Day 174: Hindu Festival in BKK

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Thai people are a festive bunch. They celebrate a whole slew of non-Thai holidays such as Chinese New Year and Halloween and even though 95% of Thailand practices Buddhism they celebrate a few non-Buddhist festivals like Christmas and the Navaratree Hindu Festival. We were sitting on the steps of California Wow listening to electronic beats watching the traffic go by. We have been in Bangkok long enough that we are starting to run out of ideas. I looked down at my phone thinking I had received

Dia 174: El Festival de Navaratri

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Despues de haber estado caminando sin rumbo todo el dia, recibimos un mensaje del amigo de Graeson, en el que nos recomendaba ir a ver un festival Hindu en la estacion Surasak. Emocionados, y sin saber que esperar, llegamos a la estacion y fuimos recibidos por calles cerradas, absolutamente inundadas de gente. Unos tocaban musica, otros bailaban, unos organizaban ofrendas de cocos y flores. Nos metimos a la multitud, totalmemte desorientados , cuando de repente oficiales nos empujan y ordenan a la multitud abrir camino y

Day 168: Cooking School

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Being on a budget, I chose not to sign up for cooking school. Taking a page from the corporate world, I figured Ingrid could go on our behalf and then train me once we’re back home =) As Ingrid learned new recipes for soup, noodle, and rice dishes, I walked around Bangkok with a big bag of dirty laundry looking for a washer and dryer. It’s kind of crazy to think you could share

Dia 168: Aprendiendo a Cocinar

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Por casualidades de la vida, un dia en el que no sabiamos si ir a comer en la calle o en mall, Graeson eligio el mall. Mientras buscabamos algo de comer en la plazoleta se encuentra con su amigo Rod de la universidad. No se habian visto hace diez años, pasaron su epoca de universidad juntos estudiando y jugando tennis y aqui estaban encontrandose al

Day 162: Khlong Toei Market

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We arrived in Bangkok from Manila on an over night flight. As we were driving towards Narathiwas, we saw an enormous night market off of Rama IV highway. After a few failed attempts at navigating our way back to the market, we finally found it near the Queen Sirikit subway station. We have seen so many local markets in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand, but nothing has come close in size and scale to Bangkok’s Khlong Toei Market. I got the impression that Khlong Toei Market is the Costco of Bangkok.

Dia 162: El Mercado de Klong Thoei

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Habiamos escuchado que en la estacion cerca a Klong Thoei, habia un mercado gigante que solo pasaba de noche. Decidimos ir a las 8 para verlo en su apogeo y esperando que fuera el tipico mercado de artesanias lleno de turistas, nos fuimos sin esperanzas de ver algo diferente…para nuestra sorpresa, eramos absolutamemte los unicos ” farang” y no solo no habian artesianas sino que

Day 157: Walking Around BKK

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There are so many ways to get around in Bangkok. There are three major bus stations, three major train stations, a myriad of local bus routes, a world class sky train, a subway, great taxis, public boat routes, and motorbikes and tuk tuks everywhere. As we walked down Chong Nonsi road we ran across a tuk tuk driver that offered us a ride to anywhere in Bangkok for free. I gave him a typical dose of sarcasm to let him know where we stood. I noticed that he was smoking rolling tobacco, which is something I’ve missed for the last 157 days. I asked him if I could have one. He watched intently as I rolled and explained that the pouch of rolling tobacco was on only 5 THB, including rolling papers (that’s 17 cents).

Dia 157: Caminando Sin Rumbo

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La mayoria del tiempo no tenemos plan y caminamos sin rumbo a ver que nos trae la ciudad. Mientras nos tomabamos un descanso de la caminada en la calle, un conductor de tuk tuk se nos acerca ofreciendonos su servicio. Graeson le ofrece un cigarillo y el conductor saca una bolsita con tabaco y le prepara uno a Graeson. Intentando tener una conversacion, Graeson aprende que este tabaco cuesta 5 bath, mientras su cajetilla de Marlboro cuesta 78 bath. Lastimosamente no los venden en tiendas conocidas y perdidos en el lenguaje no pudimos entender donde se compraban…el pobre Graeson se quedo sin enrollar los suyos 😦

Day 155: Bangkok Zoo

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The entrance fee to the Bangkok Zoo is only 20 THB, which is the equivalent of 66 cents. I’m trying to think of what you can get in the western world for 66 cents. I know you can get a single bottle of water at Costco for 50 cents. What else? Once inside the Bangkok Zoo you can feed elephants for another 66 cents. What a bargain!

Dia 155: El Zoologico Dusit

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Pensamos que estabamos a la entrada del zoologico al ver lagos llenos de peces, lagartos y murallas altisimas con electricidad. Al acercarnos vimos soldados con metralletas y nos imaginamos que clase de animales hay en este zoologico para mantener tanta seguridad…estabamos a las afueras de la casa del rey de Thailandia!!! Despues de la confusion llegamos al zoologico, y nos pasamos la mitad del tiempo dandole de comer y contemplandole la trompita a mis animales favoritos 🙂