Back from Bangkok

As some of you know, on Tuesday night I became the fill-in chaperone for the band trip to Bangkok leaving Wednesday afternoon. I had no passport at the time, it being in Kuala Lumpur for renewal, but overnight mail and a quick trip to Immigration for a new work visa gave me the green light to board the bus. The whole trip was incredibly eventful, this being Asia and all, so what you read here is just a part of the whole tale.

Bangkok, city of 10 million, is 20 hours north by bus, through two border crossings each way (you have to officially exit Malaysia and officially enter Thailand and vice versa coming back). We had a lovely double decker bus from the Thai border on, albeit no bathroom, and drove through the night arriving at the Alliance Guest House at 10 am Thursday morning. A quick shower and brunch gave us the energy for riverboat tour, a snake show and a temple tour plus a stop at a mall for supper. Friday was mostly consumed with getting lost, asking for directions and our concert band practicing at International School Bangkok with a guest conductor and three other school bands. That evening we went downtown to the Baiyoke Tower and ate a huge buffet supper on the 77th floor - what a view!

Saturday was concert day with another long practice to get ready. Three other chaperones plus myself hit Starbucks, conveniently located just outside the school, to read and chat. After the concert, we ate supper and went to the weekend market to pick up some souvenirs. About 7000 stalls are in the market area and it would have been great to see them all in action but we got lost again and arrived as they were cleaning up and shutting down. Everyone managed to get a few things though and we boarded the bus for the long ride home. The Hari Raya holiday weekend here didn't stop us from getting through the borders quickly and it was great to have happy faces greeting us when we arrived back on campus at 4 pm on Sunday.

The fun double decker bus.

Bangkok is built on a river system and many people have buit houses on stilts above the water. Its predicted that one part of Bangkok will be devastated by floods in the very near future.

Having fun at the local swim spot.

The catfish were hungry and caused quite the waves fighting over the bread crumbs that were thrown in the water.

Vi and I paid $.60 each to hold the friendly python.

The cobra show was very interesting although I wouldn't like to be that close.

Bangkok is home to the largest reclining Buddha in the world at Wat Poh temple.

Fun on the bus with friends.
These girls were extremely giddy, particularly around midnight!

Looking up from street level at the Baiyoke Tower.

Looking down onto the city from the Baiyoke Tower.

This little fella was out on the streets one night with his owner. He was a very friendly elephant interested in sniffing our bags.

Hanging out at Starbucks before the concert in the gated area known as Little America.

165 band students + one guest conductor = an afternoon of wonderful music.