Gold, gold, gold

Waking Up

I didn't plan to spend much time in Bangkok, only two nights. So it was important I got up early and took in some sights. The breakfast at the hotel was pretty good. Complimentary coffee, toast, fruit, and cereal would start the morning off. Free is good.

River Cruise

The first stop was the Grand Palace, the official palace of the kings of Siam. It was the #1 destination recommend by just about everyone. I'd need to take the train to a river ferry to get there. There was a good write up on TripAdvisor that was quite helpful. The only part I missed was getting off the boat at the right stop. The ferry was full and I was stuck on the side of the boat opposite of land, so it wasn't easy to see the stop name. Announcements didn't help because they weren't in English, rather thai. I decided to enjoy the cruise and take in the waterfront for a few stops and eventually got off and boarded the ferry from the opposite dock. This time around I was able to see the stop numbers and get off at the correct stop.

Protestors outside government building

Express ferry boat (not one I took)

Grand Palace

Before entering the palace one is approached by many. Apparently it's not uncommon to be told that the palace is closed (it's almost never closed) in an effort to sway tourists elsewhere. While no one made an effort to try that con on me, one lady did suggest I come back the following day because the temple was very busy. It's unclear to me what her motive was exactly.

Proper dress is required to visit the Grand Palace. They do lend clothing, taking a small deposit to ensure they get it back. Since it was hot I was in shorts so I got in the respective line, got clothes, and went off to get a ticket. From the outside the Grand Palace looked incredible. Although a very different style, it's flamboyant nature reminded me of Park Güell in Barcelona. The palace is broken into two sections; one part temple and (I suspect) the other part administrative buildings. The palace is really impressive and a must see.

I resisted the urge to do a funny picture with the statue

Pretty wicked 

Golden Buddha

The next stop was to see the giant Golden Buddha, not far I'm told from the palace. I found a tuk-tuk driver and after some haggling we were on our way. He was pushing me to go elsewhere insisting traffic was too bad, but in the end he took me where I wanted. This was my first time in a tuk-tuk and it was wild. Going through the streets of Bangkok in a tiny motorized rigshaw type vehicle should qualify as some kind of extreme sport. After arriving at my destination the driver asked if I wanted him to wait. I told him I might be there for a while and not to bother. I guess his offer suggests I paid way too much and didn't haggle enough.

A few notes about the statue. It's believed to be built sometime between the 13th and 14th century and it's made of solid gold. SOLID GOLD. It's actually the largest statue made entirely of gold. Considering what gold is going for, the thing must be worth an absolute fortune.  In historic times the statue was actually covered in plaster in an effort to keep it from getting stolen.

If your curious about value...here's a clip from the Wikipedia page on the statue. Note gold is a bit less than indicated. I think this statue trumps anything I've seen in the Emirates.

At US$1,400 per troy ounce, the gold in the statue (18 karat) is estimated to be worth 250 million dollars.^[9] The body of the statue is 40% pure, the volume from the chin to the forehead is 80% pure, and the hair and the topknot, weighing 45 kg, are 99% pure gold.

Selfy of me in a tuk-tuk

Temple at sunset

Temple prior to sunset

Temple at sunset

Golden Buddha - yes, real solid gold Buddha

Coffee Shop

I noticed a coffee shop in a plaza outside the Golden Buddha. I stopped by to get an espresso and chatted with the owner, who was probably a bit younger than me. I ended up hanging around there for a couple of hours chatting with him. I helped him setup his business on Tripadvisor, oddly enough he was already on Foursquare and just didn't know it. People had already posted photos on Foursquare. I chatted with the owner about what to do next. I had a specific idea in mind, but he recommended against it since there was government action against protestors in that specific area. He suggested I visit Chinatown.

Me and shop owner 

Chinatown

I hopped another tuk-tuk and head towards Chinatown, spending about an hour wandering around from shop to shop. I picked up some street food and head back to the ferry. Lucky for me one of the ferry stops was a short walk from Chinatown.

