Shangri La and River Adventures

The travel agent we work with sent out an email with a staycation package special.  It was a night or two at the Shangri La, one of the nicest hotels on the river, including a dinner cruise, breakfast, and then a choice of brunch or high tea.  Vivian has seen the Shangri La hotel before, because it's right next to the Saphan Taksin BTS and boat pier.  She thought it was beautiful, and she really wanted to stay there, so we thought it would be fun to include her on this staycation.  We also thought it would be more fun for all of us if we had some friends along, so we invited another family with a son about Vivian's age to join us.

We got to the hotel first, and the service was fabulous right from the start.  They even upgraded us to suites, which was awesome.  We had already gotten a room with a balcony,

and an additional bed for Vivian at no extra charge, but now we also got a kitchen and living room!

There was even a half bath off the kitchen.  It was basically an apartment.  We got lots of complimentary fruit, plus complimentary chocolate, because they have a chocolate store at the hotel.  It was a great first impression.  

After checking out the room, we decided to put on our bathing suits and go find the pool.  The Shangri La actually has two pools.  There was one over in our wing of the hotel, the Krungthep wing, but it was smaller, and looked like it was set up more for people who wanted to swim laps.  Jeff got a nice picture of it in the evening.

We kept going to the main Shangri La wing and the bigger pool.  The hotel's property is quite large, especially considering that it is right on the river.  Between the two pools is a garden area with a Thai restaurant spread over a few teak buildings.

There are also a couple other restaurants near the big pool, but they weren't open at that point.  There was all day pool side dining available though, so Jeff and I sat down at one of the restaurant tables where we could still see Vivian in the pool.  There were two lifeguards too, so we felt fine relaxing with some lunch, while Vivian went to play.

She didn't want to get out of the pool to eat the pasta we had ordered for her.  We asked if we could have a take away container for it, and the waiter offered to have it sent up to our room.  The service was great!  Eventually our friends showed up, and the adults lounged by the pool with drinks while the kids played.  We stayed for the sunset, which, in typical something's-always-being-built Bangkok style, included a crane.

We went back upstairs and cleaned up, and then we enjoyed some wine on the balcony.  Bangkok at night has the best views.

We were really excited about our dinner cruise, because all the major buildings along the river are lit up at night, so you can enjoy the city and the architecture.  We had seen the cruise being prepared earlier that evening.

I had specifically asked for seats outside, so that we could see everything.  It had been cloudy all afternoon, but we had the best of both worlds, because we were under a retractable roof, which could be pulled closed to cover us if it started sprinkling, which it did towards the end of the cruise.

The fabulous service continued.  Even though it was a buffet, the wait staff brought sample platters of food to our table.  In some parts of the world, children on a fancy dinner cruise would be viewed as an imposition, but in Thailand they were the guests of honor.  For example, Vivian was sad that there was no vanilla ice cream at the buffet station near us at the top of the boat.  One of the waitresses went to check if there was any downstairs and quickly returned with a bowl of vanilla ice cream for Vivian.  They also took some great pictures of us.  One of the most beautiful buildings along the river at night is Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, and the server managed to get a great picture of all of us in front of it.

The cruise finished around 9:30, and the kids crashed pretty soon after that.  They had both been really good, which helped make the whole evening more pleasant. 

The next day we had a big breakfast at the hotel and then took advantage of our river location to catch a boat back up to see Wat Arun in the daylight.  It's on the opposite side of the river from Wat Po and the Grand Palace, which Jeff and I visited with Vivian last year around this time.  The regular boat drops you off on the Bangkok side of the river, and for 3 baht (less than a penny) per person you can take the boat across.  It was quite exciting to go across the river, because there are a LOT of boats going back and forth with no apparent order.  It's kind of like the road travel, and, like the road travel, everyone's very careful not to bump into each other.

We survived the crossing, which was actually pretty choppy because of all the wakes we had to cross.  The temple grounds were lovely, but hot to explore in the sun.

We went into one of the smaller temples looking for shade.  We found some cool Buddhas.

