10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)

goandude · 1st November 2012, 12:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

I plead guilty to not having completed this travelogue over the last year and more, before we ended up travelling to Thailand once again this year (21 - 28 October 2012). That travelogue can be accessed on this link. I hope to complete this one after I have finished describing our third trip to Thailand!

Thanks for your patience.

Wife and self are visiting Pattya and Bangkok end of this month and your TL has been a great preview of what to expect. Your pics tell a lot of the story. Your info about INR not being freely converted is also news to me.
Thanks

SS-Traveller · 1st November 2012, 12:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by goandude

Wife and self are visiting Pattya and Bangkok end of this month and your TL has been a great preview of what to expect. Your pics tell a lot of the story. Your info about INR not being freely converted is also news to me.
Thanks

We found INR > THB conversion available at a single counter on the first floor (next to the pedestrian overbridge) of Pantip Plaza in Bangkok this time, offering a rate of 0.52THB to 1INR, i.e. 1.92 INR per 1 THB. When converting INR to USD and reconverting USD to THB, the net rate for us worked out to 1.77 to 1.84 INR per THB.

SS-Traveller · 6th December 2012, 20:47

To continue with the story of our second trip to Thailand...

Quote:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

...the Maya Beach, the the movie The Beach was filmed.
Attachment 571127

Pictures from the Maya beach

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach.jpg

Tropical fruit (I have no idea what) ripening in the sun

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-1.jpg

The beach looks nice in pictures, but it's burning hot, stiflingly muggy and blindingly sunny. No, we are definitely not the middle-of-summer beach-loving kind!

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-2k300.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-3.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-4k300.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-6k300.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-7k300.jpg

The only shade we manage to find on the beach, is under this rocky overhang, and we settle down to enjoy the views (as do most of the others too)...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-10k300.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-9k300.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-5k300.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-8.jpg

...but the heat is hardly of any concern to these fun-loving young men

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-11k300.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-12k300.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-13k300.jpg

Time to return to Krabi...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-14.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-16.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-17.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-18.jpg

Hairy artwork...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-mayabeach-15.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

SS is on his way to getting Leh'd

I hope it won't happen again (I risk getting Condored if it does!) but I suppose there might well be a high chance that we coincidentally leave this travelogue unfinished again, just because we are on our way to gathering material for another travelogue - perhaps even getting Leh'd again!

SS-Traveller · 6th December 2012, 22:31

We returned to Krabi from our sea trip, tired and happy. The rest of the evening was spent in our room, venturing out for dinner at an entirely forgettable Indian restaurant (run by a Pakistani chap who pretends to be Indian because that attracts more customers!).

The initial plan was to spend the next morning at Krabi itself; we figured that we would roam around the beaches, and that would be a relaxing exercise. We would leave Krabi late in the afternoon, drive back to Bangkok overnight, and return the car to Avis early the next morning when they open.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket.jpg

But then, a phone call the previous night changed all that - a friend and their family had come to Phuket, and Phuket was not far away. AND we had a car, and a morning to kill! Right - plan changed. We would do a fast trip to Phuket in the morning, spend a few hours there with the friend and sightseeing a little, and drive back overnight to Bangkok.

So off we go to Phuket... enjoy the beautiful roads while we cruise along on automatic transmission

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-1.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-2.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-4.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-5.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-6.jpg

We stop to find out what they're selling from these stalls lining the highway - turned out it is dried pork

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-12.jpg

Views not unlike the southern parts of India...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-3.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-7.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-17.jpg

More views of the road...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-8.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-9.jpg

Sudden heavy downpour from blue skies, lasting just a few minutes...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-10.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-11.jpg

Across the bridge and entering Phuket... Little did we know then that we would be doing the same again the next year!

