1 Week in Thailand - last minute
May 22nd, 2006, 07:43 PM
#21
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Bossotel IS on the river AND near Skytrain! I would say it is one of the most "conveniently" located hotels relatively speaking. However no matter where you stay:
-To/from airport requires taxi
-Water taxi doesn't run in evening and so after that had to take taxi/tuk-tuk.
-Once had to take a taxi to GET to the river taxi!
-Sky train didn't go anywhere I wanted to go other than Jim Thompson's place.
-To go from Grand Palace to the other palace on same ticket (Vlamink or something like that) needed a taxi/tuk-tuk.
-Etc., etc.
A friend had stayed at the Royal Hotel near the National Museum and recommended it as being most convenient. I would agree (actually ended up at the hotel twice inadvertantly - both times needing transportation to get back to River area) but the reviews on TripAdvisor were so bad I couldn't do it.
-To/from airport requires taxi
-Water taxi doesn't run in evening and so after that had to take taxi/tuk-tuk.
-Once had to take a taxi to GET to the river taxi!
-Sky train didn't go anywhere I wanted to go other than Jim Thompson's place.
-To go from Grand Palace to the other palace on same ticket (Vlamink or something like that) needed a taxi/tuk-tuk.
-Etc., etc.
A friend had stayed at the Royal Hotel near the National Museum and recommended it as being most convenient. I would agree (actually ended up at the hotel twice inadvertantly - both times needing transportation to get back to River area) but the reviews on TripAdvisor were so bad I couldn't do it.
May 22nd, 2006, 08:10 PM
#23
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Well I would agree that ONE taxi in NYC will be more than ONE taxi in BKK (BKK airport excluded) but in NYC there really is no need to take a taxi. Ex: Today I walked probably about 2 1/2 miles to work, errands, Lincoln Center and then took subway to/from grocery store. Taxi never crossed my mind - much less a tuk-tuk 
. So no price negotiations, no hassles with drivers, no traffic and no cost with unlimited metro card. Exercise, fresh air and pleasant walking with people watching and window shopping through Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue and Central Park.
. So no price negotiations, no hassles with drivers, no traffic and no cost with unlimited metro card. Exercise, fresh air and pleasant walking with people watching and window shopping through Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue and Central Park.
May 23rd, 2006, 06:33 PM
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Good question: It was not one of my best trips (and for more than just travel logistics). I have been to more that 50 countries and have fallen in love with most of them. There are a few with which I have not bonded and Thailand was one.
I travel a lot internationally - so far this year I have spent 3 weeks in South America (Patagonia), 2 weeks in Asia (this trip which also included Hong Kong) and been to Europe twice (3 weeks in Italy and 1 week in Brussels. One thing I like about traveling independently is that I meet people with whom I stay in contact - both locals and other travelers. Yet I didn't meet anyone interesting on this trip. Ironically, the only business card I received on the trip was from someone I met in the US - I had just landed at Newark and he had just missed his flight to Bogota so we traveled back into NYC together! This is in contrast to Italy where I came back with about 20 cards (all Italian) plus one live boy
I got ripped off a lot by the Thais. Everyone says the people are so nice and they do smile a lot but that's b/c they are taking you to the bank! As a New Yorker, you would think I would be more savvy but I guess I'm use to people being more direct about it! Although not a lot of money, it still leaves an upleasant feeling. I think this is why I found the travel issue so irksome - beyond just the inconvenience factor. I also got tricked into not going into the Grand Palace the first time I went to see it b/c I was told it was "closed" for the buddha holiday - I definitely must had jet lag to fall for that one!
Lots of people mention the markets but I found the people too pushy for it to be agreeable. Fortunately I'm not a shopper so didn't go to Thailand for that but still it could have been more fun. I spent 30 min at night mkt in CM and that was enough.
Another incident: After buying a few things at night mkt, I was making my way home when a woman pointed out a beautiful purse. I don't really carry them and certainly don't need another one but I asked her how much it cost. She told me and I declined and started to leave. She then dropped price and but I told her aside from the fact that I didn't need it, I didn't have much $$ left. She told me to name my price and then pointed to her children and said she could really use the money. I said I probably didn't have the amount for which she would be willing to sell it however she insisted. So I showed her what I had left (about 60% of what she asked) and she got mad and told me I should not be talking to anyone at the market (BTW the amount of money I had was more than anything I had purchased so far so not an unreasonable amount to still be shopping with) and that I should go right home and not talk to anyone else! I couldn't believe it - I was dealing with her in good faith and she was yelling at me!
