Day 20 Chinatown in Bangkok - Flight to Phuket

Taking advantage of Dome's kindness to show us Chinatown, we rise early again today to have breakfast at 0700 and leave at 0800 for our experience of riding local transportation: tuk tuk, sky rail and subway. Dome spotted us the money and bought the tickets for each of the transports and we paid him back in kind. The sky rail was 30 THB for a one way ticket that we scanned to get on board and then deposited it at the other end to exit. Then the subway was 21 THB for a one way and we got what looked like a black flat chip to scan and then deposit as we did with the sky rail paper ticket.

We visited Wat Mangkon Kamalawat temple which is unique for Bangkok as it is the largest Chinese Buddhist temple in the city. It is a Mahayana Buddhist temple built ttin Chinese style circa 1871. It is accessible by a gate just off of Charoen Krung Rd.

We learned about the first level into heaven which is guarded by these guys...

There are many gods in this Buddhist tradition. So you offer alms to your particular god as you make you request from the god of wealth or the god of health, etc.

Then we proceeded to the walking street with its marvelous sights and smells to enjoy.

We tried roasted chestnuts that Dome purchased and i was surprised to know they tasted pretty good. I had only made necklaces from them as a child.

At the end of the walking street, we made a left and walked past rows of stores selling gold jewelry.

Then it was a quick (and I mean quick) ride back to the hotel via tuk tuk. We sped down the street, took lots of narrow side streets, squeezed between parked vehicles and large trucks blocking the way and experienced the "creative" driving of a tuk tuk driver plying his trade!

Reaching the hotel, I made a quick stop at the clothes shop before heading for my room to shower and finish packing for the flight to Phuket.

The Thai prize lighter skin so all of their body creams contain a skin whitening agent.

It was a nice 90 minute flight and again the flight attendants were johnny-on-the-spot with our little sandwich and bottle of water for "lunch" at 4pm! We arrived in Phuket at 5:40p and took two vans to the Proud Phuket hotel. Once we settled in our room, Dome took us for a tour of the beach area in an open-backed truck and we were able to enjoy the sunset at 6:37p. 

The Bubbler Crab searches for minute particles of food in the sand then balls up the sand and throws it behind him creating these star-galaxy designs. This little guy is in the center of the photo just to the right of the hole.

Back at the hotel,

we had dinner at 7 with a beautiful piece of salmon on a bed of lettuce with a sauce of mango, tomato and avocado. Yummy! Curry rice with a marinade chicken thigh and then dessert.

Off to bed but a leisurely morning awaits which is a welcome change.