To get to Bhutan we first flew from Seattle to Bangkok (via Tokyo Narita). We had arranged to arrive in Bangkok a couple of days early. I have been to Bangkok before but Nancy had not. So this gave us a short time to explore the city together. And it gave our luggage a couple of days to catch up with us in case it went astray in United's tender care. This multi-time-zone safety stop turned out to be unnecessary as far as our luggage was concerned but it gave our souls, slowed by the long flight, a chance to begin to catch up to us.

Our program for the first day here was to explore Bangkok. We saw the Grand Palace, the palace of the Reclining Buddha, and a local market.

And our program for day 2 was to explore Ayuthaya, the ruined former capital of Thailand. See the Ayuthaya gallery for those pictures.

These photos were taken inOctober 2008 mostly with a Nikon D3.
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DigitalQuixote > We arrived in Bangkok at about 11:00 PM local time. We'd been in the air for 17 hours or so not counting our layover, seen 5-6 movies, eaten 4 meals and slept a bunch of hours. After a short jetlagged sleep, we joined a guided tour of Bangkok. The tour ended at 1:00 PM more or less and we were hungry. We ate a light lunch at one of the hotel's 4 restaurants. In my experience, great hotels around the world are remarkably international. Although this photo could have been taken in most any great city on most any continent, it was in fact taken in Bangkok, Thailand. The food was international - cosmopolitan - comfortable. Even if your most exotic travel experience has been the Omaha Hilton, you would have, in fact, felt comfortable here. [Jim, this means you.] This lotus flower was on the table. Elegant!
DigitalQuixote > We arrived in Bangkok at about 11:00 PM local time. We'd been in the air for 17 hours or so not counting our layover, seen 5-6 movies, eaten 4 meals and slept a bunch of hours. After a short jetlagged sleep, we joined a guided tour of Bangkok. The tour ended at 1:00 PM more or less and we were hungry. We ate a light lunch at one of the hotel's 4 restaurants. In my experience, great hotels around the world are remarkably international. Although this photo could have been taken in most any great city on most any continent, it was in fact taken in Bangkok, Thailand. The food was international - cosmopolitan - comfortable. Even if your most exotic travel experience has been the Omaha Hilton, you would have, in fact, felt comfortable here. [Jim, this means you.]
DigitalQuixote > Our first evening in Bangkok, we asked about a restaurant we might enjoy, one that would leave our intestinal tract in good order, and one that would leave our bank account in good order. Answer: Harmonique - walk to the corner, turn right and down the main street past the post office, right at the next alley (alley, you say!!!) ... you can't miss it. With some trepidation (at least on my part) we followed these instructions, refusing to be seduced by false corners, refusing to be intimidated by dark streets, and uncertain as we approached the restaurant. The food was great, even if we had to choose it from a cheesy picture menu. It was cheap. And it was worth repeating the next night with two new friends! FYI: Dinner turned out great. The food was tasty and we could "fart with confidence" the next day, which was a good thing.
DigitalQuixote > We stayed at the Royal Orchid, one of Sheraton's properties in Bangkok, and our "tour" departed from the hotel's wharf. The river is an incredibly busy working river with barges, long-tail boats and everything in between using it as a highway. While we were there, it had a lot of stuff floating in it, mostly tree branches and clumps of leaves. It looked muddy, but not especially dirty. Along the river was this large palace, one we never learned the name of, and didn’t visit.
DigitalQuixote > Our first real destination of the day was the Grand Palace, seen here from near the entrance gate.
DigitalQuixote > Once inside this place is impressive. The architecture is impressive. The golden finishes are impressive. The art works are impressive. Its cleanliness and good repair are impressive. Even the thunderheads which threatened rain were impressive.
DigitalQuixote > Once inside this place is impressive. The architecture is impressive. The golden finishes are impressive. The art works are impressive. Its cleanliness and good repair are impressive.
DigitalQuixote > Inside the palace near the main gate are these two gigantic statues. I like this picture all the more because of the Thai boy posing for his photo; his parents are just off screen to the right.
DigitalQuixote > In front of one of the main temples, these two statues stand guard. They are covered in finely worked gold and semi-precious jewels. The detail is incredible.
We arrived in Bangkok at about 11:00 PM local time. We'd been in the air for 17 hours or so not counting our layover, seen 5-6 movies, eaten 4 meals and slept a bunch of hours. After a short jetlagged sleep, we joined a guided tour of Bangkok. The tour ended at 1:00 PM more or less and we were hungry. We ate a light lunch at one of the hotel's 4 restaurants.

In my experience, great hotels around the world are remarkably international. Although this photo could have been taken in most any great city on most any continent, it was in fact taken in Bangkok, Thailand. The food was international - cosmopolitan - comfortable.

Even if your most exotic travel experience has been the Omaha Hilton, you would have, in fact, felt comfortable here. [Jim, this means you.]

This lotus flower was on the table. Elegant!
> We arrived in Bangkok at about 11:00 PM local time. We'd been in the air for 17 hours or so not counting our layover, seen 5-6 movies, eaten 4 meals and slept a bunch of hours. After a short jetlagged sleep, we joined a guided tour of Bangkok. The tour ended at 1:00 PM more or less and we were hungry. We ate a light lunch at one of the hotel's 4 restaurants. In my experience, great hotels around the world are remarkably international. Although this photo could have been taken in most any great city on most any continent, it was in fact taken in Bangkok, Thailand. The food was international - cosmopolitan - comfortable. Even if your most exotic travel experience has been the Omaha Hilton, you would have, in fact, felt comfortable here. [Jim, this means you.] This lotus flower was on the table. Elegant!
We arrived in Bangkok at about 11:00 PM local time. We'd been in the air for 17 hours or so not counting our layover, seen 5-6 movies, eaten 4 meals and slept a bunch of hours. After a short jetlagged sleep, we joined a guided tour of Bangkok. The tour ended at 1:00 PM more or less and we were hungry. We ate a light lunch at one of the hotel's 4 restaurants.

In my experience, great hotels around the world are remarkably international. Although this photo could have been taken in most any great city on most any continent, it was in fact taken in Bangkok, Thailand. The food was international - cosmopolitan - comfortable.

Even if your most exotic travel experience has been the Omaha Hilton, you would have, in fact, felt comfortable here. [Jim, this means you.]

This lotus flower was on the table. Elegant!
Gallery pages:  1  2  3  4  5  >  
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