Annnnnd that’s a wrap for Bangkok! I’ve now had three stints with Bangkok. The first was for two months, then 2 weeks before leaving to Ko Lanta, Singapore, and Bali then back to Bangkok for two weeks before Jason got in, and now the vacation part of Bangkok. I’m stunned that this trip is coming to an end. I volley back and forth wondering if I accomplished enough while I was out here and feeling grateful that I had more breakthrough professionally than I expected, just not in the monetary sense.
Nevertheless, Bangkok was an unforgettable experience and one of my favorite cities. The eclecticism of Bangkok is electrifying and dizzying at the same time. You feel energized by the vibrancy of the bustling streets vendors, glowing neon signs, and a towering backdrop of the skyscrapers but drained by the immensity of the meandering alleys that line all the major streets with nose-wrinkling unknown smells you’re afraid to inhale at the same time.
There is a charm to this place that blends the old culture juxtaposed with the new. You can escape back in time visiting the relics of old or just walk into the numerous night markets hidden behind the backs of the palaced malls or you can step into the future of design, consumerism, and entertainment with five-star hotels, Michelin star restaurants, infinity pools, and sky bars that loom over the city. It’s an unforgettable place with an alluring pull to come back. It’s a place I’d love to come back to, but for now, I’m ready to move on. I’ve had just enough of the city to be impressed and convinced it’s a place that deserves a revisit, yet anymore and I’d be disappointed and gasping for home.
To cap the trip, we went on a full day tour visiting different temples and ruins learning about the history of Thailand. We’ve been on three tours and we probably heard the same thing in each so we were pretty exhausted of listening at this point. At each place, we rushed off to do our own thing and exploring for ourselves. At each site, it was fun for about 20 minutes and after that, we were pretty overseeing temples. After a while, they all started looking the same.
Free breakfast at the executive lounge. My favorite thing since the vacation part of the trip started has been the executive lounge and it’s food. 
Bus ride over. The tour guide talked non-stopped it was impressive and annoying at the same time. 
We were the only ones in the tour to get a golf cart to check out the 46 acre palace grounds. Lol. Everyone was looking at us but they were the suckers after they realized how humid and hot it was. 
Some other ruins location…We didn’t pay much attention to the tour guide at this point 
Doggy trying to escape the heat but looks more like he’s getting over a bad hangover. 
Around 12:30 we headed to the second portion of the tour which was a river cruise down the Chao Phraya River. It took about an hour to get to the boat. When we got there, we were greeted by a buffet of food. I was ecstatic because was starving. We grubbed downstairs and then headed up to the second floor where we watched the view of the city coming down south back to the docking point in Bangkok.
The cruise took about 2 hours to get back. We docked and were met by our driver to take us back to the hotel. It was a short ride back and we were glad. It was a great tour but we were exhausted. The past three days, I’ve had a cumulative 8 hours (Could be less – my sleep was erratic last night at best) of sleep. Today won’t add many hours to that number either.
I took care of some lingering to do’s while back at the hotel, Jason threw his laundry in the washing machine, and we got ready to head over to the executive lounge to see what they had for dinner. The food has been on point since we’ve been here but today’s dinner buffet was a miss. So much so I forgot to take pictures of the underwhelming food.
We were planning to check out the different malls but we decided to get massages and relax instead because we have to leave the hotel by 5:30 am to head over to Chiang Mai. We went to a little higher end massage (about 40 bucks for 2 hours). It was good but my favorite place was better. I started getting a running nose while at the massage which sucked. The lack of sleep and bad eating caught up. It made the massage a bit less enjoyable but who can complain about a two hour massage?
We got back pretty late and Jason’s laundry just finished drying. It’s a 2-in-1 washing/drying machine and it takes forever to dry. Each session for a medium-sized load is 4 hours. I had to stay awake to wash my laundry (1.5 hours) and it just finished at 1:03 am. I turned on the dry mode and it’ll be (cross my fingers) done by 5 am. I’ll get about 3.5 hours of sleep tonight if I’m lucky since I have to be up by 4:30 am to finish packing and folding my laundry. I hope it’s fully dry by then because my laundry load is pretty full. It would be a huge bummer if it wasn’t and I have a lug around damp clothes…
That’s it for today and officially making it the last full day in Bangkok. On to the next…