After arriving late, our first exposure to Bangkok is intoxicatingly fragrant jasmine flowers in our hotel room.  These are used as offerings for the monks...and they made the room smell great the whole time we were in Bangkok. Jasmine Flowers-BangkokJasmine flowers were a gift from the hotel. They are sold on the street as a gift to the Buddhist priests

Tired, we have dinner at the hotel beside the Chao Phraya River.  This is a bustling big city—high rises, big businesses everywhere.  And the river is alive and lighted at night with small klong boats, water taxis, long boats for touring, noisy party boats and three-ship barges with huts at the back where the workers live—some with families and small children. 

Morning welcomes us with a grand sunrise over the city in a light mist. Bangkok SunriseA hazy Bangkok sunrise overlooking the Chao Phraaya River from the Peninsula Hotel balcony

Followed by a riverside breakfast at the hotel. Breakfast on the river at the Peninsula

We begin our day of playing tourist with our guide leading us to the standard tourist spots, beginning with the Maeklong Train Station Market.  Although people here also seem to shop daily, this seems much different than the outdoor markets we saw in Hong Kong and Myanmar.  Plus there’s a fun story.  Seems a scheduled train runs through this area twice a day.  Not a problem, except the vendors set up ON and BETWEEN the tracks.  So just before each train, the market is a flurry of activity as vendors move their goods back from the tracks. Walking down the Train Tracks at Maeklong Railway MarketTrains come down these tracks twice a day and run through the middle of the Maeklong Railway Market. After a whistle blows, the vendors rush to pull their wares from the tracks before the train comes through at 15 mph.

Most of the foods are in nice plastic bags and the vendors use scales to weigh purchases, just like home—big difference. Vendors at Maeklong Railway MarketThis is definitely a different version of an outdoor market . Vendors have scales and all produce is in plastic bags.

And there are stalls with little baskets of tuna—a common lunch here. Tuna Baskets at Maeklong Railway MarketTuna sold in individual baskets all over Bangkok are also on the tracks in the Maeklong Train Station Market

We head down the street to the Umbrella Market where vendors are cooking up a storm...like quail eggs--sunny side up-- hot off the grill. BangkokCooking quail eggs at the Umbrella Market--neart the Maeklong Train Station Market.

And baby crabs. Thais "pop the top" and dump them on to their rice.

Umbrella MarketThe vendor lifts the shell off the tiny crabsto show us how Thais open the cram then dump it on top of rice.

They are also selling coconut sugar...we're gonna' learn about that on the next stop, the coconut sugar plantation. Coconut Sugar at the Umbrella MarketBrown coconut sugar--we'll learn more about this later.

We travel sixty-five miles from the city to a coconut sugar plantation.... Coconut Sugar PlantationFar from the city, the coconut plantation is vibrant and etched with small canals topped with bright green algae.

At the plantation we try out the "ladder" they use to climb the coconut palms to collect the blossom nectar. Cocanut Sugar Plantation LadderUnique bamboo ladder used to get the coconut flower nectar

They hang a bucket under blossoms overnight--much like collecting maple syrup sap.

Collecting Palm Nectar at the Coconut Sugar PlantationCollecting the nectar that drops from palm blossoms overnight--a bit like collecting maple syrup.

Then boil the nectar and stir it to cool it smoothly.  Penuche anyone?  Smelled really good!

Boiling coconut sugar at the Coconut Sugar PlantationAfter it begins to cool the hot coconut sugar looks more like the coconut sugar we saw in the market

For a finish, we play with their pet python--really big and well fed--very gentle.   Boa at the Sugar PlantationDuring our tour of the sugar plantation we were able to hold their resident huge boa.

From the plantation, we get in a klong boat to the Damnoensaduak Floating Market, the last remaining Bangkok floating market simulating how goods were sold many years ago.  We travel down a large canal connecting the Mae Klong River with the Tachine River.  Everything is accessed by klong (canal) boat here.  For generations, this has been their regular mode transportation. Old Couple on a Bankok KlongAn old couple travel on the klong by the Damnoensaduak Floating Market outside Bangkok

Because they live along the klongs, houses are built right on the water.  Many old Thai houses have their front door down on a klong--the "road" in front of the home.  The canals flood periodically, so houses sit high on posts, well above the high water line.  Potted plants are placed between the two levels making even plain houses quite lovely.

Thai House on a KlongMany old Thai houses had their front door on a klong--the "road" in front of the home. The canals flood periodically, so houses sit on posts, well above the high water line. Potted plants are placed between the two levels making even plain houses quite lovely.

