Month: December 2023

Oh did 4am come EARLY! I think I only slept about 3 hour last night! Those darn alarms will not stop ringing! Time for my medication – oops – too early in the morning for it – have to power through so I can nap at the airport instead. Got to the front desk and checked out on time (this is amazing) and got into our hotel van driving us to the airport. Was supposed to be a 20 minute drive and we got there in 12 minutes – no traffic at this time in the morning! Saw the Air Canada sign and he let us off and off we go to check in!

The Air Canada check-in area was a bit of a puzzle to find – it was not yet displayed on the poles listing the airline check in counters that run perpendicular to the entrances to the International Terminal of the BKK airport. Probably because this is only about the 3rd or 4th flight out of BKK for Air Canada now that the route has been resumed. They did not really have a Business Class check in open either – when they saw us waiting for about 20 minutes in the Business Class line they all of a sudden decided to stop helping Coach customers and give us some assistance. All of a sudden there were 3 people helping us as they also realized that I needed wheelchair service. Well, lets straighten that out – I did not ASK for wheelchair service but unknown to me, as it was a stand operation (when the plane does not arrive at a gate and you are boarded on the tarmac) it is a requirement for me to get on the plane when I cannot climb the stairs. I convinced them (no idea why as I was half asleep) that we would walk to the Thai Lounge as we wanted to shop along the way – Andrew was still looking for his Bangkok t-shirt that was not too touristy. So they checked us in, took our luggage, forgot to tag my walker and then pointed us to security and off we went! Okay, after we got through security I had second thoughts about declining the wheelchair service. That was a LONG LONG LONG walk to the lounge! They said 15 minutes – it was about 30 WITHOUT shopping! Got to the lounge – funny enough Andrew and I were in the same lounge (it is the overnight lounge) when we flew to Australia and landed in BKK at about 4am and needed some extra sleep before visiting the city for the day. The large lounge (and massage therapy) were not open yet. Oh well, I needed to nap!

First, what kind of food did they have? Only thing I could find was some juice and Hagen Daz vanilla ice cream (small cup) so that would have to be my breakfast appetizer before nap time. Then I had a nap in the chair we were at and woke up and the lounge was no longer “dark” but light! That is the interesting part about the BKK airport – it has so much glass that when it is dark out the terminal is pretty dark however when it is light out the terminal is actually quite pretty, albeit very metal oriented. I then buzzed the food bar again and finally fruit was out so had some of that (stayed away from the freezer this time) and a can of Coke Zero to get some caffeine in me! Also, it was time for my medication as my body was starting to hurt from the curled up position in the chair which really was not comfortable! At check-in they told us that the wheelchair would arrive at 7:30am for our 8:35am flight. Boarding started at 7:50am. Andrew checked on the wheelchair at 7:25am and they said it was on its way. We checked again and still on the way…. I then went and stood at the door and it arrived at 7:47am so needless to say we had an express ride to the train – the guy had gotten lost and was walking very fast – good thing the gate was not far away!

We got to the gate and as people were being bussed, they do not really use boarding numbers so they were all bunched up trying to get through the gate. The escort was having problems with his language saying “excuse me” and being hear/understood so I took over by either going “beep beep” to get through the crowd or saying “excuse me” politely. I could see the gate agent from the other end also trying to make a path for us as she looked concerned that I had not arrived yet. Sure enough, I was right! The two coach passengers were already on the AmbuLift van and they were waiting on me. So down the elevator we went one by one (another tiny elevator so escort/me and then Andrew/walker) and out onto the tarmac and up into the van. It took us a while to get permission to move (all vehicles within an aerodrome need permission from the tower) and then we drove under the gates and out onto the tarmac and drove past lots of cool planes from many different countries! There was even a plane named Maha! Air Canada was the last in a long line of planes in a stand operation. The van then lifted up (like the catering trucks do) and got permission to load us onto the plane. I know from the various times that this has happened to me that there are certain things that have to be done for this to be enabled – we are the only people that can be entering the plane at the time – all other doors have to be blocked, all catering trucks have to be down and the plane cannot be being serviced in any way – such as gas, water or utilities. Baggage it seems can still be loaded. So we were sandwiched in at 2L between the open baggage door and the right engine! Pretty close to both of them! It is quite a dance that goes on to enable people who cannot climb the huge set of stairs to get onto a plane that I am very thankful for!