Chinatown

Getting Home

The ferry debacle would repeat itself yet again and I'd end up on the boat going the opposite direction I needed. I originally paid the fare on board (about 50 cents), but when the lady realized I boarded the wrong ferry she refunded my money without me even asking for it back. I hopped off and ran to the opposite dock, rushing because a boat was pulling in. This particular dock had an attendant, and he stopped me before I could board asking for the fare. He spoke broken English so I tried to communicate where I wanted to go, which was the boat that went to the to 'metro' or 'skytrain'. He insisted I board at the opposite dock, the one I just came from. He wasn't trying to haggle a fair, rather the opposite. He didn't want my money. I figured he was wrong, but he kept telling me to go to the opposite dock. I tried to ignore him thinking he there was a miscommunication, but he persisted...at one point he asked me if I spoke English. In the end he was right, apparently ferries going in both direction leave the same dock.

Bangkok Nightlife

I went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and planned to spend a couple of hours taking in Bangkok's nightlife. Across the street was a Sheraton 4 points with a western looking bar called BeerVault. It was well reviewed and had life entertainment. Inside was a mix of Thai and westerners. I stayed for a big, enjoyed the one man Irish singing act, and headed for the nearby red light district called Soi Cowboy. Soi Cowboy is located on an small road right off the street were the demonstrators were. There were more demonstrators than I had seen before. The atmosphere appeared calm and jubilant. Prior, the stage was occupied by speakers. This time there was a band playing music. The atmosphere appeared calm. Regardless of how calm things appear a mob of people that size can change very quickly, so I avoided entering the masses and stuck to the perimeter of the demonstrators.

The situation was very strange. Here were tens of thousands of people demonstrating for the wellbeing of their country, and immediatly of a side street were a bunch of westerners and ex-patriots looking for a good time.  Oh, not all the bars off Soi Cowboy were, uh, gentleman's clubs. A few were just simple bars - and those bars appeared to be the most lively. I walked up and down the street a couple of times and head back to the hotel. It was late and I was exhausted.

Live entertainment at BeerVault

More demonstrators than I've ever seen

Streets and signs of Soi Cowboy

Hello Bangkok!

Waking Up

I went to sleep the night before absolutely exhausted, right when I hit the bed I was asleep. The next morning I would sleep much better and wake up to an alarm. Not a blaring loud alarm though, a vibrating wrist. Tangent:  For my last adventure I picked up one of those activity trackers thinking a silent alarm would be useful. Instead of noise, it vibrates your wrist to wake you up. Every once in a while it flakes on me, but for the most part it's useful and a better way of waking up.

The day started with breakfast, much like the day before. I followed Mike in to the office and took a taxi to check in for my flight.

Checking In

Of the 100 or more airports I've used, Hong Kong's airport has got to be the very best. The airport and airlines have an off-site facility in the central business district of Hong Kong were you can check in, including your luggage. This is the same area where the airport express train runs and takes 24 minutes to whisk you to the airport.  Incredibly genius and convenient.

After checking in for my flight I still had some sightseeing left to do. The weather was worse than the day before and it was poring rain. The nice thing is many buildings loan umbrellas. They take collateral, like an id or credit card number, to ensure it's returned.

Sure looks like an airport, but it's not

It's the airports offsite facility where you can check in and your bags

Wong Tai Sin Temple

The Wong Tai Sin Temple is one of the most famous temples in Hong Kong. Getting to the temple was pretty easy, navigating through the storm of umbrellas once off the train was another story.  Here's a bit of trivia - this particular temple is the only one in Hong Kong where wedding are held.

