2007 - Asia - Day 15 - Bangkok, Thailand

We left the hotel at 7:00 this morning and went to the floating market. We got on long speed boats, 8 people per boat. We drove along the canals around the village and homes for about 20 mins. Then we drove into the market area. Many shops are right on the water for you to get to by the boat. We got off the boat though, and walked through the market for an hour. I got a really cute wraparound skirt, some slingshots for the boys, and elephant key chains. Also a cute hair clip. It was so hot today that I kept holding my hair off my neck. Now I’ll be able to keep it up while here in Thailand. It was 100 degrees today with 95 % humidity. Mark and mom got some cool Chinese stars. After the market, we went on a cruise ship for lunch. It was really good. It was nice to get out of the heat. We then had a 2 hour ride back into Bangkok. Traffic is so bad here. We just crawl by. In Thailand, they drive on the left side of the street also. The population in Bangkok is 11 million, with 33 million total in Thailand. They have a king, Rama 9, which they revere, although he is pretty much just a figure head. He doesn’t have any real power. The people here greet you and say goodbye by putting their hands together under their chins and bowing. It’s so sweet. Then we went to the temple and palace areas. It was really spectacular. The walls of the buildings are so intricate in their design and details, with glass and gold tiles. We also got to see the emerald Buddha. It is smaller than I thought it would be, maybe only 3-4 feet tall. It is considered the most sacred place to be in Thailand for the Buddhists. Our group then opted to skip the jewelry factory we were scheduled to see, and head back to the hotel. For the evening, we were given choices of a Thai massage or a dinner cruise on the Mekong River. The cruise was $40 or the 2 hour massage for $30. Mark and I chose the massage. This was the first time I have ever had a professional massage. It was incredible. They just came to our hotel room. I loved it. Afterwards, Mark and I walked out to the river and found a little restaurant on the pier. He got some dinner, but I still wasn’t very hungry. I ordered a 7-up. There was a band playing for us too. We then walked to 7 eleven across from our hotel to get batteries and snacks. I then talked to Dave and the kids for an hour. All is well. One cool thing that our guides do here is get us some local fruit and foods to try. They brought us pamelo fruit (yum), tiny finger size bananas (yum), and coconut pancakes (double yum).