I immediately got snuggled into my seat – 2A and said to the flight attendant that my walker had to go into the closet as Air Canada had forgotten to gate tag it for me. They were more than happy to oblige which made me very grateful. I was SO ORGANIZED for this flight – I had everything I needed in my purse and knitting bag (and had my wool and knitting needles with me!) and I did not have to bother Andrew at all! That I think is a first as normally I forget something in my backpack. We were about 90 minutes late leaving BKK – there was an issue with connecting baggage making the plane.

Then we were off to taxi! We sure had a LONG taxi at the airport to get to the runway however the captain (of which there were 2 – 4 stripers on the flight deck and 1 – 3 striper) said we would be off the ground fairly quickly. Great tour of the airport, the fire station and we came around the corner and WOW – that is one LONG line of airplanes waiting to take off! We continued past them thinking we were going to line up (that line would take an hour to get through based on experiences in Chicago) behind them but we continued to a different runway and immediately took off! That was SO COOL!

Great views of BKK airport and of Thailand as we flew past. Lunch service started almost immediately and my food was pretty good this trip – a little overdone I think due to the extra time on the ground. During the meal time I got some shots of the shore of Vietnam as we passed over on our way over to Hong Kong, then Japan (where it became dark again) and over the Pacific to Vancouver and home! It was a pretty good flight until the middle of the Pacific where we did get some light to medium turbulence – such a lovely thing to happen when people are sound asleep! I was on my laptop and watching a movie when it happened and had to put my laptop away as it was flying everywhere while I was trying to hold it open in my hands. After about 15 LONG minutes the turbulence dissipated and the fairly smooth flight to Vancouver continued.

We arrived at YVR and I am not going to bore you with the stupid Canadian assistance that is given at the airport that is bound by the Transportation Act. Around the world they have their act together on how to assist people with Disabilities and in Canada we do a very poor job. ‘Nuff said. We breezed through customs and outside of customs I ran into a young lady who was lost – trying to get from her Air India flight (which landed at the same time) to a WestJet flight and like me, was pretty tired. So, alterative idea in place, I offered to show here where the security entrance was for WestJet flights which is in the Domestic part of the airport (and for those of you who know, basically a walk from one end of the public area of the airport to the other end – before security. But I had my reasons as I said… then I ran into a lady from Australia who was having problems with her credit card trying to use a Green Coat phone where the position was vacant and pointed her to the lady at the exchange and THEN I put my action plan into place! We went to the Domestic taxi pick up area where there was basically no one in line and got a cab home. With 5 planes into International (3 from Asia and 2 from Australia) I KNOW that the taxi line in International can be VERY nasty at this time of the day so why not go where it is better and help people out along the way? Also, this woke me up – I had my Green Coat party to go to at 11:30am!

It was a VERY interesting vacation – I did not know (well we) really did not know what to expect going to these two countries and sure enjoyed the experience – except the wool one of course!

Well, it is our last day of vacation and we are on the search for a couple of things to bring home with us! We have been looking at the ICONSIAM mall for the last 5 days across the river from the hotel – perhaps being tormented by its noise at night – it is time to check it out! Unfortunately the hotel’s ferry boat is out for maintenance for the week so we need to take the public ferry which I think from an accessibility standpoint is a much better situation for me! The public dock is right below the hotel – however the “lane” you need to walk down to get there leaves a bit to be desired – you would think that the hotel would keep it a bit cleaner! There was dumped garbage bags (which in the heat did not smell lovely) and various other things along the side of the path.