We also found some kind of special meal with monks and regular people sitting at tables.  They were chanting something in unison, which was interesting, but we felt a bit like we were intruding, so we moved on to the main temple.  In the daylight, you can see all of the ceramic that has been inlaid into the complex.

Vivian was completely melted by that point, so we got her a cool drink and headed back to the hotel.  Our friends hadn't been to Wat Po yet, so they kept exploring a bit longer.  Eventually we all met back up for our afternoon high tea.  This was in the lobby area of the main hotel.  We weren't sure what to expect, but there was quite a spread.  Everyone's favorite was the pasta station, but we were also impressed by the full orchestra.

We were even more impressed when the majority of the people in the room got up and started ballroom dancing.

Apparently, this is a regular Sunday occurrence.  It looked like most of the women were students and the men were instructors, but they were all very good.  We had a lot of fun watching and picking our favorites.  We stayed for almost two hours and then headed back to Nichada and Elena.  She seemed happy to see us, but unperturbed by the fact that we'd been gone for over 24 hours.  She'd been at home with Young and her toys, so all was well in her world.  Vivian had a great weekend too, so we might try to plan another big girl outing for her soon.

Jim Thompson Farm

Before we moved to Thailand, I had never heard of Jim Thompson, but he's a big deal here.  He was an American who helped promote Thai silk products.  At this point I've been to the Jim Thompson House, regular Jim Thompson stores, and the Jim Thompson Outlet, but I found out there's even more Jim Thompson outside of Bangkok.  There's a farm.  It's only open to visitors from mid December to mid January, when everything is in bloom.  It also has a traditional village that you can visit and explore.  The embassy organized a day trip on a Saturday, but it's about a three and a half hour drive each way, and that seemed like it would be too much for the girls.  We still wanted to go though, so I looked for a nice hotel along the way, and I figured we could drive up one day, spend the night, explore the farm the next day, and then drive back.  Young had never been there, so we asked her to come too.

I found the hotel on Agoda, and I wasn't sure what to expect.  I thought we were getting two rooms, but it turns out we were getting two "villas" which could probably be better described as bungalows. Jeff and Vivian explored while I got us checked in.  They got some good pictures of the grounds and the main building.

There was a wonderful breeze.  It was called Mountain Creek Golf Resort, and even though we didn't take advantage of the 27 hole golf course, we still got a ride in golf carts to our villas.  This is the view looking back at the main building.

We ended up with one villa with twin beds which was meant for Young and Vivian, and one down the hill a bit with a king bed.

Luckily there was a big couch at the foot of the big bed, because Vivian decided the other villa was too far away from us, so we ended up bringing down the bedding and having her sleep with us, leaving Young her own villa to enjoy in peace.

The best part about the villas though, was the porch.

Although, Elena might have disagreed.  She loved the HUGE bathtub and the complimentary toiletries.  Young was a good sport and hung out in there with her while she played.

Eventually Vivian came to tell them we were going to the pool, but it was hard to tear Elena away from her tub.

The pool turned out to be a fun diversion though.  Jeff and Vivian got in first.

I honestly didn't think Elena would want to get in, so I hadn't changed her, but then she tried to get in fully clothed, so we had to do a quick change.  Jeff had invented a game with the leaves for Vivian, and Elena joined in too.

After fun in the pool, we got the girls cleaned up and dressed and then headed back up to the main building for dinner.  Vivian got pad see ew gai (of course!)

Elena has discovered she likes Thai style soup with noodles and pork meatballs.  This is what it looks like all put together.

Young and I broke it into component pieces and cooled it off though, before serving it to Elena.

The sun set as we were finishing dinner.

By the time we got in the golf cart to head back to our villa it was really dark out.  I don't think Elena has ever experienced that level of dark.  She kept saying, "Dark, dark."  Then, for some reason, she decided this meant we should be quiet, so she amended it to, "Dark. Shhh," and put a finger to her lips.  She didn't nap on the drive up, so we were hoping she would go to sleep smoothly.  She fought it a bit, but she was asleep by 8:30.  Vivi and I spent some time on the porch looking at the stars, which she thought was really cool.  Then we put her to bed, and Jeff and I had the porch to ourselves.  It was actually a little chilly with the breeze, so I was wearing a sweatshirt, gasp!  It was hard to leave the wonderful porch, but as it got later, we realized we did have to go to sleep in order to be ready for the next day's adventures.

