One night...or three

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So, here we are in Bangkok. Yuk! Oh well, necessary evil, didn't make it to Kho San road, sorry neenar. Organized my wedding dress today (I'm a bit apprehensive, I'll feel better once I see it in a month). I went to a tailor in a fancy mall near the Oriental hotel, so hopefully it will be good quality, not the "ready in 24 hours" everyday stuff.

Ken is doing great - doesn't seem to be too shellshocked. The pollution is nasty. Spent today also at the Imperial Palace, very "gold". Also saw the Emerald Buddha (in his "winter" attire although felt like 35 degrees today) - the emerald buddha is a statue, not a real person.

We are off tomorrow to pak beng east of Ayutthaya to try to go to a park where Hornbills are currently breeding, so should have a good chance to see one. Also leeches apparently but haven't mentioned this to Ken. He wouldn't care anyway.

Also got our Vietnam visas at the embassy (BTW neenar 500baht cheaper than a travel agent). Very cool looking in the passport.

It has been good to have Robert (my brother) and Amanda (his fiance) here with us, has made the past few days very easy to do, Robert is a good navigator, and having Amanda around lets me shop more without the wrath of Ken (Amanda feels the same way) although the boys were very tolerant as I negotiated the dresses (including the bridesmaid dresses in thai silk).
We have been having problems with cabs - dont' want to use the meter, and will refuse to take us to where we want to go. Some trips have been realatively short (about 30 min drive) so not sure if that has anything to do with it. Can't figure it out. We have been taking the Sky train (like the c-train) lots. Was stunned to see everyone lining up in polite lines from the edge of the platform before the train arrived. Weird for Asia (or anywhere else for that matter)

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. Got some money from Singapore Air because they left our luggage in LAX (another reason to hate LAX) so we essentially wore the same clothes for 3 days straight. I used my money to buy a new bathing suit because by the time I got to a store to buy new clothes I figured I was already dirty again anyway, and I needed a new suit.

Vita - we'll keep some coins. The 10baht coin looks a bit like a toonie, we also have some costa rica money you can have, didn't know you collected.

Keep in touch, hope all is well (internet is very cheap in Thailand so feel free to write)
We'll be going north to Chaing Mai then flying to Danang in Vietnam and working our way to Hoh Chi Minh then fly back to Bangkok. The paper here says they had to fire 50 000 employees in Phuket because the occupancy at hotels right now is 10 percent. The other tourist areas are fairly busy so at the end of our trip we will re-assess and decide what to do then.

Lots of Love
Caroline (and Ken)

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Photos

Jim Thompson House
Robert, Amanda and Caroline at Jim Thompson's House in Bangkok

Riverview - Bangkok
View from the Menam Riverside Hotel where we stayed.

Comments

[anonymous]

Mekong River delta
Ken, Put blackout paint on in the mekong river delta and dig in deep. I'm very proud of you! Doug - Doug

[anonymous]

It's sounds like you're off to a great start! It must be odd to be in one of the countries struck by the tsunami, although you are far away. I can't wait to see your wedding dress in June! I didn't like LAX either - we flew through enroute to Hawaii. The main store had coolers for water and juice that weren't turned on, so you had to buy warm drinks! They said only the restaurants sell cold drinks... Look forward to hearing about Vietnam. - Ashley

[anonymous]

Good Morning Vietnam
Hi to both of you..Hope you are not too warm .Temp here is in the -30's without windchill.U Tom says it is worse in the shade(no Mosquitoes). I hope you are thinking of us as much as we are of you.Stay safe..Love to you both Chilly Willy and his mates. - Mom R/U Tom/A May