We had to check out of our hotel by noon and this would officially close out my fifty-six days of group travel, which started out unfavorably but eventually turned out to be the most fun I’ve ever had traveling with a group. I still had another four days in Bangkok and I was switching to another hotel. Many others were also staying around for a few days, so the group adventure wasn’t quite over yet.
A few in our group were remaining in the same hotel, so when I checked out, I just left my bags in another person’s room and, since I had a couple of hours to kill until I could check into my new hotel, I went sightseeing with a few others.
We hopped into a tuk-tuk and took the 20-minute drive over to the Royal Palace and Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha. The complex was beautiful, with many of the buildings painted in gold (I assume it was gold paint) and included several murals conveying stories of Thai legend. The most impressive part had to be the Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha, although I think the Buddha actually was made of jade. I assume that a lot of the gold within this particular building actually was gold, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside so you’ll have to go on your own time and judge for yourself. Or read a book; I guess one of those could tell you too.
After the Royal Palace, we stopped off at an Au Bon Pain across the street for a chocolaty-icy drink and then we hopped in another tuk-tuk to the hotel. I had the tuk-tuk wait for me while I got my stuff, because the first hotel was nearly five kilometers from either the subway or the sky-train, and I took the tuk-tuk to my new hotel. Thanks to ungodly traffic, the trip took nearly an hour.
My new hotel was the Kingston Suites Hotel. Let me digress and say a few words about this hotel. I loved it. I really loved it. The room was huge, with a king-size bed. The television was a 32-inch plasma deal. The bathroom was ginormous and had the best shower ever, with a shower head the size of the full moon raining down hot water with the water pressure of Niagara Falls. Breakfast was free and it was one of the best hotel breakfast buffets I’ve ever experienced, complete with an omelet bar and, yes, real bacon. The location was fantastic, less than a five-minute walk to both the subway and sky train, near a ton of restaurants and close to a few famous Thai red-light districts; you know, interesting from a cultural perspective. Okay, that’s enough about my hotel.
I was supposed to meet people from my group for dinner and some traditional Thai entertainment. Wires were crossed, though, and dinner ended up being close to my original hotel, so I ended up eating at McDonald’s while the others ate and waited for those who were interested in the entertainment portion of the evening to come to my neighborhood. For the record, I had a Samurai Pork Burger at McDonald’s because I didn’t think I’d ever have another chance to have a Samurai Pork Burger at McDonald’s. I think I made the right choice.
My friends showed up and we went looking for Thai entertainment. We found it. I guess that will be the tease until the next entry.
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