Bangkok - Feb. 2, 3, 4

View from our hotel window

Bangkok is an incredible mess.  People all over, but they have all been considerate and nice. Shanties side by side with 5 star hotels (the stars seem to have something to do with the bathroom facilities).   Our hotel the Park Century is very nice and very modern and right next to a wat, a Buddhist temple compound.
 And the traffic is unbelievable, but we haven't seen an accident yet?
 Motorcyclists drive on the sidewalk at will.  And there must not be any lawyers here are the sidewalks are full of holes, so, yes Nardi, you do have to be very careful.  That hole is waiting for you!
 The hotel is lovely except no free Internet.  I bought an access card for what in Thailand is an outrageous amount and then didn't use it up as I didn't understand that it expired in 24 hrs.  So I don't know when I'll get this posted.  I'm told there are Internet cafes, but don't know when I'll have the time to locate one.

Our tour leader Tim (Pattraporn Sangkapat)

I wasn't feeling well yesterday so I slept while Nancy drove through Chinatown, the flower market, and toured watt Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha.  We are very favorably impressed with the tour organizer, Gate 1.  Our escort, Tim (female), is a lot of fun and very informative.
Today I feel just fine and am ready to venture out into more Bangkok traffic to see the palace and some more Buddhas.  The Buddhist influence is very strong.  There is a functioning watt right next to the hotel, and shrines pop up everywhere, the hotel even has one.

On Feb. 4 we toured the Grand Palace.  The grounds are absolutely spectacular.  If you ask me right now I may be able to tell you a thing or two about all those Ramas, but it will be a long time before I get to post those photos, especially with the hotel Internet difficulties.







After the palace, Nancy and I went to the giant mall at Siam place which has a food court and food court that challenges any in the world, plus all the high end stores you would ever want not to shop in.  It was fantastic, and it has FREE WI-FI, but of course I didn't have my iPad.

Nancy enjoying noodles at the mall food court

It is quite hot and humid even if it is winter here, but after we shower we're going out to find a cafe where I can post this.

This this evening we have a dinner cruise up the river.
If you hear from us irregularly, please don't worry, it's just sometimes hard to find Internet.