Bangkok

This morning we had to say goodbye to our Cambodian guide.  We were sorry to have to leave Cambodia after such a short visit.  The people are so lovely and Siem Reap is much quieter and laid back than some of the other places we had been. Our guide shared with us that his father died in the war when Ritt (guide) was three.  Ritt's sister died of starvation during the war. Then, shortly after the war his Mother and brother died, leaving him the only member of his family to survive. It broke my heart to hear his story.  His mother stressed to hm that he needed to get a good education so he went to University and he now works as a guide.  He has a wife and four children, so at least now he has a family.

We flew to Bangkok this morning on Bangkok Airlines.  It was a 45 minute flight and they served us breakfast. We couldn't believe it!!

Our flight was late getting into Bangkok by about 30 minutes. Our new guide was there to meet us and we loaded onto the bus to head to the hotel.  It took us about 90 minutes to get to the hotel because the traffic was so jammed up. Our guide said that Bangkok is the second worst city in the world for traffic (forgot to ask him which city is the worst).

As a result of arriving at the hotel so late, everyone had about 15 minutes to go to their rooms to change into appropriate clothing for visiting the Grand Palace.  I chose to not go on the city tour since I have been here twice before.  The rest of the group took a boat ride down the river to,the Grand Palace to avoid getting stuck in traffic.  Then they walked to two temples, the Reclining Buddha and The Emerald Buddha.  They were all hot and wilted by the time they returned to the hotel.

We had dinner at the hotel and said goodbye to five people from the big group, as they leave tomorrow.  The rest of us are here for two more days.  I will post pictures as soon as I can get them uploaded!!

I stayed behind to get caught up in the blog. Unfortunately, the wifi doesn't seem to be strong enough
for uploading pictures but I will continue to try.  Wendy also stayed behind so she and I went on a walk about to scout out the neighbourhood.  When the rest of the group returned  tired and wilted we were happy that we had made that decision!