Bangkok, Day 2, January 18, 2014
Bangkok, Thailand
After a good
night sleep, we enjoyed a very cool morning for the first time. We chose to go
on the full day optional trip that took us out of town to a number of places.
The first stop was Ayutthaya where we saw a fairly large Sleeping Buda, which
was built to honor the king who won the battle of Siam over Burma. It also
honors people who are born on Tuesdays, and that would be Paul.
The next
stop took us through a local market where we sampled some of their peanut
brittle, after watching it being made. It was delicious. At this stop we saw a
sitting Buda. Each time we have to take our shoes off before entering the
temple. At the end of this stop was a place where they had trained elephants
doing tricks like in a circus. I'm not sure I approve of this, but they did do
some very interesting moves. There were a few elephants people could ride, but
we didn't have time.
Lunch was at
a restaurant in a hotel where we had a buffet. Next was a "Long Tail"
boat ride along the river and some smaller streams. This boat is long and
skinny and powered by a car engine that drives a propeller at the end of a very
long shaft. There was one used in the James Bond movie "The Man with the
Golden Gun." It is always interesting to see how people live along the
river. 
At the end
of the boat ride we walked to the Royal Summer Palace, built in the early
1600s. It is beautifully maintained and well worth walking around, even though
it had gotten quite warm by then.
On the long
drive each way, Vit tried to explain to us what is happening on the political
scene in Thailand that has so many people upset. The take-away is that it is very
complicated. They are supposed to be having an election on Feb 2, the day we
come back through Bangkok on our way home. It will be interesting to see how it
all turns out.
That's it for now. Grace and Paul
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