Big. Polluted. Crowded. But still fun, Bangkok.
Yesterday was a good day here. We slept a bit later at the JL Hotel and enjoyed a casual breakfast buffet at our hotel - eggs, ham, chicken sausage, toast, fried rice with chicken, and some stir fried vermicelli noodles.
We then walked down the street, making our daily stop at 7-11 for a bottle of water and a treat for Travel Boy. We proceeded to the nearby 'dock', which is actually a very rickety wooden platform along a busy river, that had lots of rolling waves. We jumped on the first boat - a long, wooden boat with the driver in the front, a cover that goes the entire length, bench seating for probably 80 people, ropes along the cover that you grab to get in, a very narrow platform along the sides of the boat to step in, and large sheets of blue and white plastic sheets that are raised and lowered to keep out the splashing water. The entry into the boat is very tricky - you need to grab the rope, duck your head, step on the small outer platform, and jump in, all while trying to not get crushed along the dock. There are two fare takers that walk along the very narrow platform on the exterior of the boat - you hand them cash, they give you change and your ticket. They were very adept at walking these narrow walkways and handling money and tickets in very rolling waters - particularly when another boat goes roaring by. Now, I mentioned that our boat had seating for about 80. There were probably 150 people on it. We had to board and stand next on the boat near the edge and hold ropes swung across the ceiling to hold on. Travel Gal and I were the tallest ones there and had to duck our heads the entire way. It was bumpy, loud, smelly, packed - and great fun! We were the only non-locals on the boat so that made it more fun.. I asked a girl standing next to me where to get off, and she went and talked to the fare girl walking on the outside - she was nice and made sure we got off at the right spot. We did have to change boats as well. The total trip was probably 40 minutes, and the cost was 34 baht - about $1 for the 3 of us.

When we disembarked we were accosted by tuk-tuk drivers, so we decided to try one. He said for only 20 baht, he will take us to many temples and buddhas, but we just have to stop at a Thai Factory store. Sure. We went on a wild tuk-tuk ride and visited several temples (they are called Wat here). Very impressive. He then brought us to a 'factory store' - it was where you can have a custom suit made. Ha! They obviously didn't know me very well. We walked in and said thanks but no thanks, and gave the driver 20 baht and walked away.

We walked to the nearby Golden Mountain, a temple that is built on a hill.. Great views but a very hot climb up hundreds of stairs. Thankfully they had a little gift shop and we bought frozen popsicles to cool us off.

Our next stop was the Presidential Museum. We went there for 3 reasons: it was air-conditioned, it had nice bathrooms, and it was free. Brief visit to cool off.

For lunch we ate at a fancy restaurant near their city hall. Good food - had prawn curry, fried rice (for Travel Boy), a chicken dish, and I had a snake-head fish soup that was great (not a snake, but a snake-head fish). And, it was air-conditioned so it was a good break.

We walked to a bunch more Wats - we quickly watted ourselves out. The last one was the best, as it had an enormous reclining buddha. It would fit in only the absolute largest churches in America. It was huge. While at the Wat, it started to rain - a monsoon rain that cooled it off and was very peaceful. We sat on the floor at a covered area and waited until it slowed down a bit.

Before we took the boat back, Travel Boy really had to use the bathroom. There was just nothing there. He and I walked over to a large building that housed Thai Air. People were streaming out of the building, and two security guards raced up to tell us the building was closed. I told them Travel Boy had to use a toilet. They both smiled and rushed us over to the nearby parking garage that had a very nice bathroom.

Last night, I bought some food from a street vendor - some kind of gristly meat balls that were grilled, and I still don't know what they were! I also bought a 4 pack of beers for $3.40, and some local potato-type chips, one flavored with shrimp, the other with cuttlefish. Interesting. I also bought a new memory card for my camera from a street vendor. We treated Travel Boy to McDonalds that was at a movie theater. Cool posters of Kung Fu Panda and Transformers 3 in Thai.

I think we will visit Asia's largest market today and do some shopping.