The cost of the boat? 6 baht per person, each direction. Yup, about 3 cents each per direction! Very quickly we were across the river and at the dock on the other side! We walked near the still set up and still going on at night, Mulay KickBoxing area and into the mall which had quite the beautiful entrance! Inside it was still very exquisite – the ground floor an indoor “souk” type area and the upper floors a mall with stores. We were doing some power shopping here and once we found the elevators we were in business and found the places that we needed to go to and purchase the items that we needed to find! Now it was time to go back to the hotel to complete packing and get ready for our scheduled ride to the Le Meridien Hotel which is near the Bangkok airport, making our very early morning a bit easier! For those who have not been there, the Bangkok Airport is about 45 minutes from downtown Bangkok when the traffic is behaving!

The Le Meridien Hotel is very elegant – it is a hotel surrounding by a golf course. I did not really care what kind of room that we got here – other than the kind we booked – they were pretty upset that they could not upgrade me though! As I said to the desk clerk – for a half a night stay – please do not worry! I got a huge Thai smile from her for that comment – I guess this is one of the hotels where people’s expectations are pretty high for upgrades. As we were not going to be at the hotel for breakfast, I had the option of having 1000 Marriott points or a handmade elephant. The elephants are made by people with various disabilities so of course that was what I selected! Our room was beautiful and I would loved to spend more time there however the hotel is in the middle of nowhere! There is a nice lounge bed on the lanai and it looked over the golf course. We saw a beautiful sunset that evening – our last sunset in Thailand!

Like at the Royal Orchid – the Le Meridien provided an evening light buffet in their bar which was gratis for people high up in the Bonvoy program. Andrew had no issues eating from the small buffet but me – that was a different story! It was fairly gluten loaded. So they said they would bring me a gluten free box! And sure enough one arrived – quite cute! Andrew got the bacon skewers in the top right corner – the rest of the box was very delicious and just the amount that was needed for me this evening! We walked around the hotel a bit – it was a very nice hotel with ramps everywhere which was nice to see, and then went back to the room early so we (I) could optimize our luggage for check in tomorrow! As we were flying Business Class home, I wanted to check in one of my knapsacks as luggage so we (Andrew) had less to carry and worry about. Then it was to bed – we had a 4:30am departure for the airport scheduled!

This morning as Andrew slept in, I spent some time watching the different boat traffic on the Chao Phraya River. There sure is a lot of different traffic that goes up and down with different types of cargo!

After that, it was time to get some silk – I cannot leave Thailand without more silk! A store had been recommended to me and was also recommended quite a bit on the internet called Queen Silk – so we decided to go check it out! Well, me more than Andrew but he came along for the ride of course! It was about 3pm when we set out and the taxi driver knew exactly where we were going! I am still surprised how cheap the taxis are in Bangkok. The taxi cost is 300 baht which is about $12 Cdn for a 40 minute ride in medium (Bangkok standards – heavy Vancouver standards) to the small mall where the store was. I noticed that it was next to a Hyatt Hotel – note for future if we return – that Hyatt Hotel is a dangerous location for me! So into the mall we went and there was the store – a nice medium sized silk store and wow – the prices WERE reasonable! I could get high end 100% Thai Silk for 1500 baht per metre (which is about $37.50 Cdn). Silk like this either cannot be found in Vancouver or I have seen it in Seattle for about $75 Usd a yard. So I was getting a pretty good deal! I did buy some but it all fit into my shopping bag so I was pleased – that was my measurement of how much room was left in the suitcase! Andrew of course sat there and let me shop without much interference. He probably had fun listening to the shop lady and I chat in broken English and me so excited with all the colours (read purple)!

Then we went to the Hyatt to get a taxi back to the Sheraton. Oh boy what an unpleasant taxi ride. As Bangkok does have one way streets and some long busy roads where you can only U turn in certain areas I do understand that driving might be challenging at times but how a 40 minute ride on surface streets to get to the silk store could end up being almost 90 minutes getting home and involve a highway was beyond me. It was noisy and at times frustrating and with no working seatbelts in the cab, made me a bit anxious. When we arrived at the Royal Orchid Sheraton, they had removed the cut elephant and table from the lobby and were putting up a HUGE Christmas tree!

