Asha Guesthouse

Asha Guesthouse is about 9 km north of Siam area and costs 300 baht. There is no A/C and no bathroom in the room. There is a ceiling fan and a balcony off of the room.
Balcony door and windows.












Hallway door and desk.









The bathroom is shared by the whole floor. There are 4 stalls and 3 shower stalls and three sinks. Toilet paper is kept outside the bathroom door which is an open door with hanging shells on strings.

The towel and I have been having a small disagreement. Every morning/evening I use this towel and it doesn't absorb water. It mostly pushes the water around. Annoying. Did I mention... annoying? :-) Minor details I realize, but entertaining and annoying to this foreign traveler!

Pics from the guesthouses... Wendy Guesthouse

These pics are from Wendy Guesthouse in the Siam area about 2 blocks from the MBK shopping center. The bedroom has A/C, a fridge and a tv. This cost 900 baht per night. The bathroom shower is not separate from the rest of the bathroom and the spray goes directly onto the floor.
Water is lukewarm or cold.













View from the window:

29 August 2008

Hi all,

I changed hotels today. I'm staying at Asha Guesthouse north of the Siam area (about 9 km north of where I was). Everything that was accessible from the last place is only another train ride by sky train and this hotel is about 1/3 the price of the other. I also am now sharing a multi stall/shower bathroom with the whole floor and my room doesn't have a/c or a phone. (I could get a room with a/c for 100 baht more). I'd rather pay less and save my money for fun stuff. :-) AND... the best thing about this neighborhood is that I found a salon and got a hair cut tonight for 150 baht ($5-6)! Although product or not - I'm in Thailand which translates to ... flat, sweaty hair. Great pics!! So much for style! But at least the mop is gone! :-) Yay!!! Oh yah... Internet is included in the room price so I'm saving even more (about 100-200 baht per day). All I have to do is go to the bar/pool table/swimming pool room with my laptop and plug in. I'm sitting at a table made of carved wood and drinking Schweppes Manao Soda (cost is 20 baht for those interested... the cold bottled water cost me 10 baht).

Today was spent getting to this hotel, answering e-mail, IM'ing and then shopping. For those of you that like inexpensive fun clothes, you might love Bangkok. Unless of course you don't like swap meets! Heh heh heh! There are a billion vendors on the streets and the malls are full of electronics. I could have bought a U2 cd today for 350 baht. Hmm... that translates to $10-11 USD - I think I could have bought it in the US! Ah well - it was fun hearing one of my favorite cd's playing in a foreign mall!! I trekked several miles today in search of umbrellas, shirts and who knows what else. So what do I end up with? Paper cd holders, elephant coin purses, sweet treats, a pork kabob, papaya, a hair cut and a hair dryer. Hmm... I need to learn where to shop! The umbrellas apparently can be found at 7-11 on every corner. Oh yeah... and slippers. I still need slippers!

As for local stores that are the same... there are 7-11's, the same car dealers (Honda, Mercedes, Nissan...), Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut... probably a ton of others but I'm drawing a blank.

Bangkok reminds me of India in some ways and yet it feels safer? Traffic is nuts - there are overpasses for pedestrians to cross streets, lots of people, traffic, the scent of garbage (although not nearly as prevailing as it was in India). There are a lot fewer beggars too and poverty is not so blatantly apparent or maybe it's not as prevalent. At least in the areas I've been.

It's beautiful here. I hate shopping and bartering, but I feel comfortable here. Minus the taxi ride to this hotel of course. That was a bit hair-raising as I wasn't sure about the taxi driver. We argued over the meter and price after I was on my way. I kept thinking... if I need to jump - what do I have to take with me? And then he didn't know how to get to the hotel which did not relieve my concern! Poor guy. I overpaid by about 25 baht - not much. (Mostly because we'd already agreed on a price before I got in and he ran the meter). He didn't speak English and I don't speak Thai. Try following a map, watching street signs to make sure you're on the right road, and hoping the guy isn't going to take a detour and confuse you... and then he pulls over for directions! ARGH!! By the time I got to my hotel, booked my room and closed my door... it was time for chocolate and a nervous moment of sitting on my bed wondering why I bothered to save myself $60+ to go through all this. And what the heck was I thinking - traveling alone! Ah well. The rest of the day went fine.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a bit more fun with temples or some other sight seeing. I am NOT a clothes shopper so today was a bit challenging! Although it's fun to see the city. I also went to the 43rd floor of the Baiyoke Tower - view of the entire city, Pratunam Market, Pantip Plaza ( a mall for computers, cameras, DVDs, CDs...) and the billion vendors nearby. I'm looking at the map and now I'm wondering if I was at the Pratunam Market - there were a lot of vendors but I'm not sure it was the market. Hmm.... might need to ask about that.

I still need a cell phone which will require a detour to the MBK Center (one block from where I was staying last night). MBK is a 7(?) story mall with a full floor dedicated to cell phones and a ton of other stuff... cosmetics, clothes, strange looking dried goods and cooked goods. It also has a vendor with tasty treats that I'd like to sample again (pictured below for the curious)! The yellow coconut and the white is a cream/marshmallow, all on a taco looking flat thing that tastes like a sugar cone.










