Around Bangkok

Bangkok

After all the work, and multitude of details for departure, we said farewell to Cardiff and drove to LAX at 3:30 am to catch our morning flight to Bangkok.   Comfortable in our business class reclining "bed seats" we flew 16 hours to Hong Kong watching movies and finding sleep evasive.  Upon arrival in Hong Kong, we found our way to the calm and quiet business class lounge where we immediately procured two small rooms to take hot showers, and get refreshed.  Still, with a four hour layover, we began to fade and it was so tiring waiting for the flight.  Finally we boarded and finished the journey in 2.5 hours to Bangkok.   We had priority passes which allowed Ron and me to zip through the visa on arrival process.  No long lines for us.  Then we collected our bags, cashed some dollars into Thai Baht, and worked our way outside into the balmy air to catch a taxi into town.  No traffic at 2 a.m. so we got to our hotel within an hour.  We had miscalculated our arrival date so we had to hope that even though we arrived well past midnight on the fifteenth, we could have our room which they required us to pay for as if it was the fourteenth.  Everything was fine and we were in our bed and exhausted by 3:00 am.  All in all with the drive from home and the waiting and the flights, we had been on the road almost 30 hours.  

The morning sounds woke us as the taxi boats and barges working the Chai Phraya River winding through the heart of BKK came to life outside our hotel.  We had breakfast in the open garden alongside the river and beneath the flowering trees that had grown a lot since we were last here.  Now the air was perfumed with the scent of pink jasmine and the exhaust from the long tail boats working their way up and down the river.  Breakfast consisted of pitch black coffee no amount of cold milk could improve, lovely sliced papaya, banana, pineapple, watermelon and dragon fruit with cool yogurt and musli.  The heat came forth with a vengeance and the humidity sucked the strength out of us.  We wandered down the small alleys, called Soi, and felt invigorated just to be back in our familiar hood.  People were already sitting at small Formica tables on tiny plastic red and blue stools eating fragrant noodle soup, the locals choice of breakfast food.  Motorcycles were weaving through the strolling tourist, dressed in every imaginable color and pattern. Later the narrow streets were crowded with people in funky reclining chaise, one next to the other, in various states of bliss as armies of young Thai boys and girl's massaged their feet.  Smells of grilled meats and fish filled the air, vendors offering fruit shakes and fruit salads and fruit slices in plastic bags.  Large mounds of fresh noodles and veggies were awaiting your order so cooks could throw it all into a hot wok and stir fry your Pad Thai in minutes.  Everywhere food.  Delicious smells of food and the sewer comingled.  Colors and colorful, beautiful and ugly, unique and strange... All your senses are heightened from the onslaught of everything, while you are jet lagged and trying to avoid stepping in a hole, or off an uneven curb, or run over by the many motorbikes coming at you from the opposite direction.  That coupled with the humidity and the heat and the haze takes a toll.  But you feel so ALIVE, so amazed by the whole "Fellini" movie taking place around you.  

Later we meet up with our friends Mark and Luci who are traveling for the first time in Asia.  We had so much fun enjoying their enthusiasm at the scene.  We walked down the middle of Khao San Road and had afternoon lunch sitting street side drinking cold Singha beers and eating stir fried noodles at The Central, an old establishment of long standing.  Some of the waitresses and waiters have been there for ever.   That night we went to a quieter Soi for dinner, of curries and stir fried veggies, at our old favorite Ranees.   The new location is in a quiet garden with lots of bicycle memorability and Jasmine trees.   A cool breeze came through and it felt so refreshing, and necessary.

The day's slowly passed in a kind of haze.  We were tired from the jet lag and the lack of quality sleep.  It took us two days to get our SIM cards for our phone and iPad.  We have never traveled with a phone before!  Like old dinosaurs learning new tricks.   We swam in the pool, wandered the Soi, shopped, ate and enjoyed the company of our friends.

Our third morning a medical emergency roared it's scary head.  Ronnie realized he had a swollen testicle.  (He has graciously given me permission to write about his private parts). We were alarmed but in our laid back fashion, we decided to treat with ice and Aleve.  24 hours later and no improvement, we decided further action was necessary.  It is very scary to be in a foreign city without references or knowledge and have a medical problem.  We researched the symptoms, got a sense of what it could be and then looked up hospitals and clinics.  Fortunately I recognized the foreign name of a hospital in an upscale area of BKK that a well traveled friend of ours had mentioned he had gone to.  We went by taxi in rush hour traffic for over an hour to Samitivej Hospital.  We walked in and went to the desk where one of the young receptionist asked what our problem was.  We told her a swollen testicle.  She immediately escorted us to another desk where they asked us to fill out only one page of questions, and took Ron's photo.  Then we were escorted to the Urology department where we waited in comfortable large chairs with back pillows and complimentary bottles of fresh water.  Ron had his blood pressure taken and within ten minutes we were in a private room speaking with the young Urologist.  He did a physical, and prostate exam, and then he suggested an ultrasound and urine test which Ron completed immediately with another MD.  Then after an hour or so when the results of the test came back, the urologist had us return to his office and showed us on the computer the ultrasound images and explained Ron's condition, called Hydrocele. He then gave us two, ten day courses of antibiotics and anti inflammatory meds, just in case we needed a second course while in Cambodia.  They prepared a CD for us to take to Ron's MD at home, and within three hours, and prompt careful attention, we were charge a total of $228!  It should be so easy at home!

