Bangkok with Kara

Saturday, October 17th - Kara and I visited the Grand Palace (Wat Prakeo), Wat Pho (the reclining Buddha) and Vimmanek Mansion (the largest teak mansion in the world). After a day of sightseeing in the seering sun - with Kara unused the heat - we set out to find food from the streets of Bangkok, as street food is a must-try in Thailand, and everywhere! Well, not where we were at this time! Humph. I took Kara on a long walk-about through unknown streets, where we had to backtrack and walked in circles. We were starving, and finally gave up, and got into a taxi to get to the water taxi pier. The taxi driver didn't understand the pier that we wanted to get to, so we got out, and got another taxi. When we arrived at the pier, there was a noodle stall that was pretty crowded, so we thought it must be good. Turned out there was a 1/2 hour waitlist!! What!!! I've never heard of such a thing for street food.

That evening, we met up with Kookai and her boyfriend Nick. Kookai is my cousin's wife's niece. Originally from Mahasarakem in the northeast of Thailand - Isan area - she works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok. Nick, her boyfriend of a couple months, is an engineer for Thai Airways. They took us to Baiyoke Tower - the tallest hotel in Bangkok. The buffet was OK, the views were exceptional:

Nick, Kookai, Kara and I

Sunday, October 18 - Kara and I started the day off with a longtail boat tour of the Chao Phraya River, and its subsidiary canals that run throughout Bangkok (giving Bangkok its other name - the Venice of the East).

We stopped off at the weekend floating market. There is a platform set-up with tables in the middle of all these canoe-like boats. Each canoe is basically a kitchen and a pantry. You buy your food, and sit down on the platform and enjoy. We just walked around.

Waiting in the locks:

Dun, our longtail boat driver/ guide loves Obama... so he painted it on the back of his boat!!!

Kara and I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and relaxing. One of our methods of relaxing was sticking our feet into a huge fishtank full of little fish that eat the dead skin off our feet, ankles, and however much further they can reach!! Yikes! We only signed up for 15 minutes. But, we both spent the first 10 minutes giggling, laughing, squirming, shaking and whining (well, maybe just me). These little fish crawled up between our toes, nibbled at the water level line, trying to get up our legs, and flapped their tails all around our feet. We kept laughing at how one moment, Kara would be covered with "fish boots", and then they would move to me. It was hard for me to keep my feet in in the beginning. I kept pulling out, and then tiptoeing back in. Finally, for the last 5 minutes, we started to relax, and while it still tickled somewhat, it had a more "massage" sense to it. They nibble the dead skin off your feet, allowing new, fresh skin to grow, leaving your feet soft. Our feet were soft for maybe the next few hours, but Bangkok's dirty streets took their toll. Well, there's a first for everything I suppose... and I admit, I wouldn't be opposed to doing it again!