After Chiang Mai, we went to Bangkok. We had a very nice time there. We met Chark and Gem, friends of Robyn's neighbors. We saw the 'Ancient City,' which is a miniature version of Thailand in the shape of Thailand. It preserves the architecture from years ago. It really is something else.
The next day we went to the palace and Wat Pho. The emerald Buddha was something else. It had on it's 'winter outfit.' The palace grounds were well done with amazing Thai architecture. Wat Pho held some amazing Buddhas and was great to experience.
Chark took me to see Muey Thai fighting. We sat front row right behind the judges. There were 3 knockouts out of 7 fights. It was great. They also held an exhibition of all the 'big' moves. It was great to see. I got some video of it. I want to thank my great wife, Robyn, for taking care of Kayla so I could go to see the fights.
We then went to the flower market, the floating market and around the city in general. We went to see some jewelers and gem stores.
Then on to Phuket. I went diving on one day. The diving was at Shark's Island and Anemone Reef. It was nice, but not the great diving that the guide book recommended. There were better dives in Hawaii and the Galapagos. Robyn opted for a spa day. She had a day of pampering. We bought some more souvenirs and had great last few days. Kayla played in the pool. She likes the water.
Kayla's really moving now. She's learning to crawl. She gets up on all fours and is launching forward. She is really mobile. She also started sleeping through the night it Thailand. We were really excited. She's now not sleeping all the way through in Australia, but we think once she gets used to the new time zone, she should be OK.
Overall, we really enjoyed Thailand. The only disappointing thing we talked about was the taxi cab drivers in Bangkok and Phuket. In Chiang Mai, we had Percy and he was fantastic. However when we got to Bangkok and Phuket, we could not arrange for reasonable rates for the taxis. When we were at the palace we tried to get a taxi back to our hotel. They said no. The traffic at the hour was too much and they would only take us for what equalled 3 times the meter rate. Another day, all the taxis we got in flat out refused to take us to the hotel. The hotel was in the middle of the city, not anywhere far. It was crazy. We even got in a few cabs and the just puled over and told us to get out; they were not going to drive into the city traffic. It was maddening. In Phuket, the drivers from the hotels wanted 3 times the meter rates to drive into town. Again we were amazed at the price disparity. In the town everything was amazingly cheap. We paid more for a drive into the city than we did for 5 hours of massage. I just feel that while most Thais are nice and polite, the cabbies really ruin the feel of the culture. If you manage to put this one thing aside, Thailand was a great trip.
Speak to you soon,
David
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