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-13.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-14.jpg

Roads in Phuket...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-15.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-16.jpg

The friends are out shopping, and we plan to meet them in an hour or so. With time on our hands, we proceed to our first destination...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-krabiphuket-18.jpg

SS-Traveller · 9th December 2012, 11:29

It's a beautiful place, though apparently not too popular, because visitors were few. We pay and enter a hall where we are the only visitors...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-1.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-3.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-4.jpg

...and are given these little containers of honey paste to feed the butterflies.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors.jpg

But where are the butterflies? We get to see a variety of insects that I've never imagined existed, and my daughter had seen on Animal Planet etc.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-2.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-7.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-6.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-5.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-8.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-9.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-11.jpg

Whatever butterflies we get to see are under glass.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-10.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-indoors-12.jpg

Then we step outdoors, to discover it's raining...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-1.jpg

SS-Traveller · 9th December 2012, 15:36

Outdoors, it's a tropical garden inside a huge wire mesh cage...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-20.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-4.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-5.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-9.jpg

...with a beautiful fish pond in the middle...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-11.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-10.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-7.jpg

...and hundreds of butterflies of various hues and colours fluttering around.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-2.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-3.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-6.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-8.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-12.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-13.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-14.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-15.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-16.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-17.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-18.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-19.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-outdoors-21.jpg

SS-Traveller · 9th December 2012, 15:55

We walk through this chain-link door into the breeding room and egg & caterpillar nursery.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest.jpg

I rather liked this sign

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-2.jpg

More butterflies here...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-3.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-4.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-5.jpg

The Silk Museum with its large scale models explaining how silk is made. Thai silk is famous worldwide.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-6.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-7.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-8.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-9.jpg

The souvenir shop

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-10.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-11.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-12.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-13.jpg

We thought it's chocolate, but it's not. We are hungry anyway...

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-therest-14.jpg

...and so it's time for us to venture out again into Phuket city, looking for food this time!

SS-Traveller · 9th December 2012, 22:12

It continued to rain as we set off to look for somewhere to eat.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-1.jpg

We were so hungry, that even this rambutan discarded on the road looked good to eat!

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-2.jpg

And then we found this Thai-style dhaba

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-3.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-4.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-5.jpg

The stuff they served up was delicious, though I have no idea now what they called it (I had written it down carefully then, but have lost the notepad somewhere!)

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-7.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-8.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-6.jpg

Next door was this stall selling barbecued and fried chicken

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-10.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phuketfood-9.jpg

All this at prices that seemed very very economical. Long live street food in Thailand!

SS-Traveller · 9th December 2012, 22:50

We finally got to meet up with our friends, who were staying somewhere near the Patong beach.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phukettobkk.jpg

The friends' son enjoying himself in their hotel's rooftop jacuzzi

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phukettobkk-1.jpg

An evening view of Phuket city

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phukettobkk-2.jpg

The overnight drive from Phuket to Bangkok was uneventful, and we got into Bangkok before the morning rush hour began. That it was a bugging drive all night long, is quite evident from the bugs adorning front of the car (a Toyota Vios, before someone asks!)

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phukettobkk-4.jpg

How much we drove on that trip

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-phukettobkk-3.jpg

More of Bangkok coming up...

SS-Traveller · 10th December 2012, 11:40

Just found this pic - the friendliest butterfly I've ever seen. Refused to fly away.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-butterfly.jpg

SS-Traveller · 11th December 2012, 22:52

We're back in Bangkok, and we've booked into a hotel in Pratunam that looked and sounded good on the net, but was found wanting in several aspects - The Four Seasons International Hotel. The stench of dried fish, cockroaches in the room, cracked basin and stained linen were some of the major shortcomings of this hotel.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1.jpg

Highly avoidable, except for the convenience of being located in the heart of the shopping district, which many other hotels are!

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-1.jpg

We were also forced to wait till past midday to check in, which is quite unusual for most hotels in Thailand (in fact, this is the only time in our multiple visits to Thailand, where we were made to wait till the correct check-in time, before we could get our room.

Once checked in, it was time to go and meet some famous people.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-2.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-3.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-4.jpg

SS-Traveller · 11th December 2012, 23:06

The famous and powerful people of the world are mute spectators of its events, confined to a few halls. Happens only at Madame Tussauds, newly opened then at Bangkok.

