Bangkok, Thailand (Day 1 of 2, day)

Arrived in Bangkok early afternoon. Brad and I haven’t been here since 1992 so didn’t expect to recognize much. It’s an overnight port so we, along with our friends Thomas and Geraldine, decided to stay at a hotel in the city overnight instead of coming back to the ship. That would allow us to stay out late and start early without commuting to and from the port. We packed a back pack and set off on an excursion to a flower market and the reclining Buddha temple. We planned to meet G & T at the hotel.

The flower market was huge and we learned it’s open 24 hours a day. The vendors make everything from bouquets to offerings to funeral arrangements. We learned that a bunch of 50 small roses sell for $3 US. And we learned how to fold open a lotus.

We then got into tuktuks to drive to the temple with the reclining Buddha. The Buddha is 46 metres long and 22 metres high. While we were there, we bumped into Geraldine and Thomas and decided we’d leave our tour and walk to our hotel together. We’d do a quick freshening up and head out for dinner and night markets.Read more