Good night, good morning, and good afternoon depending on
where you are in the world,
Tonight we (Meghan and Kayla) have blogging duty.
After a bittersweet goodbye to P. Waan, today we road tripped
through Thailand once again, his time from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. We thought we
would share with you a few Thailand road trip essentials in case you ever make
the trip yourself. Here it goes:
-Toilet paper for those lovely
squatty potties found at rest stops
-Hand sanitizer because for some
reason most of the rest stops just have sinks, and no soap
-Music and speakers, which are
perfect for van rides while singing along. Our favorite music s elections include T. Swift, 90’s throwbacks,
Justin Bieber, and the alternative genre
-Baht in order to purchase snacks
at rest stops…Today we were able to get ice cream for 15 Baht, which is 50
cents. Kyle’s request for 2 scoops led to two ice cream cones.
-A pillow or something to make you
comfortable while you sleep…lots of this occurred today.
-Game supplies…today our van played
the name game which required pencil and paper
-Movies….the other van purchased a
few selections at the night market and enjoyed watching them
-An awesome 11 year-old to keep
things entertaining
-Great drivers and friends who make
every trip a grand one
We think that should cover it. After about 8 hours on the
road it was a welcoming sight to see Bangkok and the TK Palace Hotel once
again. To give you an estimate of how big Bangkok is it can almost fit 3
Chicago’s inside of it. Our accommodations are a step above those we had in
Chiang Mai although we are still missing out on the washcloths we had anticipated
upon our return.
After settling in, we divided into two groups for the night:
those who wanted to stay at the hotel and those who wanted to go out and
explore Bangkok some more. We decided to join the group further exploring
Bangkok along with Paige, Liz, Carolyn, Sarah, Kyle, and our wonderful tour
guide Betsy. We first hopped into a cab and drove to the BTS, Bangkok’s
equivalent of the L. Once we got our passes, we proceeded to get on the train,
which was much nicer and a smoother ride than those we ride in Chicago. We got
off at the Siam station in order to explore the Siam Paragon mall. This mall
was unlike anything we had experienced before. Our senses were on overload.
What first shocked us was the size of the food court area. It expands over an
entire floor and has food options from around the world. It’s so big McDonald’s
has 2 locations on the floor. We settled for Thai food and enjoyed it before further
exploring the mall. Some of our favorite sights were the Lamborghini store
along with other luxury cars, high fashion design stores (Prada, Dolce and
Gababana, Louis Vouiton, etc.), the biggest movie theatre we’d ever seen
outfitted with leather couches, a popcorn bar, giant lobby screens, Starbucks,
and special lounge theatres with Lazy boys, and floors and floors of escalators
and elevators to get lost on. The mall was the opposite extreme of the sights we saw in the slum at the beginning of our trip.
When we left Siam Paragon we were greeted by fireworks, a
water fountain with lights, and two giant screens outside leading to Siam
Centre and Discovery, which we quickly walked through once again commenting how
we’d never seen anything like we were walking through before. We made our way
back to the BTS and enjoyed another smooth ride feeling especially tall
compared to the local riders and respectfully amused by the signs saying to give
up your seat to a monk if one is on board. Upon returning to our station, we
got into cabs once again avoiding those who tried to rip us off assuming we
were ignorant tourists.
After arriving back to the hotel in timely manne, we joined
our pizza eating, Who’s Line is it Anyway watching teammates for evening
devotions. We were able to reflect on the countless ways we have seen God
working while on this trip. His ways have been remarkable, and we can’t wait to
tell you about them in person.
Blessings,
Kayla and Meghan
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