Some houses are beautiful with their pots bursting with flowering bougainvilleas.  Thai House with Masses of Bougainvillea on a KlongThai seem to "ground" their houses with masses of potted plants, like these cascading bougainvilleas.

We snack on spring rolls a young woman cooks on her boat for us. Spring Rolls on the Way to the Floating MarketNong Ning Frid Chicken- great vegetable spring rolls at the Floating Market The remaining Floating Market outside Bangkok

Vendors in the market cooking--and sell--all manner of things from their boats. Vendor Cooking in Boat at the Floating MarketFood vendor at the Damnoensaduak Floating Market outside Bangkok

The market itself has many stalls beside the klongs.  Boat drivers stop where ever you want so you can bargain with the vendors. Damnoensaduak Floating MarketKong boats travel though the remaining Floating Market outside Bangkok

Leaving, we notice many "spirit houses" in the yards.  These are blessed by the monks and placed in the NE corner of the property to bring good fortune to the home. Thai Spirit Houses near the Floating MarketSprit houses are blessed by the monks and placed in the NE corner of a property when a house is built. This house is asking for good luck many times over..

We spend the afternoon at the Grand Palace--the old home of the king--now a ceremonial site. The Grand Palace-BangkokOn the banks of the Chao Phraya, this was the home of Siam (Thai) kings since 1782. No just ceremonial, it also includes the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew)

The fanciful Hermit Medicine Man sits before a lavish wat. He is said to be the father of Thai Herbal Medicine. The Hermit Doctor, The Grand Palace-BangkokThe Hermit Doctor statue cinside the Grand Palace in Bangkok. He is said to be the father of Thai herbal medicine.

The buildings are amazing--like all Thai Wats (temples) they are extremely ornate and covered in gold leaf. The Grand Palace Wat Phra Kaew-BangkokThe multi-tiered orange roofs, with the ornate finials, suggesting the serpentine nāga. The Wat Phra Kaew is the location of the original Emerald Buddha.

None more special than Wat Phra Kaew, located inside the palace walls.  This is the home of the Emerald Buddha.  Turns out this smallish statue of jade actually has a checkered past.  (We'll get an earful on our next stop in Laos.) The Emerald Buddha, The Grand Palace-BangkokThe Emerald Buddha. A 3 foot jade Buddha Laos got from Sri Lanka and was a most sacred Laotian shrine for hundreds of hers. Thailand took from Laos of "safe keeping" during WW II but never returned it--the source of much animosity between the two countries even today.

Guards--really big guards--watch over buildings throughout the Grand Palace... The Grand Palace GuardsGiant guards stand outside the one of the Grand Palace Buildings

Guards of all stripes...

Guards at The Grand Palace- BangkokAll sorts of guards adorn buildings at The Grand Palace in Bangkok

The central garden filled with ancient bonsai is magnificent. Central Garden at The Grand Palace- BangkokThe Grand Palace is no longer a home to the King of Thailand. Now ceremonial, the central garden is filled with some ancient bonsai and some newer topiary trees.

Night time brings a full moon.  From our balcony overlooking the Chao Phraya,  the view is magnificent! Bangkok by MoonlightOverlooking the Chao Phraaya River, we get a spectacular view of Bangkok by moonlight from our Peninsula Hotel balcony.

Our last day, we take a long boat onto Chao Phraya River--a bit more choppy than the market klongs, but a great ride.

Long Boats down the Chao Phraya RiverPassing Wats, Long Boats decked out with flowers on their bows, fly up and down the Chao Phraya River--a main lane of transportation.

Taking a tuktuk--a motorcycle with passenger seating in back--we get a great feel for the city. TukTuk to the HotelWe continue our love affair with tuktuks. They are an inexpensive transport, but more importantly, they give us a chance to really see the city.

Our final stop is the Wat Pho and the 46 M gold-leaf reclining buddha.  Just HUGE. The Reclining Buddha-BangkokNear the Grand Palace, the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok's Wat Pho is over 45 feet high and over 129 feet long.

Susan and I hop on the water taxi and take the Thai Skytrain to the Jim Thompson home.  This is the Thai-style home of an American OSS officer who made his home in Thailand after WWII and founded a famous Thai silk manufacturing empire--and then disappeared in Indonesia.  We watch a woman in traditional dress demonstrate boiling silk cocoons to gather the silk.   Boiling Silk Cocoons-Jim Thompson HouseDemonstration of boiling silk worm cocoons to make silk during a tour of the Jim Thompson Residence.

Tomorrow we head for Laos, stopping in Vientiane then Luang Prabang.