Saturday, November 23 - Bangkok
It was another early morning
for us, our last in Laos. Our guide and
driver both took us on the short drive to the airport for our two-hour flight
to Bangkok. With that, the part of our
trip that we'd planned with the Vietnam-based travel agency came to an end, and
we were on our own.
Arriving at Bangkok's large
airport about 9:30, we took a cab to our downtown hotel. We were able to check in early and our digs
are so great, we almost didn't want to go out again! Lots of room in a one-bedroom apartment with a
large living room and kitchen in a high-rise with lots of windows, great city
views, and a balcony. The American
ambassador's residence in next door and the embassy a little farther down the
street, which could be something of a mixed blessing -- security's great, but
then, it needs to be!
Bangkok is busy, big, and has a
skyline with lots of modern skyscrapers.
The mass transit system consists of two lines of elevated rail and one
underground Metro line. It's somewhat
limited in its coverage of this sprawling city, but it's easy to figure out, so
we're happy that there's a station a block from the hotel. 
We rode to the end of the line to visit the
Weekend Market, which has outgrown a series of indoor halls and spilled onto
the surrounding streets. Everything from
puppies to purses to placemats, pillows and party favors was on sale
there. We always enjoy wandering through
these jam-packed mazes, but have been struck on this trip by the fact that
we've seen much of the same merchandise in every country we've visited on this
trip. No doubt, it all comes from China,
and we could only wonder about a few things.
How many cargo ships must China have to transport everything in such
massive quantities? Is there anything
left in China to sell/buy? How many
millions of people are working in horrible conditions so others can sell
t-shirts at three for five dollars? Just
wondering...
When we'd had enough of the
heat, humidity, and humanity, we boarded the underground Metro headed for
Chinatown. It took us a while to find it
once we left the train but, en route, we passed (but passed up the opportunity
to enter!) several beautiful-looking wats.
We did stop at an open-air and beautifully decorated Chinese temple on
our excursion.
A short Metro ride and cooling
walk through the green oasis of Lumphini Park and we were ready for a dip in
the roof-top pool before our happy hour.
Dinner was at a Thai restaurant
in an old house that was decorated for Christmas! Don't they know it's not even Thanksgiving
yet?!?
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