We decided to go up to the lounge to unwind for drinks – with me going up there immediately for some juice as my sugar was low, and Andrew following for his beer at 5pm (when they start service alcohol). So to cheer Andrew up an unusually stressed Andrew from the shopping/taxi adventure, I cancelled my GF dinner for the buffet and decided to spend our last dinner in Bangkok at the very well recommended Thai Restaurant in the hotel. I asked the lounge concierge to arrange for us to have dinner at 7pm. So we had our drinks in the lounge and I told Andrew (before he hit the buffet at 6pm) that we were going out for dinner! He was surprised and as we both needed to change, we went downstairs to our room to do that and then down to the restaurant on the 1st floor for our 7pm reservation – which really was not needed for a Monday night but you never know!

At first, they sat us in the regular restaurant – however it was not that comfortable as there was not a back on the seat (they were tables sunk into the ground) for me and there was a loud party in there. So we moved outside instead to eat in the “fresh” Bangkok river air! It really was a nice place to eat as a nice breeze blew by. We had Chicken Messman Curry, Shrimp Fried Rice and of course Pad Thai! The food was SO delicious! We were just finishing dinner and I was about to take a picture of the river when BANG! AGAIN fireworks started! This was the closest we had been to the now 4 fireworks displays we had seen in the last 9 days! These ones were simply beautiful! A great end to our night at the restaurant and our time in Bangkok!

Today we are taking a day trip to Ayutthaya which is a historic city in Thailand. Yes, it involved another early morning but not as early as the Train/Floating Market. This was a bus trip to Ayutthaya which included 3 historic stops and then we were taken by bus about half way back to board a 2.5 hour boat ride back to Bangkok. Thank goodness this trip ended up where it left from – which was right next to our hotel!

The tour had Chinese, American, Australians, Spaniards and us 2 Canadians on it. It was quite an interesting bunch of people! It was also VERY different from the tour we took on Friday as this tour guide was used to doing this tour – she does it 3 days a week and is used to managing a bus load of people. She always had us under control and no one was ever missing. We also did not have to do a strange numbering system that the tour guide on our Friday trip to the train/market had us do just to keep track of us. While this was advertised as an English tour, she did make the Chinese attendees feel comfortable by speaking a bit of Mandarin. That type of customer service I like to see!

So we drove about 2 hours to the historic city of Ayutthaya which is actually where our tour guide was from. It was founded in 1350 and was the second capital of the Siam (Thailand) Kingdom.  It was once one of the world’s largest areas of global diplomacy and commerce as it was strategically located on an island (which still exists today) surrounded by three rivers connecting the city to the sea. It is also located above the tidal zone for the Gulf of Siam, thus preventing attack of the city by the sea. The location also helped to protect the city from seasonal flooding. The city burned to the ground in 1767 by the Burmese army and abandoned. The city was never rebuilt in the same location and remains known today as several archaeological sites, which we visited 2 of them.

 First we visted Wat Mahathat, “the temple of the Great Relic” was one of the most important temples in the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Located on the historical island the large monastery features a huge central prang, a very large principal viharn and ubosot and a great number of subsidiary chedis and viharns. The upper part of its once massive central prang has collapsed. Today only the base remains.

Then we took a very short ride to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, also known as the “Temple of the Holy, Splendid Omniscient” was the holiest temple in Ayutthaya during the Ayutthaya period and until the city was destroyed by the Burmese. It was the grandest and most beautiful temple in the capital and it served as a model for Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok. This is also where the Buddha’s head is entwined in tree roots and as it is fairly low down, there is a security guard sitting there with a whistle (and there is a sign in Thai and English) indicating that if you want to take a picture you must kneel down so that your head is lower that Buddha’s. If you stand near the mat, the whistle is blown at you! They did have a bench next to the mat where you could sit if you could not get down on the mat, however for the experience I was able to get down – getting up was another story!

