Friday May 11 - Bangkok, Thailand

Loving it here.  Up early after a good night's sleep and had a super breakfast in the Executive Lounge at the hotel.  They really know how to do it.  In particular, they had a fabulous display of Thai fruits (Rick - this is for you!).  I tried many new things - Pomelo and white melon along with some of the traditional fruits like watermelon, oranges, papaya and pineapple.  It was fantastic.  But previously, I failed to document that the hotel sent me a fresh fruit basket with many exotic fruits native to Thailand - these included durian, jackfruit, rambutan, mangosteen, sapodilla, dadu, and longan.  They were fantastic.  My nephew (Vegan Rick) would be proud of me for trying all of these.  Yummy!

Took the Marriott Ferry Shuttle to the Skytrain Terminal and got a Chao Phraya Toursit Ferry day pass today.  Went to Tha Tian Dock and then walked through the open air market (fascinating) to Wat Po.  What's a Wat?  A Thai Buddist Temple - they are everywhere - but Wat Po has the famous reclining  Buddha.  It is huge - is covered in gold and has mother of pearl in its huge feet.  I enjoyed looking at it and reflecting on "life" - it was fabulous.  I walked through the grounds - so beautiful.  Tim and I were here years ago but it was like I was experiencing it all for the first time again.

I left Wat Po and walked a ways to the Grand Palace - ("School teacher live in Grand Palace" as Tim always says! - that's from The King and I!).  I had a lovely walk through the grounds and ws in awe of the gold and tiled structures - so beautiful.  There is abject poverty and filth outside but inside the tourist attractions things are so beautiful.  It was so HOT today - clear and hot and humid.  I left the Grand Palace and walked to a different ferry terminal - only it wasn't the right one - my ferry didn't stop there.  So had to head back through the "day market" to get to the right terminal - only then did I realize that "everything" was for sale there - people too if you know what I mean!  While I was clearly out of my comfort zone, it hit me that this was a true adventure and I felt confident that nothing bad would happen to me - so I observed and took it all in - Moe advised me to "Embrace the Journey" and that's what I did.  I saw so many things for sale that I didn't even know what they were.  It was incredible.

I forgot to mention that the Thai are having Rice Planting Celebrations all over.  The king even participated - the use seeds and elephants and the prediction is for a good planting season.  I was relieved to hear that.

Finally got through this huge day market and arrived at the Maharaj Dock - caught my ferry and went the wrong way - on purpose - to explore the Chao Phraya River more.  Enjoyed the sites.  Finally arrive back at the SkyTrain terminal and took my ferry back to the Marriott. 

Once back I went to the pool to chill out and relax.  Had an enjoyable, relaxing afternoon by the pool with Singha beers!  At the Marriott, they ask guests to donate 35 Thai Bhat (about $1 US) to Operation Smile in Thailand.  My sister, Deborah, is a huge advocate of this charity so I called them and upped my contribution considerably in commemoration of Deborah and George's marriage in March.  I'm so happy for them and appreciative that she made me aware of this charity.  Apparently, facial deformity is a huge issue in Thailand - so hopefully, this gift will help some child to get their smile back.

Dinner tonight was an asian delight - so many fabulous things in straw baskets with wonderful sauces.  My favorite was duck in small crepes with raisin sauce.  And the mango pudding tonight was wonderful along with more fruit.

The Thai are so friendly and cater to your every need.  They have customer service figured out as they can almost anticipate what you are wanting and make it available.  Loving this place.

Once more here and then I go to meet Tim in Hong Kong.  He just arrived back to the US from Germany on Thursday and now leaves the US on Friday en route to Hong Kong - he arrives there on Saturday and I join him for our China tour on Sunday.  Three weeks in China ahead for the 2 of us.  Yeah!

Larry