Robin & Karen Living the Dream: Bangkok & The Long Journey Home

We arrived to our final stop of Bangkok on April 8, 2026 & checked into the Grand China Bangkok Hotel right in the heart of Chinatown. Luckily we booked it several months ago - 8 nights for $650, current price over $1200! Very nice digs! - 19th floor, great views of Bangkok & the Chao Phraya River, spacious room, a gym & a breakfast buffet.

View from our balcony

Grand Palace

Wat Arun

Pad Thai

We enjoyed the expansive breakfast buffet every morning & wandered Chinatown for our evening meal - always something tasty to find. A standout spot was found on a Facebook group listing out of the way gems - close to us in Chinatown, down an alley. Nothing fancy, just big tables where huge cauldrons of curries were being dished up, only 8 choices, red plastic stools scattered in the alley for seating, a lady trying to keep up with the dirty dishes also right there in the alley. Jek Pui Curry - 2 large bowls of rice with curry & a water, all for $4.30! Needless to say we returned often.

Mango, sticky rice & coconut ice cream!

Green curry plus a marinated egg

I checked out the nearby Sampeng Market, narrow alleys selling all sorts of things, mostly from China, at wholesale prices. I got some fancy bags for use at our markets, plus a powerful water gun for use during Songkran.

So many beads!

We tried to spend time most mornings doing some exercise & I used the treadmill in the gym.

One day was spent wandering thru the funky Talat Noi neighbourhood, seeing the wall murals, even finding a spot selling poutine & later a ride on the Chao Phraya riverboat taxi.

Man hole cover

Eating poutine on short chairs

Of course we had to go to the weekend Chatuchak Market - the world's largest outdoor market spanning 35 acres with over 15,000 stalls selling pretty much anything you could imagine! We did a bit of souvenir & gift shopping after buying another suitcase to cart it home in.

Always someone promoting massages

Very clean & orderly train stations

Some early Songkran fun

We took a 1.5 hr long tail boat cruise down the klongs (smaller canals), hoping to see the Big Buddha statue finally uncovered after a long restoration & we were in luck. Quite the sight! Also very interesting seeing life along the canals with homes & shops directly over the canal.

Houses along the klong

Of course Songkran was the main reason for being in Bangkok - Songkran is the Thai New Year, celebrated annually from April 13-15, best known for its massive, country-wide water fights. There is also a deep cultural significance of cleansing, reverence & good fortune. We thought we would pick a less crazy spot for the first day so we took the subway to Benjakitti Park, where we had to go thru metal detectors & show ID to a camera for admittance. It was mainly for families so kids games including a dunk tank, a spray park area, food vendors & a very crowded concert area with DJ's. Not the water fight we were hoping for.

Benjakitti Park

So back to the subway where we exited on Silom Road - unbelievably massive crowds trying to leave the train station, packed in like sardines! The river of people continued right onto Silom Road with no hope of turning around or "escaping" so we "went with the flow" - unable to even lift my water gun to spray anyone. But of course people near the edges were happily spraying all of us defenceless folks. We persevered until there was a chance to exit & headed back to the hotel. Not really any fun.

We had booked a day tour to the ancient city ruins in Ayutthaya, a 1.5 hour bus ride from Bangkok. I had read that there were decorated elephants in a parade there during Songkran which we hoped to see, but it had happened the day before. It was still a fun day wandering thru the ruins of the ancient capital of the Siam Kingdom, founded in 1350 - several sites, some restored, others left as they were found. Another hot day, temperature of 36C, felt like 39C! Everywhere that we've been has different versions of transport - here there were colorful 3 wheeled "trucks" with benches in the back, sort of like a Mr. Bean car.

Buddha statue head intertwined in the tree

Our last full day in Bangkok turned out to be a "blast"! We took a Grab taxi to Khao San Road area to take part in the Songkran festivities, armed with my water gun & plastic "purse". Robin opted for no gun but he still got into the spirit of things & threw his share of water at folks. We initially walked up & down the main road spraying water & getting soaked, then we settled in at a street side bar where we drank a "few" Chang beer, made use of the free water gun refills & sprayed everyone as they passed by (& got very, very wet as others sprayed us)! It was a lot of fun, enjoyed by Thai locals as well as lots of tourists. And a good way to beat the heat! But Songkran two years in a row is enough for us!

Blocks of ice for the water barrels!

Our journey home April 16 started with a pick up at 1:00 to the airport, prebooked Grab taxi - $28 including tolls for a 1 hour ride. We reluctantly checked all 3 bags (1st time for my Osprey travel backpack) & hoped they will all arrive with us. Our 1st flight was at 17:30 - Bangkok to Taipei, Taiwan , China Airlines - 3 hr, 35 minutes, tiny seatback TV's, a full meal with wine & ok seats. Had to rush thru the Taipei airport for our transfer, then the long flight - 10.5 hrs to Vancouver, also China Airlines. Better seats, big TV's, 2 full meals & attempts at sleeping. Another quick transfer in Vancouver which included collecting all our bags, clearing customs, rechecking the bags & making our Westjet flight - cramped, no TV's & only pretzels or cookies with a basic beverage. We arrived at midnight Edmonton time, something like 26 hours in transit & very, very tired - but happy to be home!

Our adventures didn't end there - we spent a night at our son's & were on the way to get our motorhome when the owner of the storage said "no pick up" - yard too soft to move anything out! Late spring, lots of snow. Crap! That turned into the RV being held 'hostage' for 10 days, a rental car, time in an Airbnb & back to our son's. We used the "spare time" to continue our apartment search that we had started online & we found the "perfect one"! We did finally get the motorhome out (at -9C), set up & began the process of cleaning & emptying to be able to post it for sale. We moved into our new rented apartment in the Griesbach neighbourhood of Edmonton, which we absolutely love, we've listed the motorhome for sale & are waiting for a buyer & we've caught up with family (they all helped on moving day). Our days of full-time RVing are over, but we did last almost 8 years!