Thursday, March 20th 2008

I got, well we got ripped off at the Amari Hotel in Bangkok. We were told at check-in that the cost would be $60.00 per night, so we stayed for 2 nights. At checkout we were told it was over $300.00 a night and that there was nothing they could do about that. I was so angry that I was shaking! I did my best to stay composed, and realized that without anything written on paper, I could not prove this statement. I sucked it up, paid, and left.
After we left the hotel, we went to the Royal Palace and temple in Bangkok. It was incredibly beautiful! The King’s sister recently passed away from cancer, and everyone was there wearing black, and was there to pay his or her respects. Well, my Aunt warned us of this and we prepared by wearing black. Little did I know that it could not be sleeveless? So it was a small fiasco finding the farang some type of cover-up to hide my shoulders. My Aunt’s BFF’s daughter (did you get that?), works at the Royal Palace, and found me some light blue work shirt to put on so that I could even enter the grounds. It made me stick-out like a sore thumb even more! Here, we did a quick 2-hour tour (apparently this should be an all-day event), and I was able to see the infamous Emerald Buddha. This is a gorgeous Buddha that is inside a temple that is made completely of the precious stone. It was breath taking. I prayed, donated a few baht, and left feeling a little more cultured and schooled in Thai history.

We left the Royal Palace and started our trek over to my Ba Dang’s (my Aunt) house. It was about a 9-hour drive, and at this point I have no clue what day it is or what time it is. All I know at this point is that I miss Allan so bad that I want to cry. We finally get to my Aunt’s house safely in Sakkon Nakhon, and I go straight to bed and crash.