Bangkok, Thailand

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Bangkok was where we spent the last few days of our trip. It is a bustling city. The streets are filled with traffic and the sidewalks filled with stands selling everything from street food to clothes to fake perfume. The air is thick with pollution. Massive amounts of electrical wires powering the city were entertwined and tangled one story up from the ground. At night people trying to make a buck would walk the streets with an elephant, selling snacks to feed to the elephant for 50 Baht (about $1.50). Our favorite mode of transportation was the "Tuk tuk," or auto-rickshaw. Every day we shopped, shopped and shopped more. We also ate a lot! Our first evening we went to a tiny, dark, dingy looking restaurant, ordered off the dirt-black menus and ate some of the best food from the whole trip!! The main table they used to hold dishes, food and towels was made out of an old wooden canoe. Our favorite splurge was Thai foot massages, which went for a whopping $5/hour.

Other than shopping and eating we did take time to see a couple of sights. We hired a guide to take us around and see the palace and temple of the King and Queen. A lot of the temple was made of gold, it was very beautiful. Another day rented a van and went to Autaya for a short day trip, an old city with a bunch of temple ruins. On our last day, we took the sky train to a boat ride, which sort of acted as a subway on the river. It stopped every few blocks to drop people off and pick them up. We took the public transport boat to the largest lying Buddha in the world!!

One of the most distinct things about Thailand is their King. He has been ruling Thailand since 1950, and accoring to our guide Nancy, is considered to be the father of all of the people of Thailand. His picture is ALL over the city. On the highway there is a giant billboard of him every mile. His face is in restaurants, shops and massage parlors. He is everywhere!

My family and I send thanks to Paul, LuAnn and Grant for having us and for showing us around! 😊

I hope I will be writing again soon,
Molly

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