To Hang in the Bang

By Allan: Marla wasn’t feeling well and crashed in the Phuket airport before making use of the little white bag on the plane. A first! The flight was only 90 minutes and uneventful other than our concern for the supply of those little white bags. We arrived at the massive Bangkok airport and it was...

Tip Toe Through the …… Flowers

By Marla: Today was a new day in Bangkok and I was feeling fantastic! Allan on the other hand was looking miserable with a cough, sore throat and red eyes. This was the first day of our tour and we didn’t want to be “that couple” who brought disease and pestilence to the rest of...

Wat Pho and the Reclining Buddha

By Marla: Just south of the Grand Palace on Rattanakosin Island is Wat Pho, which is the largest, oldest and most sacred temple complexes in Bangkok. The temple’s complex is not only popular for its many Buddhas, but it’s also home to one of Thailand’s first public universities, which includes the Wat Po and Chetawan...

The Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha

By Marla: Images of King Rama the 10th appeared inescapable on our short drive from the Century Park Hotel to the Grand Palace. This isn't unique to Bangkok but similarly seen throughout Thailand.. Like most sites in Thailand our visit to the Grand Palace would require conservative clothing. Pants had to be at least ankle...

Siam Niramit

By Marla: Expectations of fine dining and theater awaited us with the production of Siam Niramit. The play is performed in the Ratchada Theater that is located in a cultural theme park of sorts in Bangkok. I honestly was expecting something similar to FantaSea in Phuket, but this was different. After entering the complex we...

Temples of Doom and Buddha Head in a Tree

By Allan: We were getting burned out on beautiful temples as dumb as that sounds and were reverting back to an acronym from Europe, ABC or “Another Bloody Cathedral”. Or in Thailand ABT, “Another Bloody Temple”. Each temple seemed to have something special that the previous one did not. It wasn’t burn out as much...

Summer Palace

By Marla: The Summer Palace, also known as the Bang Pa In Palace, is located in Ayutthaya and was originally built in the 17th century for the Royal families summer residence until the fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Most of the palace was destroyed and the remainder fell into disrepair until the mid 19th century...

Mall Rats and the Potential for Rhinoplasty

By Allan: Ayutthaya to Sukhothai Thani-Mueang Kao today was a road day. Our first stop after an hour was a 7 Eleven and rest area for a pee break. We had our choice of Western style or squatty potties. There was a small tiled tub with water and a bucket for a hands on flushing...

Mass Monkey Madness

By Allan: The tour bus stopped by a monkey feeding area and we were warned not to touch them. A couple of dozen monkeys quickly increased to a couple hundred and swelled to about a thousand during the feeding frenzy. There were monkeys of all sizes, moms, babies and a king bad ass monkey. Our...

Our Calendar Girl

By Allan: If you were to buy any wall calendar featuring photos of Thailand, there would certainly be photos of Sukhothai Historical Park. It is one of the most photogenic sites in Thailand and home of many post card or calendar photos. Our tour bus stopped and our ever efficient tour guide Oh hustled over...

Back to School

By Allan: Today we visited an elementary school that our tour company have become supporters of. There were about 50 kids that met us in the school yard where they performed a song and the Royal anthem for us. We gave the principal and vice principal our gift of colored writing pens while others gave...

Dancing Shrimp

By Marla: Our drive to Chaing Rai was windy, bumpy and long requiring a certain degree of “monk like meditation” for bladder control. Needless to say the pit stop at a coffee shop came with a welcomed relief. After the call of nature was satisfied Allan bought an ice coffee before we ventured across the...

The Cave Kids of Chiang Mai

By Marla: Today as our bus traveled through the province of Chiang Rai we were reminded that it’s monsoon season. We’ve been fortunate with good weather so far, but when it does rain it can quickly turn into a deluge. Something this California girl isn’t accustomed to. To the left of the bus we could...

Myanmar and Laos

By Allan: Today was an opportunity to cross off two more countries, bringing us up to 30 countries visited now. Shall we go for 40? I can’t wait to retire. This trip is going to make it hard to return to work and go through another, yet my last, Christmas season with Costco. This is...

Don’t Be a Slow Gazelle

By Allan: We started our day on one of the popular means of transport in Thailand. It was a mid-sized truck with bench seats in the bed and a metal canopy overhead. We bumped along the streets and finally the highway as it started to rain, a light rain. We were sharing the truck with...