Entrance to the temple

Outside Temple

Temple

Shops within the temple

Poster for Chinese New Year

The Tailor & Lunch

A couple of friends picked up some custom suits while in Thailand, so I figured I should do the same. Mike mentioned he had a guy that did his suits and suggested I visit him around lunchtime for measurements. The shop is in an area not far from the metro and is a simple open space with rolls of fabrics lining all the walls. The rolls were of the actual fabric that would be used for the clothes they sell, they were not just fabric samples. Upon arrival we'd learn that the tailer passed away just a week or so earlier - sad. The same manager is running the shop and the son is stepping up to take over the business.

In record time I was measured up. The suits and custom shirts would be ready when I return to Hong Kong en route back to Chicago. Off to lunch.

(1) best pork ever (2) Mike and me before my flight

Flight to Bangkok

After lunch I took a taxi to the airport express train. The cab driver spoke little to no English, so it was interesting communicating with him.

Arriving in Bangkok

The flight was only a couple of hours and clearing customs was relatively easy. Unlike Hong Kong, Thailand does issue a passport stamp upon arrival.

After inquiring about a cab (500 baht or around $15 USD), I decided to give public transportation a try. There are two main lines throughout Bangkok, the BTS and the MTR. The MTR ran right by the hotel I found. The BTS (also called the sky train, although both lines are elevated) connects to the Airport. Somewhere between I'd need to connect. Google map's was useful only as a moving map, the routes it suggested were completely wrong. Further, the transit stops are only described (in Google Maps) using the Thai alphabet even though both English and Thai names were provided at each physical station and on other maps. Once I figured out which direction each train line went I pieced together a plan.

Bangkok Terminal

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)

Bangkok

An Australian started chatting with me on the train. He mentioned he was leaving family in Delhi (India) and was en route back home to Australia. He had about 16 hours and wanted to check out the social scene. We chatted about Indian politics for a while and Rahul Ghandi (no relation to Mahatma). He invited me to come along, but had my bags and wanted to get to the hotel before going out. Eventually the train from the airport would end. I checked Google Maps and made it to the hotel without much effort. En route I'd realize the enormous demonstrators throughout the city.

The Manhattan

Lowest cost hotel (of reasonable quality) in a relatively great area

Pretty nice room and location for $50/night

Early Night

After checking in a walked around the outside of the hotel a bit. I noticed a train line ran immediately over the street in front of the hotel. My hotel was also across the street from several other more upscale hotels (Westin) so the location seemed ideal. I returned back to the hotel and by 11pm was asleep. I only planned on being in Bangkok for 2 days and I had a lot to see.

Is that you, Buddha?

Waking Up

I woke up before my alarm went off. I probably got about 6 1/2 hours of sleep, which felt more like 12. I couldn't sleep much more and showered. It's almost like traveling to Hong Kong fixed my compulsive need to be a night person. Getting up early was key, because I only had one full day in Hong Kong - so I had to make the most of it.

Around the same time I was getting ready to shower I could hear Mike's family start to get up. Their 2 year old son Gregory is the one who decides wake up time, and he slept about 30 minutes later than normal.

Mike's wife Sara has done a lot of volunteer work involving expatriates (people who relocate to another country other than their own). Sara was full of suggestions and incredibly helpful. I normally don't let others define my itinerary, but given the short amount of time I had and the common interests I share with Mike (here's one of his published Nat Geo pics) it seemed like a good idea.

 She also cooked an awesome breakfast complete with pancakes and excellent bacon. Plus, real maple syrup. I commented about the real maple syrup (it's something you seldom because it's very expensive), and they brought out a variation of award winning Canadian maple syrup. What a great start to the day. Since Mike often works late, breakfast is the big family meal - and I was happy to be there.

To Town

Mike's family lives about a 20-30 minute ride away from the financial district (Central). So after breakfast we head into town. The plan was for me to splinter off and meet up with him later in the day.

The first thing I noticed leaving the house was the rain and haze. Visibility was absolutely awful - I couldn't see 100 feet in front of my face. Mike also told me it was cold, the coldest day of the ear in Hong Kong. It was probably around 40f (4.5c) which was palmy compared to Chicago's 0 (-18c).

