Around the World in 180 Days

We met Geraldine and Thomas for breakfast at the hotel restaurant at 8 AM and then set out for the palace. It was about a 15-minute walk and we had checked it would be open when we got there. En route, a woman stopped us and asked where we were headed. We said the palace and she said that it was closed to foreigners until the afternoon. We were nearby so we decided we’d proceed nonetheless. It was open.

It has a dress code that was being strictly observed. Because Brad had shorts on, he was stopped and told to cover up. He tied a scarf of mine on like a sarong but no go. He was sent back and had to buy himself a pair of what we call “temple pants” to be allowed in.

Our main goal was to see the emerald Buddha, which is housed at the palace. We bought our tickets and entered the property which is stunning. It was extremely busy because there is a major Buddhist celebration taking place tomorrow, as well as the queen’s birthday celebration tomorrow. Hence, we quickly learned that the temple itself where the emerald Buddha is housed, was not open. The door was ajar and Thomas managed to use the zoom on his camera to get a picture. Brad and I had seen the Buddha back when we were here 30+ years ago but it was nice to at least catch a glimpse of it. We explored the rest of the property and decided we would head to the River City area to visit the warehouse gallery district that’s pretty trendy and funky. We also wanted to visit the café, called Mother Roaster which is well known in Bangkok because of its 70-year-old woman barista owner. It’s an unbelievable spot on the second floor of a derelict warehouse with auto parts and other abandoned items on the ground floor. When you make your way to the stairs, you can’t believe there’s a coffee shop there. We were disappointed when her son told us she wasn’t there because she was opening another location. Her son explained that her original café was just a little takeout stall. She’s quite a legend.

From there we took a ferry across the river back to IconSiam. We thought we’d do a bit of shopping before we headed back to the ship. We went our separate ways, and agreed to meet at the exit door at 3:15. Everyone was there more than punctually and we headed to the Grab stand and called a car. All aboard time was 4:30 pm with departure at 5. We were confident we had more than enough time given that, even with traffic, the trip should take about 45 minutes.

Well, we were wrong. The driver got us to the port area around 4:10 pm and it became evident that he had NO IDEA where exactly to take us. And he didn’t speak English. We had the port address in Thai for him but that didn’t help.

By 4:20 we were quite anxious. Fortunately, we have savvy friends, Erin and Mui, on board who I messaged and immediately got on the case for us. They informed the Purser and connected us to the port agent who spoke Thai. Thanks to their incredible help, the driver was directed to the correct spot and we wound up on board at 4:40 pm. While we were late, it appeared, there were others even later but it certainly was a panic we never want to experience again. Czytaj więcej