had gone to work after putting us on the shuttle, and written out a short note to us and faxed it to the Centara so that it was waiting at our arrival. I was about half way through reading it when she called! What an incredibly sweet and considerate person!

We got settled into the room, took a walk on the beach, and for dinner went searching for a good place. We found it! Chou Lay's Thai sea food . The restaurant is built on its own pier. So we got a table over the water, and ordered. Kim had a shrimp something or other that came in a hollowed out coconut: delicious. I had green curry with mixed seafood (seemed like it was mostly calamari, with shrimp) and some spicy seafood coconut milk soup. Great food, but way too much! We were both stuffed when we got up to leave. We walked back to the hotel, and collapsed around 9:00 pm. We slept HARD!

Today was great. We walked to the railroad station, booked a train back to Bangkok for tomorrow, then rented a motor scooter, and toured! The scooter cost less to rent for 24 hours, than a "Tuk-Tuk" taxi to the edge of town and back (less than $9.00). My American sized melon was too big for any of their helmets (optional, but I wanted one!!) so I slid it back on my head over my "Portland Pilots" ball cap, and off we went!

We toured a small mountain on the beach about 8 kilometers south of our hotel. The place has a buddist temple at the top, and is loaded with monkeys. We were warned NOT to feed them, as they can get aggressive. One swiped the tour map out of my back pack (which was sitting behind me on a bench as I waited for Kim to return from shopping). I snatched it back, but the little dude hissed at me, and I thought he was going to come after me to get it back! He finally backed off, but very grudgingly. Maybe he wanted to see more of the world than his little home village!

We detoured all over, to see back streets and avoid traffic (a little spooky since you drive on the left side of the road like in England). A very cool (and cheap) way to see the sights.

Back at the hotel, we had a "high tea", and enjoyed tea and lots of little appetizers (actually plenty for a good lunch). I don't know what any of them were, but they were delicious. Afterward; I cooled off in the room, while Kim went down to hunt for seashells at the beach. She ended up renting a small horse, and riding up and down the beach for about 35 minutes. It was a very small horse (perhaps an Arab) and she said the ride was smooth and memorable. Snow White was the horse's name (you can guess the color). When she asked the Thai man who rented her the name she thought he said Sno Hua! I guess that's Thai for Snow White! Anyway, she had a very enjoyable time with the little white horse.

Tonight was "canapes and cocktails" at the "Club". We bought it as part of a package. Very delicious, and lots of good Italian Shiraz to boot!

I will catch up on pictures when the camera returns a little later. We will be off the internet until we get to Chang Mei day after tomorrow (the 27th of April). So, until then.....

That's All!