January 9, Friday – Bangkok , Thailand Pre-trip | The Escapades of Pookie and Allan

Accomodations: Bizotel Premier Hotel

I didn’t get the greatest sleep last night since the time change created havoc with my sleep system and also…I fell asleep practically right away when we returned from dinner, which wasn’t a good thing. But I’m bright eyed and bushy tailed (what exactly does that mean??) and we were down at breakfast by 7:30.

Everyone bows when greeting you, which is the way to show respect. It is done with the “wai” – palms pressed together as if you are praying, with a slight head bow. It is used when greeting someone, saying thanks, apologizing, and most importantly…for showing respect. For a casual greeting, a simple head nod with the wai is acceptable. For elders, a bow from the waist with the wai is respectful. If you are greeting a monk or royalty, your hands in the wai should go to your forehead and you do a very deep bow. Elders usually wait for the younger person to initiate the wai. I noticed there’s a lot of bowing going on to us when we are out and about, usually from the waist, which I now realize is because we are “elders”. Visitors to Thailand aren’t expected to initiate the wai, but should return one politely, which we do. Many times, the word ‘‘sawasdee’ is paired with the wai which means hello or goodbye.

And speaking of elders, I forgot to mention yesterday that when we went through customs at the Bangkok airport, our guide told us to look for the “Elder Priority Line”, which we did, and we were able to avoid the long lines that were going through passport control and we were out in record time.

Our guide for the trip, Are, will be our guide through Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. We will meet a new guide in Vietnam. As I mentioned, Are called us before we left and gave us a lot of useful information. He also set up a WhatsApp and has been giving us site-seeing ideas and restaurant recommendations which are very helpful.

Allan and I decided to take a 30 minute walk to the Jim Thompson home. The weather is beautiful… In the low 80’s with a lovely breeze. The walk once again was harrowing as we navigated crossing the streets. You have to have eyes all around so you don’t get run over by the myriad of vehicles…tuk tuks, motorcycles, delivery trucks, cars, and vender wagons. It is an experience for sure.

Jim Thompson, according to Wikipedia, “was unlike any other figure in Southeast Asia. He was an American, an ex-architect, a retired army officer, a one-time spy, a silk merchant and a collector of antiques. Most of Thompson’s treasures, if not all, were amassed after he came to Thailand.”.

We visited the garden outside the home and then we were invited to take off our shoes and tour the home. I presented my doctor’s note that stated I had to wear a sturdy sneaker at all times and could not go barefoot. They were very gracious and said it was fine. I took off my one sneaker and covered the sock with a bootie we had purchased before we left home. Then I covered my sneaker with another bootie. It wasn’t easy walking with one shoe on and one shoe off, (like Dilly Dilly Dumping ‘s son John) and I might have to request that I wear both sneakers covered so I don’t injure my hip from the uneven gait by wearing only one shoe when we visit the temples.

Thompson’s home was built in stages and the construction consists of six teak buildings that connected to each other to make up the different rooms. This technique represented the best in traditional Thai architecture at that time. Most of the houses are at least two centuries old and had been dismantled and brought to Bangkok from places as far away as the old capital of Ayudhya.

The home was beautiful, as were the many antiquities featured throughout the house. The place was open and airy and the breezes flowed through making it very pleasant.

Thompson brought the silk industry in Thailand back from almost certain demise and the gift shop featured many of his designs in beautiful scarves and dresses.

Thompson was born under the astrological sign of the horse in March of 1907, and apparently a seer told him he would have a life filled with bounty, but to be careful after age 60. Interestingly, Thompson disappeared from Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands after going for a walk in March of 1967. One of the largest land searches in history took place to find him, but to no avail. He was declared dead in 1974. Eerily, he was 60 years old.

We walked back to the hotel and happened upon the owner and CEO of the hotel – Danny – who introduced himself to us and sat with us for a while. I was asking him where a good place would be for lunch and he asked if we had tried his restaurant Patio in the hotel. We said we hadn’t and so he asked if we would like to try some authentic Thai dishes, and if course we said yes! He brought us in and he had the head waiter recommend some dishes: authentic Pad Thai with prawns and Massamon curry with chicken. Danny said that he was told that his chef was originally a one star Michelin chef and he would be preparing the meal. I’m not sure if that is actually true since I couldn’t corroborate his story, but that being said, the food was outstanding.

We went up to our room and rested until 5:30 and then went down to the lobby to meet Are and the rest of the group.

There will be 15 of people on the main trip…11 of which are taking the pre-trip, including Allan and myself. We all introduced ourselves and Are told us what to expect for the next seven days. He said it will be cooler in Chiang Mai, but the mosquitos will be in full force, especially at the camp where we will be for two nights. We have malaria pills and our insect spray so fingers crossed we will be protected.

We leave the hotel at 7:30 tomorrow morning so here’s hoping for a good nights sleep.

BTW- The saying “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” refers to a lively and alert squirrel (hence the “bushy tailed”) who is full of energy and enthusiasm. The saying first appeared in print around the late 19th century. So I guess that was me this morning and would explain my sudden urge to forage for acorns. 🐿️ 🐿️🐿️

Along our walk. I asked the man if I could take his photo and he nodded and said yes.

The truck where Allan exchanged US money for Thai baht. Looks shady but it worked out fine.

We walked along the canal on the way to the Thompson home.

A block designed by Thomson to print the designs onto his silk. The pattern mirrors the ancient vases below.

The living room in the home.

A little boy’s dresser with commode. See the ceramic cat? His head comes off and the little one can pee inside it. They felt this would encourage toilet training.😳

The pic below are the astrological signs that were meaningful to Thompson. He moved into his home on one of these astrological signs pictured (I forget which is which) since a seer told him that day would be the luckiest. The other sign is of his birth sign, the horse.