On this, the first full day of our tour, our first destination is the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The Palace, constructed in 1782, consists of the royal residence, the Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha, and several monuments and government offices. It was built for King Rama I as he ascended to the throne, as he apparently felt that his former royal grounds were no longer suitable for a king.
The structures, inside and out, were visually impressive - there's no other way to put it. The level of detail was incredible from floor to ceiling and included intricate multi-tiered roofing which was also lined with gold and detailed designs. In fact, most of what we saw was so impressive that I only used my dSLR camera for photos.. so I'll have to transfer some to my phone and post if I have time.
We did some light praying in the monastery and saw most of the grounds within about an hour or two, and then it was time to move on. But, how can I possibly forget how we arrived at the Palace site.. by ferry!
This wasn't your standard ferry from NJ to midtown or Red Hook to downtown.. it's taken by locals, who will gladly push their way in and through you if you give them the chance.. somewhat reminiscent of the 6 train going downtown in the AM rush hour. The challenge with this ferry is that when you board, you get onto the front platform and they immediately start reprimanding you for not moving quickly enough down the stairs and into the cabin below. The difficulty in this is simply that there isn't ample space down there for the number of passengers on the vessel, so your only recourse is to make some space with whatever means possible. And so people push and angle in any way they can, reminding me the most of that downtown 6, but with the pushing intensity kicked up a few notches. The difference is that there was really a certain charm to it actually, and instead of the aggression coming off as malicious, it feels authentic and acceptable as a staple part of this form of transport.
That said, our tour arranged for a private boat to take us to the next activity, which was to feed bread to some catfish along the river. Bread (for the fish) can be bought locally for 10 baht, or about 30 cents, but we were each provided with a couple of pieces for the feeding. We pull up along a dock where the waters are filled with catfish, and our guide begins to throw some bread in, explaining that the catfish with quickly congregate at any point on the surface of the water where bread is thrown, and that we could even pet their heads as they eat (but not their cheeks, which have sharp edges). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to reach the water from the boat.. but feed them, we did, and it was really cool to see them going nuts after all that bread. That was the first time fish would be fed on this day.
For the second fish feeding, instead of bread, they would feast on our feet. That's right - we fed our feet to the fish. I'm not sure exactly what kind of fish they were, though they were little, and this is a common practice of spas and massage parlors in these parts. The purpose is for these little suckers to remove the all dead skin from the foot.. and there were maybe 60-80 of them in a tank for two.. so roughly 15-20 available for each foot.
We were a bit skeptical to put our feet into the water with these little fishies, but we didn't walk all that way (all of two minutes) just to turn back. I'll start by saying that the sensation is extemely strange and hard to describe.. the best I can do is to say it feels like your feet are being tickled with a bit of added pressure. At some points, the intensity becomes too great and you have to wiggle your feet to shake the fish off. The fish (and also mosquitoes) simply love FTT (being nicnkamed Franco by the Aussie girls at this point).. and they swarm to his feet immediately. I put my feet in and they flocked in my direction, but his feet definitely maintained a larger following throughout.
Nothing about this experience was really unpleasant except for one slightly larger fish that was more silver in color - that one didn't play nicely.. instead of feeling funny, his/her nibbles were slightly uncomfortable. After about 15 minutes (or 15 seconds for Ashleigh), we remove our feet from the tank and wipe them dry.. and the result? I don't think the balls of my feet have ever been so soft.. so it was pretty incredible for simply allowing a bunch of little fish to nibble on them for 15 minutes. If you can withstand the tickling feeling better than Ashleigh, I would recommend.
Speaking of Ashleigh, quickly one of my besties on the trip, we had both been wanting to ride in a tuk tuk, a little open-air taxi that flies around the streets of southeast Asia at fairly high speeds, since neither of us had the opportunity to do so yet. So we bargain with a tuk tuk driver to take us around for ten minutes or so and show us some of Bangkok in the process - 100 baht (around $3) was the agreed upon price, but apparently we overpaid. Ouch.
The ride was really fun - the feeling from the open air is similar to that of a convertible, just with less wind - more like a nice breeze. Suspension on these things are almost nonexistent, so bumps are felt much more than in a modern car, but that almost makes it more fun. After the tuk tuk driver took some touristy photos of us, we were off to meet the rest of our crew to get some 60-minute Thai neck/back/shoulder massages.
The rest of the crew this time (FTT, Tori, Lauren) was already there, so we walked in and ordered the same as they did. Ash had some trouble getting her bills out so I covered her and said to just hit me back for the 300 baht ($10) a bit later. Let's just say this move may have caused a bit of confusion amongst the ranks of this massage parlor.
Ash and I are sitting in the waiting area and everyone gets called in for their massages except us, but we're okay with it as we have some fine conversation going around Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, among other things. Finally they call us in - both of us - together. They walk us up to a room with two little mattresses sitting next to one another and ask us to lay down. At this point we're still not entirely sure what their grand plan is, but one of the masseuses asks Ash to lay down and starts getting to work on her. I sat there and twiddled my thumbs for a good ten minutes while she got worked on and we both had a good laugh at the situation, as we had only first met less than 24 hours prior. The light sound of drilling could be heard from street, and that made the setup even more romantic.
A moment later, a man walks in and asks me to take my shirt off. Ashleigh is still in her shorts and tee shirt, and I'm being asked to disrobe? Seems fair - but I'm not terribly interested in doing so for him, so I kindly ask him to send in a lady. A lady comes in a few minutes later and gives me a great deep tissue massage which left me limber and feeling great. Ashleigh was in some discomfort and did not enjoy the deep tissue aspect of it. Also.. strangely, my masseuse didn't ask me to remove my shirt as the man did before her. Hmm. All in all, it was a wonderful surprise couples' massage.