We made a quick stop for gas/petrol, which is the most expensive I have yet to see at around $8.25/gallon.

Price in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD) per Liter 

(3.8 liters to a gallon, 7.75 HKD per dollar)

Fishing Village

After about 40 minutes of driving through Hong Kong traffic we arrived at a train station. Hong Kong  gives cars permits providing them permission to drive only in certain areas. Mike's permit was not valid on the Lantau Island, which is were the Big Buddha is located. So we'd drive to a public parking lot and hop a taxi to the nearby fishing village of Tai O.  Tai O is on the other side of the mountain of Big Buddha.

Tai O is a completely different side of Hong Kong, which was probably why Mike and Sara added it to my itinerary. Most of the houses are on stilts along the river and is mostly a fisherman's village. We'd take a ferry tour in search of pink dolphins. We didn't end up seeing dolphins, but touring Tai O was very cool and cost almost nothing.

Welcome to Tai O

Ferry Boat

View from ferry

Buddha statues were everywhere

View from Tai O

View from bridge near the ferry

The Big Buddah

After touring Tai O we made our way to the Big Buddha, which was further up the mountain. I mentioned before visibility was poor, but it got worse the further up the mountain we went. From the parking lot you couldn't even see the Big Buddha and signage was necessary to instruct tourists which way to go. I was beginning to wonder how big this Buddha really was.

After rounding a corner we were lead to a giant staircase. I was rather surprised to see elderly people attempting the climb. I asked Mike how this was handicapped accessible, and he pointed to a paved road on the other side of the trees that allowed tour buses to make the climb.

The Big Buddha was not visible until I got to the top of the stairways. Even than it was hard to make out the details of his body. Walking around the Big Buddha is free, however entering requires buying a ticket. Tickets are sold at the bottom of the hill - so having second thoughts would be a painful decision.

Walkway to Big Buddha

I'm told way up there is Big Buddha...but I'm dubious

I'm a little hazy, please come back next week

Statues and haze

Cable Car Down

The cable car ride down to the town is supposed to be scenic. You can even pay extra to ride a glass bottom car. Unfortunately for me, the cable car was going through an enormous cloud of haze. We were paired with two guys who I would have guessed were Chinese, ends up they were actually Russian. Mike grew up in Belarus and speaks fluent Russia. They also spoke decent English, so we all had a good chat about our hometowns.

View from cable car once we got to the bottom 

(visibility was much worse higher up)

Mike talking with Russian

View from car

High Tea

Next on the agenda was high tea at the JW Marriot with Sara and son Gregory. I'd never done a high tea, so this was a first. Many of the hotels offer high tea, which for us was a light meal buffet style and tea.  At some hotels the event can be very formal, requires formal attire. JW's was rather casual. There was a variety of food, from BBQ chicken wings, to crepes and sushi. I made several rounds and made a complete pig of myself.

Light Show Downtown

After high tea it was time to hop the Starr ferry across the harbor. The Star Ferry is a vintage ferry founded back in 1888. Like the Costco hot dog, I wouldn't be surprised if the price has remained the same because it cost next to nothing to ride. The ferry jets passengers from Hong Kong to the island of Kowloon. From there the entire Hong Kong skyline is viewable. At 8pm a light show is done, which involves certain buildings in the skyline coordinating their lighting to lasers and music.

Rough outline of today's Hong Kong

Hong Kong skyline from Victoria Harbor

Hong Kong skyline from Victoria Harbor

Today was exhausting, but exactly what I wanted since I was only going to be in Hong Kong for a short amount of time. Tomorrow I'd leave in the afternoon for Thailand. I'd have another night in Hong Kong for the flight home, but only one night. So I felt good making the most of the day.