Of course, the first thing we did the next morning was go back on the porch for coffee.

We placated the girls with blueberry muffins, and Jeff and I had second cups of coffee.

We finally made it up to the main building for official breakfast and got ourselves checked out.  We hardly saw another person the whole time we were there.  It was wonderfully peaceful on top of being lovely and cool, definitely a great hotel stay, but the original reason for being in that part of the country was still ahead.

We had another 45 minute drive to get to the farm.  We knew we had arrived because there was hay everywhere and a huge dirt parking area full of cars.  It was a slightly surreal experience.  It was like a fall festival transplanted to Thailand in January.

Vivian and Elena frolicked while I went and got us tickets.

The ticket sales people spoke some English, and they gave me a map in English, but that was the last English we saw for a while.  Most of the people there were Thai, and that was who the farm was catering to.  We were especially grateful we had Young with us.  

There are buses to take you around the property, because it's quite large.  

There was a person providing narration the whole time, but it was all in Thai.  Young said they were talking about the different things that grow there.  I decided I was okay with not understanding what he was saying, because the view was enough for me.

Our first stop was in fields of flowers mixed with a "pumpkin patch."

Again, slightly surreal with a giant scarecrow and pumpkins, but definitely beautiful.  There was a food and drink stand right where we got off the bus.  Vivi said she was thirsty, and there were lots of juices there, but all the names were in Thai.  When I asked Young what the flavors were, she said they were all Thai fruits and Vivi wouldn't like them.  There was also ice cream, but no vanilla.  I persuaded Vivi to give the coconut a try, and she loved it.  So did Elena, so Vivian shared with her, a bit grudgingly.

Our lazy morning on the porch, meant that the sun was in full force by the time we were ready to explore the flower fields, so I got on our hats.

There was a giant pumpkin at the top of a hill of flowers, which you got to up a path lined with small pumpkins.  Obviously, we had to go and check it out.  Elena tried to smile for the picture, but the sun got in her eyes.

It turned out that the pumpkin was made of corn.  We found some nice shady places to sit inside.

On the way out, Elena took some time to appreciate the craftsmanship.

Looking down the hill, we saw a valley full of a rainbow's worth of flowers,

so, into the rainbow we went.

We wandered among the flowers,

 and climbed the big structure in the middle.  

Then a colorful platform structure caught our attention.  We didn't know what it was meant for, but it was great for climbing and photos.

There was another interesting structure, but it didn't have anything to climb or any shade, so we didn't last long there.

Instead, we found some shade in the gourd arcade.

We had explored most of the first stop, so we got on the bus and went on to the next one which was a replica village.

They had displays on wool,

and silk.

There was also an area where the kids could "help" with getting the rice out of its husk.

Elena was very impressed with Vivi's efforts, and insisted on trying it herself.

We also found another structure we didn't understand,

and some pretty decorations.

The most important find though, was a lunch of fried chicken followed by popsicles, eaten sitting on hay bales with a hay bale table all covered in plaid cloth.

The girls were getting worn out by then, and we were treading dangerously close to Elena's nap time, so we decided not to get off and the next two stops.  One was a place where you could watch them weave silk, and the other was a shop to buy Jim Thompson products.  We didn't feel bad about skipping either one.  We also got a kick out of one last idiosyncratic touch, a wagon wheel fence.

We agreed that it had been a lot of fun, but we were really glad we did an overnight instead of a day trip.  Jeff was a champ about driving.  The roads were good, but our company on the road was always interesting.  We passed these guys when we were first leaving the city, and knew we weren't in Bangkok anymore.

Overall though, it was a smooth trip, and both the hotel and the farm were a nice change from all the city stuff we've been doing lately.