Bangkok

Due to our travel delays both times into Bangkok, we had only a half day to see some of the sights. Before the sightseeing, we needed to find some boxes for the bikes, box them up, and do a little souvenir shopping. We are getting good at bike packing – it only took us an hour to disassemble and pack the two bikes.  We checked out of our room at noon, stowed our stuff and bikes in the baggage check room of the hotel, and journeyed out for the rest of the day. 

First, we engaged a tuk-tuk driver to take us to two shopping locations. Caroline hunted for some interesting silver pieces. Then, we walked to the river and boarded a taxi boat up to Wat Arun – I’ll post some pictures from there. Climbing the steps was similar to those at Chichen Itza but with better railing – or more accurately, with railing because those pyramids don’t have any, just a rope.

Next, we tried to visit the Royal Palace, but it had already closed – next time. Finally, our last sightseeing stop for the day was Wat Pho where we saw the reclining Buddha. The pictures don’t do this immense statue justice. Imagine a huge building almost completely filled with a statue on its side.

We closed our visit to Bangkok with a bit more shopping, Thai shoulders and back massages, some delicious, fried insects – cockroaches, grasshoppers, and crickets, and a vegetarian curry dinner. An oversized taxi picked us and our bikes up at our hotel and delivered us in plenty of time to the airport. As I write this, we have about eight more hours until our scheduled arrival in San Francisco. For four of our 10-hour layover in Beijing, we stayed in an hourly hotel and slept, which was a very welcome rest.