Arriving in Hong Kong

Arriving in Hong Kong

The flight was scheduled to land in Hong Kong at 8pm. There was pretty dense fog outside, so I couldn't see much coming in aside form the fact our final approach (the direction and area of travel immediately before landing) was mostly over water. Before leaving I reached out to my friend, Mike, who lives in Hong Kong. Mike and I used to work for the same company several years ago, he moved to Hong Kong when his team disbanded 7 years ago. He's also a stellar photographer, having had some of his stuff published by Getty and National Geographic. I was pretty excited about hopping around the city with him.

After hearing about the hostels I was considering, Mike offered to put me up in his home in the suburbs. Since it was a short stay I took him up on his generosity. There's an express train station that connects the central city to the airport. The train is timely, taking exactly 24 minutes to arrive. The train connects to a shopping mall, which was where I would meet Mike. After landing and clearing customs in record time (under 10 minutes), I was on the train. 24 minutes later, after many text messages and a couple of phone calls, I'd find Mike.

It's hard to describe my first impressions of Hong Kong. Hong Kong has more skyscrapers than anywhere in the world, so in some respects it felt like New York or Dubai. But how consolidated everything appears is unlike anything I've seen in the world. The city is like a huge Sim City megapolis of sorts.

Hong Kong Airport

The American Club

By the time I met Mike it was already close to 10pm. He asked if I was hungry and suggested we visit an ex-pat club located in his work building called "The American Club". Friends from back home mentioned visiting the club was a must-do, so I was excited. We ordered food and checked out the views form the clubs Balcony. The weather wasn't cooperating much, but some of the photos came out pretty nice. The club was apparently a perk to employees, but now it's not. It's a pretty nice place though, and the burger I had was absolutely fantastic. Surprising considering how hit or miss beef can be outside the US or Australia.

Views from The American Club

Views from The American Club

Views from The American Club

Mike and me

Tomorrow

Mike and his wife have a two year old boy, so the day would begin around 6am. I felt exhausted and had a scratch throat (probably from breathing dry airplane cabin air for 16 hours).

The 16 hour flight...

Waking Up

My flight left at 2pm, requiring me to be at the airport roughly around noon. The morning started off with breakfast with my mom, than we took care of the errands. Post office (mail last minute stuff), Gander Mountain (for a water bottle), my mom's shop (had some IT stuff to do) and off to the airport we were. I checked in the night prior and did not plan on checking bags, so I figured 90 minutes was enough. To my dismay, my ticket was not flagged as a known traveler. As I'd find out at the airport, preferred traveler (TSA Pre) is completely unavailable at ORD's international terminal. To the regular line I go. The good thing was the line was very short, unlike with the other terminals.

Flight

The flight was delayed, but only for 15 minutes. The night earlier I was talking with a friend in Hong Kong and he invited me to stay with him. Initially I planned on staying in a hostel. I ran the location by him and he pushed me to stay with him - apparently the building is known for being...uh, rough. He offered to pick me up at the train station which connects to the airport. So lodging was squared away.

As I mentioned before, the flight was almost 16 hours. I'd leave Chicago at 2pm Monday and arrive in Hong Kong on 8pm on Tuesday. Hong Kong is 13 hours ahead of Chicago - so effectively a day disappears.  I had window seats booked for all legs of the flight. Cathay Pacific flies the 777 between Chicago and Bangkok, not the 747 I so very much love. In any case, the flight was comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as a 16 hour flight can be. I saw next to a kid, maybe 15, and his mother had the aisle. They were en route to the Philippines. They were pretty nice, but the kid was coughing a lot and whipped out a bottle of cold medicine half way through the flight. Each seat had an entertainment console filled with recent movies (some still not available on DVD) and TV. The TV had a USB port on it and a unique power outlet that was useless to me. I had also downloaded some movies to my iPad. I made it through one movie and watched some TV (breaking bad). I managed to get about 2-3 hours of sleep, but that was it. I also managed to get some reading in about Hong Kong and Thailand.  I picked up an inflatable U shaped travel pillow and it worked quite well for supporting my head when I leaned against the window.

