Seven years ago (has it really been that long?) we spent nearly a month traveling the length of Vietnam. It was our first visit to Asia and an amazing trip.

Vietnam is one of the more recent members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, an international organization – and formidable trading block – established in 1967 to promote the economic, political and security cooperation of the countries of Southeast Asia.

The founding member-nations of ASEAN were Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Laos, Cambodia and Brunei are also now members.

We are in the first days of filling out our ASEAN bingo card with Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia on this year’s itinerary. Here’s the upcoming program:

We flew out of Seattle on Friday, September 19, aboard a 12-hour flight to Incheon, South Korea, where we had a brief layover, fortunately avoiding an airport workers’ strike that had just started. We switched planes for another 6 hours in the air, landing in Bangkok, Thailand, around 10:00 p.m. Saturday, having lost a day when we crossed the International Dateline.

We’re staying at the Millennium Hilton Bangkok on the 29th floor with an amazing view to the north of the Old City and downtown Bangkok.

The Chao Phraya River flows through heart of the city, emptying at its southern extremity into the Gulf of Thailand via the Bay of Bangkok.

The profusion of maritime traffic on the river is something to behold: ferries crossing; dinner and party boats running north and south all day and night; tugs and barges hauling freight and fuel north throughout the day.

Thailand is considered to have three seasons:

• Hot Season, from March to May, with temperatures often exceeding 95°F;
• Rainy Season, from June to October, with frequent showers, high humidity and occasional monsoons; and
• Cool Season, from November to February, with lower humidity and milder temperature, typically 68° – 86°F.

As you might expect, the Cool Season is the tourist season. We’re here in September, the rainy “shoulder season,” expecting to avoid the crowds, but risking the weather.

So, on our first morning, I checked to see what we could expect. Uh, oh. Typhoon Ragasa, rated at the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane!

But we have several days before we’ll feel the storm’s effects. And it’s a beautiful day to get out on the water. The Hilton offers a free ferry to the nearby Sathorn Pier…

… where we were able to catch the local public “express boat” for a ride upriver to the Old City.

Along the way, I took these photos (clockwise) of typical waterfront housing; a private boat (similar to what we saw in Vietnam); and a “wat” (this one being Wat Arun – more on wats a later post).

It’s shaping up to be a nice day.