Wednesday, September 27, 2017 – Pattaya to Bangkok

So nice to sleep in!  I just catch the end of sunrise and have a slow-moving morning.  Ginger gets up and has another swim in the pool, enjoying the bubbles and jets and swimming laps.  We have breakfast, greeting all our new friends, return to the room to pack and blog and are downstairs at just the right time to turn over our suitcases, turn in our keys, and board the bus.

It is about three hours back to Bangkok and we should get there just about in time to check into our rooms.  During the trip, Rio asks about our flight plans and he arranges for a van to pick us up around 8:30 in the evening on the 29^th.  That should get us to the airport in plenty of time for our 12:35 flight to Nagoya.  He also suggests that when we get to the hotel today we ask for a late check out and confirm that they will hold on to our luggage during the day.

Interesting sights from the bus

The second tallest hotel in Bangkok.  But Rio says it's not as nice as ours, just tall!

The slum apartments are right next to the expensive condos.

There is a restroom stop and pretty soon we’re in the big city again.  Along the way we saw lots and lots of shipping containers. And before we know it, we’re back ! We check back into the Sheraton and settle in our new room.  The wifi is working and the room overlooks the river.  Life is good.  We’re to meet at 5:00 for dinner and “a really big show”, kind of the grand finale of the tour, although there are two more temples tomorrow and the Grand Palace. 

We have just enough time to blog a bit and stretch out.  I can’t quit yawning, so I brew a small pot of coffee and find that it takes all the sugar and all the creamer and some extra water to make one drinkable cup!!  But I guess that’s really all I need!!

Our group is really good and we’re all assembled and on the bus when Rio announces that there’s a problem with one of the buses for the French group, so some of them are coming with us.  Their guide comes too and makes a long announcement in French before Rio even has a chance to talk to us.  It’s all right.  Mostly we need to know the order of events for the evening and that there are no photos allowed during the big show.

So the plan is to first, have dinner, then watch the little mini-show outside.  At seven-thirty the doors to the large auditorium will open and everyone will stampede toward them.  We won’t do that!  We’ll take a little tour through the Thai Village, with examples of houses from different parts of the country.  Then around seven forty-five or so we will stroll over to the theater, turn in our cameras and take our seats.

The buffet is enormous with everything you could want in Thai food, and Indian food, and salad, and dessert.  As we are finishing up, a parade of dancers and a loud gong weave through the dining room, inviting us to come outside for the mini-show.  Rio shows us a good vantage point and we are immediately impressed with the professional caliber of the performers!  It’s looking pretty good for the big show!

There is time to discover some of the architectural differences between the various regions of the country.  And there are some coconut treats to sample!  In one house a lady is blessing people and tying prayer bracelets around our wrists.  (It's really dark out here!)

Sure enough, as the time approaches there are not very many people left trying to find their seats.  Turning in our cameras takes no time at all.  They put each camera in it’s own fabric bag, with a number on it.  We get a matching plastic tag and head inside.  We’re following the signs and realize that Ginger’s ticket isn’t next to mine!  No problem;  I’m at the end of one row and she’s at the beginning of the next, but we’re each with other Number Niners.  I’m next to Helen and she’s next to Kim and Mable. 

Quite quickly the house lights go down and the magic begins.  Before the performance starts, there is a very touching music video about the late king.  After that everyone is asked to stand for the national anthem.  Even their anthem is gentle!!

It will be hard to find sufficient adjectives to describe the performance!  Breath-taking doesn’t even come close.  Each act depicts part of the country’s history and the staging would put most Broadway shows to shame.  Set changes happen before your eyes and you don’t even notice, there is so much activity to distract you.  There’s an underwater scene that’s as effective as Disney World’s “Finding Nemo”. There are elephants – real elephants - that appear on stage and also parade between the orchestra and mezzanine sections.  There are goats and chickens and a few numbers into the show the entire front of the stage becomes a river!  One actor jumps in completely!  There is dry-ice fog and set pieces that must be thirty or forty feet tall!

We see what the coconut dance should really look like and, oh my goodness, the bamboo-stick dance ends with acrobats doing cartwheels and flips through the sticks. 

The cast is huge and the audience is left dazed and awe-struck at the end.  We all file out and I’m with Marj and Colin as we wonder how we will reclaim our cameras.  Sill us – not to worry!  These people have it down to a science.  My plastic chip is red, so I go to the red line and there is no one in front of me!  As if by magic, the bag with number twenty-four on it appears and my camera is returned.  Outside there are lots of guides with their flags and milling tourists;  but Rio is an old hand at this.  He knows to stand at end leading edge of the crowd where he is easily visible and he points us toward our bus, while he waits for the others.

We head for the front of the bus fleet and it doesn’t take too long to find Number Nine.  Amazing!  Everyone makes their way back and we are headed home in no time! How clever to spend out last night this way! 

Tomorrow there will be two more temples, the Grand Palace, lunch and then free time.  Things are winding down and it’s good that Ginger and I have more to look forward to!!

Sleep comes immediately!