The food was pretty good. We were served several rounds of drinks and a meal. The pasta was pretty tasty. I was sporadically watching the progress of the flight on the moving map. Wonder which direction the flight took to Hong Kong? I thought the flight would either go west or east - I wasn't sure which direction was closer. Well, to my surprise the flight went north. It took me about 30 seconds to remember the world was round and going north over the poles was, I assume, the shortest distance.

All in all, the longest flight out of Chicago really isn't too bad with Cathay Pacific.

Love the water bottle hook!

Somewhere over Siberia 

I was able to get somewhere between 1.5-3 hours of sleep, roughly right before the flight landed.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Tuesday night, would be my first day in Hong Kong. I'd have until late afternoon on Thursday to experience Hong Kong. Since I only had about 48 total hours in Hong Kong, jet lag would have to wait. 

Asia Time

Background

To say the least, this trip wasn't planned far in advance. I had been thinking of traveling to East Asia, but I didn't pull the trigger until I confirmed my next work gig and ended up with some time off before my start date. I had a ski trip with some friends planned beginning of April, so my project start date was set to follow my return. I had a few weeks to kill before that though.  I had to find something other than shoveling snow, so Thailand seemed like a good option. Last minute tickets to Thailand weren't much of a premium above tickets booked well I'm advance, plus February is an ideal time to visit the area. Chicago has been averaging miserable sub zero temperatures, so traveling to one of the hottest climates on the planet sounded like a good option. 

Goodbye, snow!

Unfortunately for me (and my mom who is a compulsive worrier, especially about her primary caretaker), a single destination international trip just seems to vanilla. My last adventure, less than a year earlier, began with a 3+ month round trip ticket to Israel. The trip would go on to span over 20 countries and 4 continents (Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Europe. Plus Ireland and Cyprus, not sure if they're technically part of any of he primary continents). Using skyscanner and kayak I quickly began to understand what stopovers I could include at little cost. Most people dread layovers, but if I can book a flight with a 48 hour layover and it lands at the right time I can have 2 nights in an additional city. Plus it helps breakup the flight. I tried creating a multi-city itinerary but that quickly went nowhere, there were really only two carriers with competitive airfare to Bangkok. I juggled with connecting through Seoul, South Korea or Hong Kong - I had friends in both cities so I was excited. Ironically, my friend who is now in Seoul introduced me to my friend in Hong Kong. We all worked for the same company in the mid 2000s. I choose Hong Kong because that city had the best flight times - I'd get in at 8pm and depart 4pm two nights later. I'd have an entire day and half of two days to explore Hong Kong. I had a flight in mind on Friday night, but held off on booking until Saturday to ensure lodging wasn't impossible in any of the countries. I also tinkered with the idea of building Japan into the trip. On Saturday afternoon I pressed the button. Kayak was giving me problems though. I have a trusted traveler number, but there was no place to put it in the order area. I called the airline (Cathay Pacific) and they took care of everything over the phone. I was happy to learn that I'd simply be out a $100 cancelation fee if I cancelled the flight anytime before - very cool Cathay Pacific. Clocking 10 minutes shy of 16 hours, I'd also soon discover the Chicago-Hong Kong route is the longest nonstop flight out of Chicago. This will be one heck of a journey.

The flight left in less than 48 hours, so I had a lot of work to do.

The next day I had some running around to do. First issue involved contact lenses. My rx had expired by 5-6 months and I only had a few days of lenses left. I couldn't get an appointment with he doctor, but they were more than happy to give me a couple of weeks supply gratis. I love you, Costco optical. While there I picked up some safety food staples consisting mostly of beef jerky. It lasts forever, is an excellent source of protein, and breaking up the big costco bag with my foodsavor gadget works great.  

The plan was to have dinner with my mom the night before, stay overnight, and have her drop me off at O'hare. So I was off to the suburbs and I'd leave the next afternoon for Hong Kong. 

Gear for 2-3 week trip