Bangkok, Thailand

Two days in Bangkok went pretty fast. Nancy and I were a touch under the weather from our adventures abroad the first day so we hung around a modern toilet facility for the day. :-) We were fine the next day though and got a taste of how it feels to be in a city a little too small for the number of people that live in it. We toured the amazing Royal Palace with buildings right out of "The King and I". Each little temple or pagoda was a sight in itself but they were just one on top of the other to make a truly remarkable visit.
The downside was we were carried along the street outside the palace to our bus not by our feet but just by the momentum of the mass of people pushing along the sidewalks. Fortunately we did not lose each other or our belongings and were able to see the rest of the this large modern city.
The traffic congestion was bad as here it seems everybody has gone to cars unlike Ho Chi Minh City where they chose motorscooters. I imagine that the streets of Ho Chi Minh City would be just as bad if they had chosen cars or possibly worse. Then again Bangkok would probably seem easy to get around if they had encouraged scooters. The amazing thing was that there was little public transportation and not many people walk anywhere. They take cabs that are very cheap or camp out in the car on the congested streets.
All in all a good time but there was a feeling that we missed our opportunity to see Bangkok when it was truly a Thai city and not a modern metropolis. Singapore next and Ali's "Birthday Week". We will be exhausted by the end of it.
One of the pics is of the brightly colored tugs that pull barges along the river. Notice the fairly nice water homes in the background with electricity and Dish satellites.Read more