So we felt better and confident that we could proceed the next day on our journey to Chiang Mai, the former seat of the Lanna Kingdom, and now a modern, laid back place to relax.  More to come.....

Down the Rabbit Hole

Once again, another trip looms... South East Asia here we come.  We are excited.  So many details to attend to in this final week before departure.  Can't wait to put my tush into that business class seat and sip my first champagne.... here we go.

Home again/Om again

We're home.  26 hours after leaving we've traded the heat and humidity and lushness of Bali for the sweet chilly fresh air of Cardiff.  Our family and friends have embraced us with their loving spirits, welcoming us back, excited to reconnect.  Hugs and kisses abound.  Such a charmed circle of interesting intelligent people.  Trying to conquer our jet lag, still awakening at 3 am.  Thank goodness for Ambien.  Sipping our own rich coffee, organic salads, and excellent red wine.  Home feels nice. We are lucky.  And now the blog will retire until our next trip, wherever that may be.  Travel keeps us young, fills us with new awareness and excites our imagination.  Take a trip.  You will be glad you did.  Get outside your comfort zone, eat something exotic, feel challenged.

                               Namaste.   Sawasdee Ka.   Saibadee.   Selamat Jalan...

Last Night

So it begins, and so it ends, the last day.  Tomorrow will be long.  At least 24 hours of travel.  It is never easy to cross oceans, continents, time zones.  But so worth the effort.  We've been blessed to have experienced this short sojourn in Bali.  I always feel so enriched and rewarded being here.  And so terribly sad to depart.  Om shanti shanti shanti.   May we all enjoy peace, love, harmony.  

                                           Thanks for following my humble blog.   

                                                        Love, Lena and Ron

Rice

Tirta Empul Water Temple

Running out of Tomorrow's

So little time left, so much left to do.  I've been through these emotions before, sad to be leaving and excited to be anticipating reunions with family and friends.  Some days, after extremes of heat and feeling listless, headaches and fuzzie thinking, we admit we are ready to return home.  Then it cools off, we enjoy afternoon coffee and dinners with friends, lazy days with no agendas or requirements, soft nights swimming in a darken warm pool under the new moon, and greetings from all of the Balinese we've met who recognize us and have enriched our stay...then I hate to think of leaving!  We hired a driver yesterday and left early in the morning before it got too hot and went to see two sacred water temples.  One, Gunung Kawi, was built in the eleventh century, carved into the rock face of a mountain deep within a valley of tropical trees and streams of water.  Both men and woman have to wear sarongs wrapped around their legs as a sign of respect.  We walked the 315 steep steps down the hill to see the temple.  Sadly there were way too many people selling carved bone , sarongs, coconuts, food and drinks.  They all have the same things and each call out to you to "buy something".  It would be much more pleasant and tranquil without the intrusion, but this is the Bali way.  Even so, the scenery was beautiful, almost like finding a hidden treasure at the end of a steamy walk.  A priest dressed all in white walked the trail just ahead of us, and we were able to have a small whisk of sacred water placed on our heads for good luck.  Then we drove to the next temple, a thousand year old natural spring called "Tirta Empul".  People have been coming here to bath in the sacred waters to cleanse themselves of any bad spirits and refresh their karma. The water bubbles up from natural springs beneath the earth and is funneled into the pools via carved stone waterspouts.  We were happy with another small dribble on our heads.  From here our driver took us through tiny roads barely wide enough for one car and a passing motorcycle, through rice fields with long views of the valleys stretching all the way to Mt. Agung towering over the whole earth, it's apex shrouded in clouds.  We stopped at a scenic spot for photos of curving hillside terraces of rice where unfortunately the tourist arrive enmass and traffic is heavy.  We shot our photos and left, happy to be away from the rush of people and again driving along meandering hidden roads, seeing the real life of Bali.  Simple, poor villages, chickens, stray dogs laying in the streets, straw roofed huts, dirt and trash, flowers and temples, and always the green fields of rice.   

Sacred temple

Bed Art