From
1350
on
to
1767,
beautiful
Ayuthaya,
86
km
north
of
Bangkok,
served
as
the
capital
of
Thailand.
But
due
to
a
Burmese
invasion,
it
was
completely
destroyed
and
as
capital
replaced
by
Bangkok,
founded
in
1782,
by
the
first
king
Rama
I
of
the
Chakri
dynasty.
The
population
is
now
6
000
000
people
It
has
many
famous
attractions:
such
as
the
Grand
Palace,
many
temples:
Wat
Arun,
Wat
Traimit
-
5
1/2
ton
golden
Buddha
...,
Vimanek
Teak
Mansion,
floating
markets,
boattours,
crocodile
farms,
dance
performances,
markets
and
shopping
areas.
Also
welknown
for
its
traffic
congestions
and
air
pollution
However,
we
arrived
there
just
before
New
Year
and
we
did
not
recognize
the
city
anymore:
no
cars,
no
pollution,
the
last
800
m
of
Silom
Road
is
closed
now
on
every
sunday
and
it
becomes
an
open
air
market.
Day
23
Bangkok.
It
is
early
in
the
morning,
when
we
arrive
in
the
main
station
and
very
crowded,
because
many
are
leaving
Bangkok
to
the
country
side
for
the
festivities
of
New
Year.
We
take
a
taxi
to
Manhora
Hotel,
where
we
booked
2
rooms
by
internet
from
Belgium.
We
get
these
without
a
problem
and
we
take
breakfast
in
the
Hotel.
Once
finished,
we
cross
the
river
to
visit
the
82
m
high
Wat
Arun.
We
were
disappointed,
that
it
is
now
forbidden
to
climb
on
the
pagode,
from
which,
you
had
in
the
past,
a
magnificient
view
over
the
river
and
its
activities.
The
pagode
is
embedded
with
a
mosaic
of
broken
chinese
porcelain.
Many
tons
of
this
old
porcelain
were
once
used
as
balast
in
the
chinese
ships,
arriving
in
Bangkok.
The
area
is
flooded
with
tourists,
almost
all
japonese.
We
cross
the
river
and
walk
to
Wat
Pho,
the
oldest
and
one
of
the
nicest
in
town.
It
contains
many
Buddha
images
and
the
largest
reclining
Buddha,
46
m
long
-
15
m
high.
The
next
spot
is
the
Grand
Palace
and
Wat
Phra
Kaew.
I
have
my
bad
day
today
and
I
decide
to
stay
outside
to
walk
to
the
amulet
market
or
rest,
while
the
others
visit
the
palace.
I
have
awful
pain
in
the
back
and
on
the
other
hand,
I
saw
the
Palace
already
several
times
before.
We
have
a
late
lunch
in
a
riverside
restaurant
and
we
return
to
the
Chao
Phraya
River
Express
terminal,
where
we
take
a
boat,
which
goes
as
far
north
as
possible.
On
our
ride
back,
we
hope
to
take
a
picture
of
Wat
Aru
by
sunset
-
but
we
are
too
late.
No
problem,
we
were
able
to
take
a
picture
of
the
new
Saphan
suspension
bridge,
which
will
be
open
to
traffic
in
april
next
year.
We
have
dinner
in
Cafe
India,
close
to
the
Manhora
Hotel.
In
1973,
the
same
restaurant
was
in
the
same
street
as
Oriental
Hotel,
where
I
stayed
at
that
time,
on
a
business
trip
through
the
orient.
The
restaurant
looks
at
first
sight
not
very
inviting
and
most
people
go
probably
to
the
modern
indian
restaurant
on
the
other
side
of
the
street.
We
ordered
tandoori
chicken
as
in
the
past
and
the
meal
was
just
deliceous.
We
talked
with
the
ownwer
ofcourse
about
the
past.
We
have
problems
to
find
it,
because
at
that
time,
we
arrived
by
car,
while
now,
we
have
not
even
the
full
adress.
We
get
tired
and
we
decide
to
return
from
Soi
24,
but
we
ask
in
extremis
for
info
to
a
local
resident
and
he
sends
us
back
in
the
street,
where,
more
to
the
end,
we
find
the
huge
restaurant
in
a
side
street.
Here
we
will
have
our
New
Years
Eve
Dinner
-
but
we
are
a
bit
early,
although
very
glad,
we
have
found
it.We choose several kinds of fish, which the cooks prepare right away and with a good glass of wine, we finish our dinner. We miss the presence of our chinese friend - we know her and her family already for many years and she is always a very nice company and a good guide throughout Bkk. Now, she travelled with her family to the north, the morning we arrived in Bkk from the north.
