Sharon and Jacques’ Excellent Blog

Well it has actually been three nights in Bangkok, and my senses are on overload.  It is nothing and everything I expected it to be.  A city of about 10 million people, traffic everywhere, winding streets with tiny off shoots where one can find just about anything.  Street vendors plying their wares, and the constant sounds of traffic.

Current Album: 0627 Bangkok Street Scenes
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Step into one of the many huge shopping malls and you are in an oasis of quiet, incredible efficiency and refinement.  Bangkok is an unbelievable juxtaposition between old Asia and new Asia.  People here are friendly and tiny.  There is a comfortable sense of space and a great cleanliness in most areas.  To my great relief, there are also western toilets.

Yesterday we spent the day at the Grand Palace, viewing the incredible architecture and the emerald Buddha.

Current Album: 0628 Bangkok Grand Palace
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We also made our way to the largest reclining Buddha.  For good travel karma, I tossed 108 coins in 108 buckets and meditated as I did so.  Though it is kind of hard to meditate when Jacques has a camera pointed at me and the fellow behind me is trying to see if he can toss the coins faster than anyone in the history of the temple.  Deep breath in, deep breath out.

Current Album: 0628 Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho
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We have been fortunate to have Julie (Sleva, not McCoy) as our tour guide and general lookout.   She introduced us to the “sex tourist” side of Bangkok with a trip into the seedy part of town.  The go-go dancers we easily spotted through the doorways.  Curiously, Julie was the one who was most often approached to see the shows…but she has a great sense of humour about it.  Jacques was unable to find a girlfriend for some strange reason.  We even went into “boys town” where we were promised a show of a huge male appendage.  One fellow was quite insistent and was pulling me into the show.  When I told him that Jacques was all I needed to see, he laughed so hard he let me go.  I was able to escape!  Some secrets are best left untold.

Current Album: 0627 Bangkok Street Scenes
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We are getting into the travel groove now, trying to make our way into Vietnam.  Some planning is required of course, and Jacques and I are having the usual debate about how, when and where.  He is slowly learning that I am omnipotent and am the ultimate tour guide and GPS, and I am learning to bite my tongue and let him get lost a few times.  This trip is “Survivor” (marriage edition) and “the Amazing Race” all rolled into one.  We even had an opportunity to try the deep fried silkworm larvae and grasshoppers.  I stuck with the delicious mangosteens instead.  While I would love to get a parasite to lose about 25 pounds, something tells me that there are better ways to do it! 

We are however, getting into the groove of travelling together.  It is incredibly strange to “go with the flow” all the time.  This flexibility thing is a bit daunting for two driven people.  I think it will take another couple of weeks to figure this out.  In the meantime, here is to good travel karma thanks to the reclining Buddha.