Bangkok unhinged

Thailand is part of the developing world so it's easy to focus on the negatives - too crowded, too disorganized, too poor. But we've been to Bangkok a couple of times before so we know what to expect, and we wouldn't have come back if we were focused on the down side. Rather I think Thailand is just too special to avoid if travelling to this part of the world. The food is on par with the best cuisines, the people are friendly and welcoming, and it's just a unique place so different from the West. The kids seem to be focusing on the positive too for the most part. Case in point, John and Elizabeth ordered green curry and rice for breakfast. Way too hard core for me but they seemed to enjoy it.

The first thing I always notice when I come here is the Thai's reverence for their King and royal family. There are pictures of the royal family everywhere - some covering whole sides of skyscrapers. The monks in orange robes are also a striking site which always remind me we are in Thailand - only difference this time is some of the monks are on their smart phones.

Our afternoon activity today consisted of a visit to the Grand Palace, which is one of the main attractions in the city. Bangkok is a huge city and we've learned that using the water taxis along the Chao Phraya river is an efficient and scenic way to get around.

At the water taxi barge we visited the pet hog, a full sized black pig with his own food bowl - it is definitely a pet. Elizabeth was surprised and offended to see a hog as a pet. I suppose she was experiencing a little culture shock. On our way across the ferry to the other side of the river we were delayed for quite awhile as a number of massive river barges passed by. They consisted of a half dozen or more barges strung together, each around 100 feet long, pulled along by one or two tug boats. On the other side we hopped onto the river taxi which took us down the river to the palace. Along the way the traffic was thick with boats of all descriptions going up and down the river. I started to notice that all the long tail boats (another iconic image of Thailand) had garlands of flowers tied to their bows. These were the same flowers we saw at the flower market last night. I understand these garlands are used to provide good luck and protection and honour the spirits of the water.

At the palace Catheleen brought sarongs for everyone to wear since our legs needed to be covered to enter. But after seeing John wrapped in a sarong I just couldn't do that to him or me - it was just embarrassing. I confirmed my awkwardness when I asked a lady official if I could wear a sarong - she just looked at me sideways and said they were for ladies. So I signed out pants for us guys, we purchased our tickets with one hour to spare before closing, and then, much to our chagrin, we watched the sky open up in a torrent of rain which lasted the better part of an hour.

This is where Catheleen and Elizabeth, the intrepid travellers, parted ways from John and me. There were two factions at play here. Catheleen and Elizabeth fell into the enthusiast camp who were willing to get soaked through if necessary to see something special they may never get the chance to see again. John and I fell into the heal dragger camp who would just rather not get too wet if we could avoid it. So Catheleen and Elizabeth had their adventure seeing the sights. They also watched people's shoes wash away along the rush of water flowing down the street from where the temple goers had removed their shoes. I was just happy to watch the thick crowds of people go to and from the palace in various stages of sopping wetness. At least the rain cooled things down nicely for awhile.

Our adventure continued as we swarmed onto the water taxi for the return journey, swept along with the crowd from a moving pier onto a moving boat on a choppy river. I'm quite surprised the kids put up with all this since it was a bit extreme, even for Catheleen and me. But they seem to pretty easy going so far. Another day, another adventure.