Day 1 in Bankok

Sttatues of Demons protecting the Budha's temple Amazing architecture from 3 different asian regions China, Thailand and Cambodia
Bernie and our tour guide Natalie from Bangkok

We have had an intense day of discovery. We went on a "Temple Tour" and saw the grand Palace in process. The afternoon was filled with being measured for a tailor made jacket and pants for me (Bern didn't want anything). The evening went on a dinner cruise down the

Chao Praya River that runs from Chaing Mai in the North right down to the Ocean. Our day tour was a private one with us and a guide. Our guide had very good English and an in depth knowledge of Thailand's hystory and politics. I learned more about Thai kings than I ever thought was possible. Thailand's hystory goes back to the 1300's so it is a long history lesson. Did you know that Thailand used to be Siam? Probably some of you did. The musical "The King and I" was based on one of Siam's Kings called Rama 4. His son, Rama 5, made huge changes happen for Thailand's people including absovling slavery, creating infrastructure like roads and water systems etc. Aside from his improvements for his people he was also busy having children. Apparantly about 99 children. I asked if this was with just one wife, but the tourguide laughed tongue in cheek and stated that there is not official record of more than his wife, the queen. HMMM well that's enough other than we also learned a lot about Budha and Budhism, but I'll save those tdibits for another time.