Then we were driven to Vihara Phra Mongkhon Bophit and Wat Lokayasutharam which are located behind the Ancient Palace. Vihara Phra Mongkhon Bophit is a covered building housing a large bronze seated Buddha image of 12.45 meters high, which was originally enshrined outside the Grand Palace to the east. It is believed to date back to the 15th century. It was hard to get to from where we stopped so I do not have a picture of it. Instead we visited Wat Lokayasutharam, which is the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The image of the reclining Buddha represents the entry of Buddha into Nirvana and the end of all reincarnations. The posture of the image is referred to as sihasaiyas, the posture of a sleeping or reclining lion. The figure is 15 m high and 46 m long, and it is one of the largest Buddha statues in Thailand.

Next we were driven to our Boat Cruise down the Chao Phraya River. This included an American/Thai lunch buffet. After I managed to get onto the boat – not hard entering but the dining room was downstairs so there I remained for the whole ride which was pretty close to water level – Andrew helped himself to the buffet and the chef came out with our tour guide and spoke to me about my gluten free lunch. I said I just needed something simple like shrimp fried rice, no soya sauce and look what I got! Yikes! I hate eating when I am hot, I did not have my “to go” containers with me so I had to leave food behind which I do not like doing. Andrew and I could have shared my lunch between the two of us! My perch in the bottom of the boat did provide a great vantage point for taking pictures along the riverbank though – what a study on what happens and who lives on the riverbank! Such waves of different houses and buildings – from marshes to haphazard houses to nice condos to cobbled together houses again to a Temple – it was a fascinating experience! Our tour guide explained that some of the “houses” that we saw the owners have had that land through their families for years. Unfortunately the river is taking away their land through erosion and they are trying their best to keep their houses however it sounds like what is happening in Vancouver – groups of house holders will sell out to a developer so that is why you see the river houses and then a nice condo and then back to a bunch of river houses. Along the way we also passed the Temple of Dawn and the Grand Palace (which we had also seen the night of the Tuk Tuk adventure) and finally ended up at the dock at the mall where I could take a picture of our boat!

We then walked the short distance back to the hotel and enjoyed drinks and dinner in the 27th floor lounge. We got really great seats at the window that night and as we sat there the noise went up higher and higher and we realized there was some action going on across the way at the ICONSIAM mall. As my new phone has such a great telephoto lens we soon realized that it was a Thai “Mulay” Kickboxing event! The men were on the stage first performing a dance and then a boxing type ring had been set up also and there were “fights” into the night. Unfortunately our bedroom also faced this direction so neither of us got a lot of sleep on this Sunday night! That was okay though as not much was planned for Monday…. really! 🙂

Sleep in. Eat breakfast. Hang out, go for a walk around the hotel and relax and watch the traffic on the river. Lynda gets a massage as her back is still sore. Drinks in the lounge at 5pm. Buffet dinner in the lounge at 6pm. That was the order of the day! We accomplished it and still went shopping at the small mall next door! Silk was calling me….and I took it up on its beckoning calls!

Due to the upcoming holiday and trips that are not offered everyday/night, I booked (stupidly) two excursions for us to do today! One was to the Train Market and then to the famous Thailand Floating Market. The other one was a Tuk Tuk at Night Tour of Sights (Sounds) and Food. So it was a VERY early start for us this morning! Luckily Room Service showed up on time and Andrew was able to get his coffee and pondering session in prior to walking to the mall next door where the 1st tour gathered.

I had booked a max 15 person tour for the Train Market/Floating Market as I find that going in a smaller van is easier on my body and also it is easier for me to keep with the group. Not sure what happened, however there were 29 people and all of a sudden a huge highway bus that showed up. Great! I just love climbing bus stairs! I knew that I was going to have to get from a platform onto a train however this was unexpected. Oh well, when in Bangkok, do as the Thai do and smile!

