Today I continue my  nostalgic  Pearl's Ashes  series , focusing on  Bangkok .  But there will be a few informational detours, leading to a nightmarish journey to my hotel in Tokyo, and finishing with a hint of what will be my posting next Tuesday. I flew first class, and left Honolulu on 1March2011, 24 hours later arriving at my favorite hotel in Bangkok, the Sheraton Grande Sukhamvit. My philosophy when flying is, "if free, every drink not drunk is money wasted."  I'm not sure my body, and liver in particular, would agree, but it makes for an enjoyable flight. Go to my posting that day for the details , but I had 16 different alcoholic drinks getting from Honolulu to Bangkok. I selected the  Grand Palace for Pearl's Ashes #15 . Here is a  short video of this attraction . Official residence of the Kings of Siam, now Thailand, since 1782, until 1925. Over 8 million visitors/year. One of Pearl's very favorite spots on Earth is the   Grand Pala...

I'm getting old, with only a very few trips left in my life.  I've flown close to 3 million miles and taken more than a dozen cruises.  Took around the world trips at least ten times.  Been to every World Expo since 1962 ( they occur every 5 years ), except the one in Dubai, which was delayed a year.  We were on track to be there, but the pandemic and other factors got in the way. I was perusing  Condé Nast 's  Traveler  2024 Reader's Choice Awards , and saw that I had not stayed at most of the best hotels. This was their 27th edition of their globetrotting annual event. I learned that they uncoupled their voters and now only use the input from their UK readers, and maybe that is why I'm not familiar with some results. Never been to these best hotels. #1 in Europe:  Paris, Hotel de Crillon, a Rosewood hotel.  But I don't stay there because I looked at their  daily rates , which seem to average around $2200 this month and $1600 next month...