In Bangkok, Thailand

We started the second part of our trip by flying to Bangkok, Thailand. We left San Diego by Amtrak to Union Station in Los Angeles. The train left on time, we had checked baggage and there was no security screening, which is not a bad way to travel. There was also food available for purchase on the train, which we did not partake of, having been loaded down by Jim's daughter, Sherrie, and her fiance, Lisa, with provisions. When we arrived in Los Angles we discovered that Union Station had been transformed from a genreal eyesore into into a transportation hub with subways, buses and trains all congregating there. We figured that we could get to just about anywhere from Union Station. However, we chose to only take the Fly-Away bus to Los Angeles International Airport. To catch the bus we walked to the end of Union Station, paid our money and had a very short wait for the bus. When the bus arrived, it was clean, and then we had an easy trip through the express lanes on the freeways to the airport. The bus dropped us off in front of our terminal, the updated Tom Bradley Terminal (Terminal B). Jim still doesn’t think much of the terminal, even after its facelift. It was here that we checked in for our New Years Eve Eva Air flight to Bangkok, with a change of planes in Taipei, Taiwan.

The flight was long and uneventful. Again we felt like cattle as we were herded through the security checkpoint at the airport and then into economy class on Eva Air. However, the food and service was good on the flight, and the wine was from Chile.

Once in Bangkok, we retrieved our luggage and caught the airport train to the MRT, as the subway in Bangkok is known, and then walked to our hotel, near the Suthisan MRT stop. Jim tries to pick hotels near MRT stops as that is our main way of getting around Bangkok. The MRT goes from the main train station to a smaller train station and goes past most of the places we go, and gives seniors half fares. The Skytrain, which is the elevated train doesn’t give foreign seniors the discount that the MRT does so we usually take the MRT.

We are staying at a fairly new hotel, the Bangkok 68. The rooms are large and almost all concrete. The walls are two tones of gray concrete and the floor is variegated gray grant. The white bed sheets make a striking contrast with the dullness of the floors and walls. 

Our room costs 700 baht per night, which is $21.28 U.S. dollars. For that we get a large room, daily cleaning and a pool on the roof, but no breakfast. For breakfast we head to our local neighborhood market next to the MRT.

Jim broke his glasses before he got to San Diego, and he hadn’t had an eye exam for at least two years. So, he decided to remedy the problem. First he went around town seeing if his old lenses could be fitted into a new frame, to no avail. Then he decided to just get a single vision pair of glasses so he could at least see far away. The spare pair that he carries are at least five years out of date so he was not seeing well with them. He reads without his glasses, which is why he breaks them. The last pair he took off while reading in bed and then slept with them all night. In Bangkok, he went to the local market where a man measured his eyes for glasses and told him to come back the next day for his single vision glasses. Bifocals would have taken a week to make and we were leaving before then.here is a picture of Jim in the market with the man and his wife who sold him his new glasses, which he is wearing.

After getting his glasses, which fit perfectly and enabled him to see much better, he decided to get an eye exam and a new prescription. Normally, these two things are done in the opposite order, but, why not? To obtain the eye exam we took the MRT to the Rutnin Eye Hospital where we walked in and were scheduled for an eye exam by an ophthalmologist. In the hospital the first stop was to have the glaucoma test done, which Jim passed with flying colors. Then next stop was the refractionist, who measured Jim’s eyes for the glasses. Then he had his blood pressure checked and his eyes dilated before finally seeing the ophthalmologist who told him he was starting to get cataracts, but otherwise his eyes were in great shape. He then went to the cashier to pay his $40 for the exam and pick up his prescription for new glasses. After that, off we went, Laura leading the way for Jim with his heavily dilated eyes.

On the weekend we had to go to the Chatuchak Market which is the largest market in Thailand. the market has more than 8,000 stalls separated into 27 sections, so we only see a small part each time we go. Anyone for a statue?

Wednesday is cheap movie day in Bangkok. So, for $3.00 we saw the latest installment of the Hobbit. We had seen the previous Hobbit movie when we here last year. It was wonderful to see such a majestic movie on a large screen.

We finally located good cheap wine in Bangkok. The Chinese have invaded the wine market. For $3 we bought a bottle  of Qian Hu China Plum Wine which had the following ingredients listed on the front of the wine label: Water, Plum, Sugar, Yeast, Carmel, Flavors. The wine's alcohol level was 10.5%. We found this wine at Tesco, the big English supermarket chain.

We eat a lot of barbequed food on the street, but these chicken heads were unique. However, we passed them up and took chicken gizzards instead.

We have come to really enjoy Bangkok. but, we are now off to the northeast of Thailand, then on to Vientiane, Laos, before returning to Bangkok to catch a flight to Singapore.