800THB per person is a pretty steep price to pay for entry, and they now realise it - check out the 50% discount on entry fee offered here.

Check out who all we met!

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-9.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-5.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-6.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-7.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-10.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-8.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-11.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-12.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-13.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-14.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-15.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-16.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-17.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-18.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-19.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-20.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-21.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-22.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-23.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-24.jpg

Let's see now - how many of the above can you identify (apart from the very obvious ones of course!)?

SS-Traveller · 13th December 2012, 11:02

It is enlightening to learn about some of the processes involved in reproducing the perfect images of all the personalities at Madame Tussauds.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-29.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-27.jpg

For a price (150THB) one can get a replica of one's hand made in wax of various colours, with the fingers held in whichever manner one wishes. Our daughter wanted her hand to show a thumbs up sign.

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-28.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-26.jpg

Dipping one's hand in molten wax (it wasn't too hot) to get the shape

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-30.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-31.jpg

The final product being decorated with glitter

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-32.jpg

There were also the palm prints of a number of famous personalities on display here, and it was fun to match their palm sizes with one's own!

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-33.jpg

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-bangkok1-34.jpg

SS-Traveller · 18th December 2012, 12:26

To finally conclude this travelogue, here are a few random pictures for you to enjoy...

A stretched tuk-tuk parked in front of the MBK Mall

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-dsc03628k300.jpg

Close look at a tuk-tuk engine

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-dsc03624k300.jpg

The building housing the Faculty of Dentistry at Mahidol University, Bangkok

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-dsc03633k300.jpg

One more object of interest that Thailand lends its name to - Siamese cats!

10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011)-p5190064k300.jpg

****************** THE END *******************

SS-Traveller · 18th December 2012, 19:09

Our Thailand trips did not end here - the subsequent trip is described in this travelogue. Please carry on there to enjoy more of Thailand.

Thanks for reading.

6th December 2012, 22:31	#139
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) We returned to Krabi from our sea trip, tired and happy. The rest of the evening was spent in our room, venturing out for dinner at an entirely forgettable Indian restaurant (run by a Pakistani chap who pretends to be Indian because that attracts more customers!). The initial plan was to spend the next morning at Krabi itself; we figured that we would roam around the beaches, and that would be a relaxing exercise. We would leave Krabi late in the afternoon, drive back to Bangkok overnight, and return the car to Avis early the next morning when they open. But then, a phone call the previous night changed all that - a friend and their family had come to Phuket, and Phuket was not far away. AND we had a car, and a morning to kill! Right - plan changed. We would do a fast trip to Phuket in the morning, spend a few hours there with the friend and sightseeing a little, and drive back overnight to Bangkok. So off we go to Phuket... enjoy the beautiful roads while we cruise along on automatic transmission We stop to find out what they're selling from these stalls lining the highway - turned out it is dried pork Views not unlike the southern parts of India... More views of the road... Sudden heavy downpour from blue skies, lasting just a few minutes... Across the bridge and entering Phuket... Little did we know then that we would be doing the same again the next year! Roads in Phuket... The friends are out shopping, and we plan to meet them in an hour or so. With time on our hands, we proceed to our first destination...
	() Thanks

9th December 2012, 11:29	#140
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) It's a beautiful place, though apparently not too popular, because visitors were few. We pay and enter a hall where we are the only visitors... ...and are given these little containers of honey paste to feed the butterflies. But where are the butterflies? We get to see a variety of insects that I've never imagined existed, and my daughter had seen on Animal Planet etc. Whatever butterflies we get to see are under glass. Then we step outdoors, to discover it's raining... Last edited by SS-Traveller : 9th December 2012 at 11:33.
	() Thanks

9th December 2012, 15:36	#141
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) Outdoors, it's a tropical garden inside a huge wire mesh cage... ...with a beautiful fish pond in the middle... ...and hundreds of butterflies of various hues and colours fluttering around.
	() Thanks