We return to the connection of Sukhumvit Rd and Soi 24, where we take the skytrain to return to Silom Rd. It just takes a few minutes. The train is carrying many hundreds of young people to Bkk center for the count-down to 2002. In Silom Rd, we decide to seperate, because there are many ten-thousands of people there to watch shows. However, we decide at the end not to wait, because there is no way to sit down and have a rest; we return a few minutes before midnight to the hotel. In our room, we are surprised by a huge firework from the riverside at the Oriental - it is a pitty, we did not know that, so we missed it.
Day
25
Bangkok.
New
Years
day.
We
take
the
Chao
Phraya
River
Express
boat
and
we
always
enjoye
the
ride,
because
it
is
facinating
to
watch
from
the
waterside
the
urban
river
life
.
The
ride
is
fast
and
very
cheap.
We
walk
to
the
Vimanmek
Mansion,
part
of
the
Dusit
Palace.
We
can
only
visit
the
teak
mansion
as
a
group.In
the
past,
we
made
this
visit
privately.
There
are
Thai
classical
dances
in
the
pavilion,
canal
side
of
the
teak
building.
You
have
to
pay
an
extra
fee
for
videofilming.
We
have
some
time
left
and
we
walk
to
the
Marble
Temple
or
Wat
Benchamabophit.
It
is
a
beautiful
example
of
modern
Thai
wat
architecture.
The
courtyard
exhibits
53
Buddha
images,
from
which
many
are
original.
We
have
not
to
pay
an
entrance
fee,
may
be,
because
we
arrive
rather
late.
It
is
a
beautiful
late
afternoon
and
we
decide
to
walk
along
the
canals
-
Thanon
Krung
Kasem
-
to
Tha
Thewat,
the
pier,
where
we
can
take
the
express
ferry.
It
is
surprisingly
and
pleasantly
clean
along
the
walking
lane
and
there
is
no
traffic
at
all.
We
never
had
thought
to
experience
this
in
Bangkok.
We
never
had
expected
neither
to
see
so
many
large
fish
at
the
pier,
pushing
each
other
to
catch
some
bread,
which
we
throw
to
them
in
the
river.
We
always
thought
that
the
river
was
dead.
We
go
to
the
new
Indian
Restaurant,
opposite
the
Manhora
Hotel,.
There
are
many
guests
and
the
dining
room
is
chic,
we
enjoye
the
meal,
it
is
more
expensive
than
the
one
before.
But
after
all
the
dining
yesterday
evening
was
even
better.
|
HAPPY NEW YEAR |
|
2002 |
Day
26
I
stay
in
my
room,
while
the
others
return
to
River
City
for
shopping
-
only
very
few
shops
are
open.
At
noon,
we
take
our
backpacks
and
we
walk
to
Silom
Road,
which
is
parallel
to
Surawong
Road.
An
airport
bus
passes
us,
while
walking
under
the
express
way
and
we
are
lucky
to
made
it
stop
for
us.
It
is
a
cheap,
comfortable
and
fast
way
to
reach
the
airport.
We
have
our
returnflight
home
at
3.45
pm
from
Bangkok
to
Singapore,
where
we
arrive
at
7.10
pm.
Just
a
few
minutes
too
late
to
have
a
free
sightseeing
tour
through
Singapore,
offered
by
the
airport
authorities.
The
last
one
left
at
7
pm.
Now
we
have
to
wait
several
hours
for
our
last
returnflight
to
Paris,
at
10.50
pm.
However,
there
is
a
lot
to
see
and
to
do
in
the
transit
area:
a
free
show,
free
internet
acess,
nice
shops,
beautiful
gardens,
etc...
We
land
in
Paris
at
5.30
am
and
with
the
AFTGV
7.43
am.
we
arrive
in
Brussels
at
9.02
am
We
are
welcomed
by
the
family
in
Brugge,
about
2
hours
later
-
all
smiling
happy
faces,
specially
for
the
children.
Again,
we
made
a
wonderful
trip
through
a
world,
which
is
so
much
different
from
ours,
being
ages
behind.
We
are
grateful
to
Mr
Hla
Myaing
for
his
assistance
and
particularly
to
our
driver
and
guide
Mr
Kyaw,
who
provided
us
with
insight
on
the
country,
its
people
and
culture.
One
important
difference
with
our
tour
through
China
-
a
main
disadvantage:
we
could
not
communicate
by
internet
with
the
family
at
home
-
no
messages
from
the
family,
no
pictures
from
the
children,
Only
a
one
way
email,
from
Yangon
and
from
Mandalay
to
Belgium.