The structures, inside and out, were visually impressive - there's no other way to put it. The level of detail was incredible from floor to ceiling and included intricate multi-tiered roofing which was also lined with gold and detailed designs. In fact, most of what we saw was so impressive that I only used my dSLR camera for photos.. so I'll have to transfer some to my phone and post if I have time.
We did some light praying in the monastery and saw most of the grounds within about an hour or two, and then it was time to move on. But, how can I possibly forget how we arrived at the Palace site.. by ferry!
This wasn't your standard ferry from NJ to midtown or Red Hook to downtown.. it's taken by locals, who will gladly push their way in and through you if you give them the chance.. somewhat reminiscent of the 6 train going downtown in the AM rush hour. The challenge with this ferry is that when you board, you get onto the front platform and they immediately start reprimanding you for not moving quickly enough down the stairs and into the cabin below. The difficulty in this is simply that there isn't ample space down there for the number of passengers on the vessel, so your only recourse is to make some space with whatever means possible. And so people push and angle in any way they can, reminding me the most of that downtown 6, but with the pushing intensity kicked up a few notches. The difference is that there was really a certain charm to it actually, and instead of the aggression coming off as malicious, it feels authentic and acceptable as a staple part of this form of transport.
That said, our tour arranged for a private boat to take us to the next activity, which was to feed bread to some catfish along the river. Bread (for the fish) can be bought locally for 10 baht, or about 30 cents, but we were each provided with a couple of pieces for the feeding. We pull up along a dock where the waters are filled with catfish, and our guide begins to throw some bread in, explaining that the catfish with quickly congregate at any point on the surface of the water where bread is thrown, and that we could even pet their heads as they eat (but not their cheeks, which have sharp edges). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to reach the water from the boat.. but feed them, we did, and it was really cool to see them going nuts after all that bread. That was the first time fish would be fed on this day.
For the second fish feeding, instead of bread, they would feast on our feet. That's right - we fed our feet to the fish. I'm not sure exactly what kind of fish they were, though they were little, and this is a common practice of spas and massage parlors in these parts. The purpose is for these little suckers to remove the all dead skin from the foot.. and there were maybe 60-80 of them in a tank for two.. so roughly 15-20 available for each foot.
We were a bit skeptical to put our feet into the water with these little fishies, but we didn't walk all that way (all of two minutes) just to turn back. I'll start by saying that the sensation is extemely strange and hard to describe.. the best I can do is to say it feels like your feet are being tickled with a bit of added pressure. At some points, the intensity becomes too great and you have to wiggle your feet to shake the fish off. The fish (and also mosquitoes) simply love FTT (being nicnkamed Franco by the Aussie girls at this point).. and they swarm to his feet immediately. I put my feet in and they flocked in my direction, but his feet definitely maintained a larger following throughout.
Nothing about this experience was really unpleasant except for one slightly larger fish that was more silver in color - that one didn't play nicely.. instead of feeling funny, his/her nibbles were slightly uncomfortable. After about 15 minutes (or 15 seconds for Ashleigh), we remove our feet from the tank and wipe them dry.. and the result? I don't think the balls of my feet have ever been so soft.. so it was pretty incredible for simply allowing a bunch of little fish to nibble on them for 15 minutes. If you can withstand the tickling feeling better than Ashleigh, I would recommend.
Speaking of Ashleigh, quickly one of my besties on the trip, we had both been wanting to ride in a tuk tuk, a little open-air taxi that flies around the streets of southeast Asia at fairly high speeds, since neither of us had the opportunity to do so yet. So we bargain with a tuk tuk driver to take us around for ten minutes or so and show us some of Bangkok in the process - 100 baht (around $3) was the agreed upon price, but apparently we overpaid. Ouch.
The ride was really fun - the feeling from the open air is similar to that of a convertible, just with less wind - more like a nice breeze. Suspension on these things are almost nonexistent, so bumps are felt much more than in a modern car, but that almost makes it more fun. After the tuk tuk driver took some touristy photos of us, we were off to meet the rest of our crew to get some 60-minute Thai neck/back/shoulder massages.
The rest of the crew this time (FTT, Tori, Lauren) was already there, so we walked in and ordered the same as they did. Ash had some trouble getting her bills out so I covered her and said to just hit me back for the 300 baht ($10) a bit later. Let's just say this move may have caused a bit of confusion amongst the ranks of this massage parlor.
Ash and I are sitting in the waiting area and everyone gets called in for their massages except us, but we're okay with it as we have some fine conversation going around Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, among other things. Finally they call us in - both of us - together. They walk us up to a room with two little mattresses sitting next to one another and ask us to lay down. At this point we're still not entirely sure what their grand plan is, but one of the masseuses asks Ash to lay down and starts getting to work on her. I sat there and twiddled my thumbs for a good ten minutes while she got worked on and we both had a good laugh at the situation, as we had only first met less than 24 hours prior. The light sound of drilling could be heard from street, and that made the setup even more romantic.
A moment later, a man walks in and asks me to take my shirt off. Ashleigh is still in her shorts and tee shirt, and I'm being asked to disrobe? Seems fair - but I'm not terribly interested in doing so for him, so I kindly ask him to send in a lady. A lady comes in a few minutes later and gives me a great deep tissue massage which left me limber and feeling great. Ashleigh was in some discomfort and did not enjoy the deep tissue aspect of it. Also.. strangely, my masseuse didn't ask me to remove my shirt as the man did before her. Hmm. All in all, it was a wonderful surprise couples' massage.
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