Day 22 - We Are Not In Kansas Anymore!

Hello Bangkok! With our late arrival last night, it was dark, so we didn't really get a chance to experience our first exposure to Thailand but boy we dove in at the deep end today.

As you can imagine, we have been generating a lot of laundry. There was no way we could carry eight weeks of clothes with us, so we knew we were going to have to do laundry along the way. But, figuring out how to get our laundry done without paying hotel prices ($5 for a pair of socks!) was key. So, after breakfast our tour guide "Jim"(not her real name but she insisted this was her "tour guide "name) leapt into action and took us down a slightly dodgy looking alley to a hole in the wall called, "Mama's" laundry, where thankfully she could translate for us. It's possible even Google translate could not have handled this one. As you can see from the pic below, they charge by the kilo (about 2.2 pounds for the US crew) and our grand total for two very large bags of laundry was 630 Bhat - or about $18 US. Not bad and all clean and folded when we picked it up later today. Yay Jim!

Next, we took a short walk from our hotel to visit "The Kings Palance" and the famous "Emerald Buddha", (actually Jade but hey) shown in the 3rd pic. The palaces and temples were nothing short of amazing with loads of COLOR and characteristic Thai, Indian and Cambodian style pagodas. There was LOTS of colored glass, tiles and gold leaf everywhere plus statues of devils. monkeys and more Buddhas than you can shake a stick at. It was one breathtaking building after another and was a privilege to see.

Our next stop was to another close by palace, home to the "Reclining Budha" The statue was ENORMOUS! We got there in style with our first ride in a ubiquitous Tuk-Tuk. Fun, if not a little scary with all the traffic. We also saw "lotus" buddhas who bring calm and a "no fight" buddha who was huge! Apparently, if you have one in your home it will help to end arguments. Hmm... might pick one of those guys up!

Jim treated us to an authentic Thai lunch at a tiny little place that was close by. She ordered five different dishes, so we had lots to try (green curry, pad-thai, spring rolls, fried rice, chicken with cashews). It was all super delicious and very filling!

Finally, we wrapped up the day with a ride across the river and around some of the adjoining canals in a 'long tailed boat'. For those of you James Bond fans you may remember Roger Moore in "The Man with the Golden Gun" in a few boat chase scenes in Bangkok in one of these long-tails. They get the name from the long pole at the back that has the propellor at the end. The drive shafts have to be that long as they're powered by old, reconditioned car and truck engines (some of which are huge) and the shaft comes straight out the back with no gearbox. Fascinating - at least to Steve:)

Day one in Bangkok has been a whiplash change from NZ and Australia (as we were expecting). We now have to be careful of all of the water we drink or use to brush our teeth. We don't speak the language or understand a menu (if only in Thai). But the people are super nice and helpful, and we are loving the challenge of a new culture to explore!

Thai Fun Facts: Thailand (means Free Land). They have a king and a prime minister, and 10 million people live here in Bangkok. The city is more than half the size of NYC and bigger than London!