While in BKK, I prebooked a few things through the travel agent in the hotel. For Chiang Mai I asked for a central hotel and also said maybe I should only pay for 2 nights since I wanted to do a hiking trip and I thought some of them were overnight. She said all of the trips came back each day. I got to CM and, of course, my hotel was not central and, more annoying, all the hiking trips were 2 days! I used half my day in CM trying to reduce my hotel stay from 3 days to 2. Likewise she got me the hotel in Ayuttaya - my only requirement was that it be central. Somehow, it was the LEAST central hotel in the city! I had to spend time trying to undo that as well. In each case I got it corrected but only through sheer persistence and it definitely took time.
On the positive side, I enjoyed the special festivities relating to the Buddhist holiday. I was in my favorite wat in CM (I think is Suan Dok) and was the only westerner while they were preparing special feast which was fun. As I mentioned I also did the 15K pilgrimage walk up to the Doi Suthep which was great. Also in BKK, went to a special festival the night before.
While I'm normally a big city girl, I really prefered the more rural areas to the cities in Thailand. The treks in Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi were great!
I'm glad I traveled around - despite the advice I got against doing this. Ironically, I felt the travel logistics worked perfectly! Incredibly efficient actually. Since I don't have a burning desire to return, it was good to see the things I wanted to do.
Good question: It was not one of my best trips (and for more than just travel logistics). I have been to more that 50 countries and have fallen in love with most of them. There are a few with which I have not bonded and Thailand was one.
I travel a lot internationally - so far this year I have spent 3 weeks in South America (Patagonia), 2 weeks in Asia (this trip which also included Hong Kong) and been to Europe twice (3 weeks in Italy and 1 week in Brussels. One thing I like about traveling independently is that I meet people with whom I stay in contact - both locals and other travelers. Yet I didn't meet anyone interesting on this trip. Ironically, the only business card I received on the trip was from someone I met in the US - I had just landed at Newark and he had just missed his flight to Bogota so we traveled back into NYC together! This is in contrast to Italy where I came back with about 20 cards (all Italian) plus one live boy
I got ripped off a lot by the Thais. Everyone says the people are so nice and they do smile a lot but that's b/c they are taking you to the bank! As a New Yorker, you would think I would be more savvy but I guess I'm use to people being more direct about it! Although not a lot of money, it still leaves an upleasant feeling. I think this is why I found the travel issue so irksome - beyond just the inconvenience factor. I also got tricked into not going into the Grand Palace the first time I went to see it b/c I was told it was "closed" for the buddha holiday - I definitely must had jet lag to fall for that one!
Lots of people mention the markets but I found the people too pushy for it to be agreeable. Fortunately I'm not a shopper so didn't go to Thailand for that but still it could have been more fun. I spent 30 min at night mkt in CM and that was enough.
Another incident: After buying a few things at night mkt, I was making my way home when a woman pointed out a beautiful purse. I don't really carry them and certainly don't need another one but I asked her how much it cost. She told me and I declined and started to leave. She then dropped price and but I told her aside from the fact that I didn't need it, I didn't have much $$ left. She told me to name my price and then pointed to her children and said she could really use the money. I said I probably didn't have the amount for which she would be willing to sell it however she insisted. So I showed her what I had left (about 60% of what she asked) and she got mad and told me I should not be talking to anyone at the market (BTW the amount of money I had was more than anything I had purchased so far so not an unreasonable amount to still be shopping with) and that I should go right home and not talk to anyone else! I couldn't believe it - I was dealing with her in good faith and she was yelling at me!
While in BKK, I prebooked a few things through the travel agent in the hotel. For Chiang Mai I asked for a central hotel and also said maybe I should only pay for 2 nights since I wanted to do a hiking trip and I thought some of them were overnight. She said all of the trips came back each day. I got to CM and, of course, my hotel was not central and, more annoying, all the hiking trips were 2 days! I used half my day in CM trying to reduce my hotel stay from 3 days to 2. Likewise she got me the hotel in Ayuttaya - my only requirement was that it be central. Somehow, it was the LEAST central hotel in the city! I had to spend time trying to undo that as well. In each case I got it corrected but only through sheer persistence and it definitely took time.
On the positive side, I enjoyed the special festivities relating to the Buddhist holiday. I was in my favorite wat in CM (I think is Suan Dok) and was the only westerner while they were preparing special feast which was fun. As I mentioned I also did the 15K pilgrimage walk up to the Doi Suthep which was great. Also in BKK, went to a special festival the night before.
While I'm normally a big city girl, I really prefered the more rural areas to the cities in Thailand. The treks in Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi were great!
I'm glad I traveled around - despite the advice I got against doing this. Ironically, I felt the travel logistics worked perfectly! Incredibly efficient actually. Since I don't have a burning desire to return, it was good to see the things I wanted to do.
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