Hope things are going well for all of you.

Love and hugs,
jaz

A day of temples

Hi all, (I can't seem to get rid of this underline...)

Today I visited the Reclining Buddha and the Grand Palace. Absolutely beautiful. I'm exhausted though so I'll just post a few pics.

The trip required a ride on the sky train and then a ferry ride followed by a ton of walking. It's hot and muggy here so I'm having to drink lots of water. By the end of my visit to the Grand Palace it was pouring and there was lighting and thunder directly overhead. Phenomenal and exciting experience! And so beautiful. Nice topper to the walks through the palace. The palace itself is amazing. I don't have words for it so here are a few pics that won't even do it the justice it deserves. Enjoy.

The ride back in the ferry was a bit rough but fun because of the rain but I made it back safely.

At the Temple of the Reclining Buddha:












The last 3 are at the Grand Palace.












And the rain... :-)













I'm not posting pics right now but the food at the markets was excellent. (And yes - I've taken pics of what I'm eating! I don't know what they are called so a picture will have to do)!

Bangkok - Day 2

Good morning all!

It is about 8:30 am in Bangkok on Wednesday, August 27th. I am staying at Wendy Guesthouse. I arrived yesterday about 10:30am and had a rather eventful trip from the airport to the hotel... lesson learned: don't be cheap and just pay the foreigner price for a taxi. Using the Airport Express is cheap BUT... 1/3 mile from the hotel with broken sidewalks and 4 flights of stairs... and I have 2 heavy suitcases and a heavy backpack and bag! :-)

Today I'm off to the Reclining Buddha and the Grand Temple. I'll try to post more later but wanted to let you all know I'm alive and well! The trip here went smooth - again - I'll add the details later.

My hotel is near the MBK a major shopping center and the Sky train (Siam Square area).

Also - please e-mail me your addresses - my address book could not be found in time to make my trip.

Love and hugs to all.
Joyann

Leave when???

This was a whirl wind weekend. I clearly bit off more than I could get done in the time I wanted. I am now leaving for my Yellowstone trip a day late. My step-daughter and I are taking a road trip for a week of alone time before I leave for a year. I'm going to miss my baby!! Okay - she's 16 and busy but I'll miss the option of her only being a 1-2 hour drive away!

My friends Tara, Erika, Sally, Lindy and Natasha hosted a really nice goodbye party for me on Saturday. You gals are incredible. The party was very sweet. Thank you so much. You mean the world to me and I'm going to miss you! To everyone that was able to make it - it was so nice to see you before I leave. Thanks for braving the lovely traffic too! I can't wait to read your comments in the photo album! And see the pics!!

Thank you to all of the friends who came by this week and cleaned and packed and helped. Sunday's plan was to finish the place and leave by 9:00am. Yes- I know a couple of you laughed at the thought - you were RIGHT!!! By 2:00 I called a friend who showed up with reinforcements for "an hour of work" and were here until after 10:00 last night! Thank you all for being there and for helping Lauren and I. You guys are incredible.

I dropped my dog off at Teri and Sandi's yesterday and bawled half the drive home. He's got a great host family and he'll be fine but I'm going to miss him! Teri and Sandy - thanks for helping me out and for taking Sully. I know he'll be happy and in the best of care. He's going to love Lola too!

Thank you to all of you for the support and hugs and laughs with preparing for this. I truly have the best of friends and family.

Love and hugs!! We're off to Yellowstone!!
http://www.theclipartsite.com/image_nps.php?category=yellowstone&picFile=yellowstone100.jpg&page=0

Quote and Thank You

I'm packing and going through boxes of papers and I came across a quote that I'd saved.

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."
"There's magic in you. Let it out."
~David Brower

My life has been so great already. I am surrounded by phenomenal people that I love. I lift my glass in cheers and gratitude to you. To all of you - you inspire me and push me to be a better person. I have tremendous respect for each of my friends and my family. Thank you for being a part of this process with me and for being a part of my life.

Lauren, you are the best daughter I could ever have asked for. I'm proud of you and inspired by your excitement for your life. You will go far kiddo! You have a beautiful heart and mind and a lot of love and laughter to give! I can't wait for our road trip! One more week and we'll be driving and arguing about what radio station to listen to!! heh heh heh :-)

I'm beginning to get incredibly excited for this upcoming year. This process has been a bit of a roller coaster with trying to get everything done and processing how I feel about leaving everything I know and trying something I've only up to now dreamed about. I'm finally getting more sleep but now I'm sick. Hmm... couldn't be the vaccines and stress and packing and ... and... and... did I get everything done? And why am I doing this? Who's idea was this? Oh yeah - mine. I am extremely happy with my decision. I'm just sad about leaving all the people I know, my work, my home, my step-daughter, my pets and even my city - Seattle! I will miss my life.

This is something that has drawn me for a long time. I want to do something that I believe in and do it in other cultures and meet new people. We have so much here in the U.S. it's easy to forget and to be complacent. The purpose of my trip is to do three volunteer stints, each different from the other, and to do them in different countries. I want exposure to different programs and experiences. I want to grow and I want to contribute. I have an opportunity to do this and I would regret it if I hadn't made this decision. I am so grateful.

Cheers to you and I wish you all the best.