Day 16 Bangkok, Thailand

It was Friday morning 6:30 am when we arrived.

With only waiting in one incorrect line we finally find passport services – get our temporary visas with no problems – will out our exit cards and literally walk through customs without talking to a person or an inspection. We picked up out luggage. I hit an ATM and Pam got the address of our Hotel written in Thai and we headed to a Taxi stand.

I was already a little nervous about the language barrier as the person at the information counter and Pam had some difficulty communicating. I got some cash out – still struggling getting my mind around the exchange rate I took out 10,000 baht assuming that was close to 300.00 US.

At the Taxi stand they seemed to be quoting a fixed rate for the ride to the hotel and Pam kept asking for a metered rate. Eventually somehow we ended up in an old beatup taxi – our bags would not fit in the trunk so the driver used bungee cords to secure them. Pam was still concerned about the price of the taxi – because of the exchange rate the amounts sound very large - 250 baht = 7.43 American dollars. I tried to reassure her but she still looked very concerned.

The taxi ride was an adventure – I decided that I am very glad I did not plan on driving in this country – the lane markings seem to be mere suggestions to be followed when convenient – the cars drive within inches of each other – the signals are rarely used and when they are they do not seem to have anything to do with the intended direction of travel – the horn also is used but I cannot tell what the purpose was. I got the GPS working and started tracking our progress on the map in the phone.

The sun was up but it seemed a very foggy day – after a while I realized it was smog not fog.

The ride was quite long about 30 minutes. The meter showed 240 baht – I gave him 300 and asked for change – he did not seem to understand and I asked again and then let it go. We arrived at the hotel at about 8:00am – the hotel let us check-into our rooms with no problems. Everyone took a quick shower – I validated our internet connection.

I spent a few minutes reading excerpts from the guide regarding culture and dress code – focusing on not talking loudly, not getting into arguments, saving face, not using your left hand, removing shoes before entering temples or houses and not sitting with feet pointed at Buddha artifacts or people. I also explained the exchange rate – divide by 10 the by 3 – still did not sink in.

Soon Pam had selected a destination and we were walking. I decided to wear pants in case we decided to enter any temples and to protect my sunburn. I was still quite uncomfortable. I was also wearing my sandals. The girls all wore sandals and shorts.

We started the walk – which was a barrage to the sense – wall to wall shops and vendors, a multitude of scents – some quite good the majority not very pleasant. I have never seen so much stuff being sold. There were hundreds of food stands and thousands of trinket and clothing stands. It is almost indescribable. We found a place from the guide to eat – the food was great and when I did the math the meal ended up costing about 7 dollars. I told this to the girls and Aria especially did not believe me – she looked at some shirts that were 150 and I told her that was about 5$ US. I think it finally started to sink in.

We bought some fresh squeezed orange juice from a vendor- the oranges looked like limes on the outside but were orange on the inside. It was delicious – not too sweet and very refreshing – which is good because after the first 2 steps on our journey I was coated in sweat.

We walked through the streets and eventually made out way to the national museum. It was filled with amazing treasures that in America would have been behind sever security measures – these were out in the open with simple signs asking that they not be touched. I tried to follow the history of the country but it was quite long and very confusing. I wonder what the Thai school children learn – having a history that dates back thousands of years vs. a few hundred for Americans I am curious if they must commit the entire list of dynasty's and Kings and wars to memory.

I picked up a book and CD on the Thai language. So far I can only say the greeting sa-wat-dii krak – male form.

We somehow ended up wandering through a park on the way to the museum where we were accosted by a lady with bags of corn seed -she placed them in our hands – I said no thank you and tried to give them back – she was quite insistent and eventually opened them and made me pore them out for the pidgeons – then she demanded money. We kept walking and said we did not have any – I was not sure how to handle the situation and did not want to end up getting arrested for something so trivial – nor did I want o be scammed in this way. Eventually they stopped following us – but it left an air around us that was uncomfortable. We all felt guilty and frustrated. I spent a few minutes rationalizing the experience and tried to console the girls.

We walked about 12 miles in total that day – we avoided tuk-tuk's (mostly from reading the guide book we did not want to get dragged somewhere we did not wish to go) and taxis – jut because. Many strangers approached us – one even said the destination we were headed too was closed – which the guide also warned against. It was not too hard to avoid this scam as we did not really tell him where we were going.

We did stop in one of the numerous seven elevens to buy water and soda on the way home. By the time we arrived we were all exhausted – we ordered a snack to eat- it was about 6pm thinking we would go to a restaurant at 9pm that the hotel receptionist had recommended. This was not too be – I fell asleep and did not awake fully until the next morning about 5am.

The girls were awesome – very few complaints and they adapted and overcame the culture shock quite well.

Back at the room Allysha complained that the smell had made her very ill and she was not going to go outside again.