We were off to the Train Market first. I was not very impressed with the tour guide as he tried to convince the passengers on the bus to skip the train ride and just go to the market to see the train arrive. That ticked me off a bit as one of the reasons I selected this tour was so Andrew could ride a train! The tour guide let us think and decide what to do and I was REALLY glad when someone else said they wanted to take the train. He did say that if one person wanted to take the train we all had to and he stuck to his word. So we showed up at the train “station” which were a bunch of raised platforms and the road was closed to get to them. So we could not stay there and had to go to another “rural” station instead that the tour guide knew of. So here we were waiting for the train and I realized what a HUGE climb I was going to have to get onto the train! I just might need someone to propel me on to it. So the tour guide took my walker and Andrew helped me basically get up the straight up climb of 3 high steps. Hey, I can do a highway coach I can do this! A man saw me getting on and immediately gave me his seat which was next to his wife so we shared a seat and a window and both of us took pictures along the way. As we were on the 1st car of 3, sure enough people were out with their cameras and the awnings were rolled back so the train could pass through the market to its station. It was so cool seeing all the faces pass by us so happy to see the train!

Here is some information from the Thai Tourism website – Mae Klong Railway Market (Hoop Rom Market) is a local market in Samut Songkhram Province, commonly called Siang Tai (Life-Risking) Market. It is an amazing Thailand attraction, over a 100-metres in length, located next to the railway lines near the Mae Klong Railway Station. In the fresh market you can purchase seafood, vegetables, fruits, fresh and dried food, meats and other miscellaneous goods. Mae Klong Railway Market is open from 6.00 a.m. -6.00 p.m. The market is called Life-Risking because its stalls are next to the Mae Klong-Ban Laem railway, which is a short railway line where vendors at the market put out parasols or canvas mats next to the railway lines where visitors walk and do their shopping. When the signal of the arriving train rings (which happens 8 times a day), chaos happens: vendors will rush to close their parasols and canvas, along with clearing all goods that will obstruct the coming train. Once the train passes, parasols and canvas will be reopened as goods are again put into their usual place next to the railroad. The market, accordingly, is also so called Hoop Rom (Umbrella/Parasol-Closing) Market. The practice is usual for vendors and local people, but not for tourists who will definitely find the scene exciting and enjoyable at each visit.

So once we arrived, we got off the train and walked around for about 30 minutes before the train was going to depart. We were not departing on the train but got to watch it depart before walking to the bus to be taken to the Floating Market. As there is a road that also crosses in front of the train station, which has gates that come down (which is good as those motorcycle drivers did push the envelope at the end) and a police man stands there with flags – red and green – which are waved down the line for the train engineer to see that the train is now approved for departure. At the same time there was a mad dash behind us (where the actual market was) to wind in all the awnings and move things from the track. We never got to go into the market as it was way too packed for me and Hugo to manage.

Then it was a short walk to the bus and off we were to the Thailand Floating Market! I was looking forward to this one as it included a boat ride which I hoped would give me a different perspective on the floating market compared to what we experience in Pattaya.

At the Floating Market we were put 4 in a boat and I really lucked out with being put in the front our our boat! They were all really cute long tail boats, mostly padded by women, with 2 umbrellas to protect people from the heat. You also could rent an engine powered boat (which I thought took away from the cultural significance and beauty of the market with their stinky motors) however 95% of the people in the floating market were in padded boats. There were SO MANY vendors in this one that were only available from the boat! This surprised me compared to the Pattaya one where we were basically on a large dock with some people in boats on the side of the docks. Here at least 75% of the vendors you had to get to from the water – including the beer vendors – some of the most expensive beer is sold floating in that market! And of course there were plenty of traffic jams too. Check out the pictures below! Then further down I describe our next adventure on the Tuk Tuk’s!

This tour dropped us off at a mall downtown – which was strange as it was NOT the mall they picked us up at next to our hotel. Instead of it being a 6 hour tour it ended up being an 8 hour one so we got back at 4pm and our next tour we had to be at a BTS station (Skytrain) by 6pm. Now the BTS system is neither near our hotel or accessible and our hotel, the Royal Orchid Sheraton is between this mall and where we need to be met, across the river. So we hopped into a tuk tuk and got a ride to out hotel – quite fun to take during rush hour on a Friday afternoon with him weaving in and out of the traffic!