9th December 2012, 15:55	#142
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) We walk through this chain-link door into the breeding room and egg & caterpillar nursery. I rather liked this sign More butterflies here... The Silk Museum with its large scale models explaining how silk is made. Thai silk is famous worldwide. The souvenir shop We thought it's chocolate, but it's not. We are hungry anyway... ...and so it's time for us to venture out again into Phuket city, looking for food this time!
	() Thanks

9th December 2012, 22:12	#143
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) It continued to rain as we set off to look for somewhere to eat. We were so hungry, that even this rambutan discarded on the road looked good to eat! And then we found this Thai-style dhaba The stuff they served up was delicious, though I have no idea now what they called it (I had written it down carefully then, but have lost the notepad somewhere!) Next door was this stall selling barbecued and fried chicken All this at prices that seemed very very economical. Long live street food in Thailand!
	() Thanks

9th December 2012, 22:50	#144
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) We finally got to meet up with our friends, who were staying somewhere near the Patong beach. The friends' son enjoying himself in their hotel's rooftop jacuzzi An evening view of Phuket city The overnight drive from Phuket to Bangkok was uneventful, and we got into Bangkok before the morning rush hour began. That it was a bugging drive all night long, is quite evident from the bugs adorning front of the car (a Toyota Vios, before someone asks!) How much we drove on that trip More of Bangkok coming up... Last edited by SS-Traveller : 9th December 2012 at 23:07.
	() Thanks

10th December 2012, 11:40	#145
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) Just found this pic - the friendliest butterfly I've ever seen. Refused to fly away.
	() Thanks

11th December 2012, 22:52	#146
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) We're back in Bangkok, and we've booked into a hotel in Pratunam that looked and sounded good on the net, but was found wanting in several aspects - The Four Seasons International Hotel. The stench of dried fish, cockroaches in the room, cracked basin and stained linen were some of the major shortcomings of this hotel. Highly avoidable, except for the convenience of being located in the heart of the shopping district, which many other hotels are! We were also forced to wait till past midday to check in, which is quite unusual for most hotels in Thailand (in fact, this is the only time in our multiple visits to Thailand, where we were made to wait till the correct check-in time, before we could get our room. Once checked in, it was time to go and meet some famous people.
	() Thanks

11th December 2012, 23:06	#147
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) The famous and powerful people of the world are mute spectators of its events, confined to a few halls. Happens only at Madame Tussauds, newly opened then at Bangkok. 800THB per person is a pretty steep price to pay for entry, and they now realise it - check out the 50% discount on entry fee offered here. Check out who all we met! Let's see now - how many of the above can you identify (apart from the very obvious ones of course!)?
	() Thanks

13th December 2012, 11:02	#148
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) It is enlightening to learn about some of the processes involved in reproducing the perfect images of all the personalities at Madame Tussauds. For a price (150THB) one can get a replica of one's hand made in wax of various colours, with the fingers held in whichever manner one wishes. Our daughter wanted her hand to show a thumbs up sign. Dipping one's hand in molten wax (it wasn't too hot) to get the shape The final product being decorated with glitter There were also the palm prints of a number of famous personalities on display here, and it was fun to match their palm sizes with one's own! Last edited by SS-Traveller : 13th December 2012 at 11:07.
	() Thanks

18th December 2012, 12:26	#149
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) To finally conclude this travelogue, here are a few random pictures for you to enjoy... A stretched tuk-tuk parked in front of the MBK Mall Close look at a tuk-tuk engine The building housing the Faculty of Dentistry at Mahidol University, Bangkok One more object of interest that Thailand lends its name to - Siamese cats! **************** THE END *****************
	() Thanks

18th December 2012, 19:09	#150
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,172 Thanked: 27,283 Times View My Garage	Re: 10 days across Thailand (2009) - and 8 more days (2011) Our Thailand trips did not end here - the subsequent trip is described in this travelogue. Please carry on there to enjoy more of Thailand. Thanks for reading.
	(1) Thanks