We got to our hotel and I received another message from the next tour and they said to PLEASE do not take a taxi to the BTS station, take the BTS instead as a taxi could take an hour or two depending on where you are coming from. It was now 5pm and we had no choice but to take a taxi! So in we got and off we went into gridlock traffic. We got stuck where we had to go 4 long blocks before turning to the right and on my Google Maps told me that once we turned right the traffic would clear. However we sat, I knitted up a storm, and we sat some more. Finally at 5:50 pm I called the tour guide and explained the situation and he said that there was another party who was running late too and do not worry. I had him talk in Thai to the driver as to exactly where to take us once we did get out of the traffic and that helped a lot. At 6:15pm we arrived at the BTS station. When the “meeting” person got to us he suggested that next time if you are going somewhere on the other side of the river take a boat across first and then take a taxi from there and it will be MUCH faster. That was logical! Why did the doormen at the hotel not think of that? Anyway, we met our Tour Guide, named Internet, “net” for short. And we were off in our Tuk Tuks for the evening! There are 6 of us so 3 Tuk Tuks and also Hugo is along for the ride too! The tuk tuks are used for these “Explore the City by Tuk Tuk” experiences and their roof was a bit higher and covered in see through plastic and all lit up compared to other ones! What fun to ride in these tuk tuks!

There are 7 stops on this “tour” – 3 of them food and 4 of them sightseeing. Our first stop was the local market where “fast food” was served. There are TONS of these little markets where people cook food for a very reasonable price (such as 30 bahts or $1.25) for each dish. Multiple dishes are purchased by single Thai’s and taken home to eat dinner as in general single Thai’s do not cook and do not like being in the kitchen when it is hot – which is during summer. The tour guide knew that I was gluten free to it was more of a watch others eat situation however she was so HAPPY to tell me when we came to a pancake stand that the pancakes are gluten free as they are made from rice flour! I took one look at the man pouring the pancakes and KNEW they were not rice flour only based 0 way too thick! So I mentioned to her politely that I think there are other ingredients and I am going to pass. So she asked the vendor and sure enough – it was a rice AND wheat flour recipe! Boy my spider sense was also working in Thailand and I trusted my gut!

Next we were off to see some temples which are documented below and then for dinner at a restaurant – did not take any pictures here… The tour guide now knew that I was VERY serious about being gluten free so she ordered me Pad Thai which I thoroughly enjoyed. The wife of one of the other couples was from England and she picked up when at the 1st markets that I had Celiac Disease right away. So when the two friends who were traveling together (other couple), when one of them said to me that I took a bit too much Pad Thai and did I know we were sharing it, the wife of the other couple said that it was the only dish I could eat and she will give me her portion. That made me feel good as really the Pad Thai had been ordered for me! Then to my surprise, “Net” had gotten me a chicken dish too but it had been placed at the other end of the table by mistake (the other people had 4 dishes plus rice to share) and when Net came by and saw this she gave it to me to eat. Unfortunately. I was hot, had eaten Pad Thai and did not have much room left for chicken! On top of that the chicken looked and tasted a bit suspect as it had a crunchy exterior. It had been pan friend and battered with rice flour I later found out!

So no need for chat time – we were then off to our next destination – the Palace and monument next to it – which was closed for the night. Then we went to the 24 hour Flower Market – what a production that is! I have NEVER seen so many flowers getting ready to be bundled and sold! The building just went on forever! So we went in one side, out the other side of a huge hanger like building in downtown Bangkok and then into and out of another one! Then the flower sales spread out onto the street… Eventually our tuk tuks picked us up and again we were off this time to our last stop which was Chinatown and where we would be getting our dessert! After driving into Chinatown through a bunch of back alleys which reminded me of walking around the neighbourhoods in Japan where every home seemed to have a family business out the back door, we arrived at our destination – the coconut ice cream cart! Wow – nothing like frozen coconut milk when it is 38 degrees F out with the humidity and 9pm at night! Even Andrew who does not like coconut ate some! Then we walked down the street, which I found quite sad at times (but did not take any pictures) as there was quite a line of people with various disabilities busking for money. We ended up at another stall where sticky rice and mango dishes were served and that was the encore to our evening – that was absolutely delicious too! Then we parted ways with Net and our tuk tuks took us back to our various hotels! What a long but fun day! Even Andrew, who is not always one to share his feelings. agreed!