Bangkok Trip
The whole group of us flew down to Bangkok for a whirlwind tour of the city (Thurs - Sat). A few VERY full days! A trip of many firsts - and not only for Grace. Take a look at a few of our photos:
She could have used a pillow or something... a little short for this highchair anyhow!
Grace's first "basin bath". She loved it! Much nicer than a shower...
(The Guest House in Chiang Mai provided us with this basin for Grace's bathing just before we left for Bangkok. So these are not Bangkok pictures - but too cute to leave out!) She was quite fascinated by the results of her hands hitting the water!
Michael's first visit to the Royal Palace grounds. He went with the rest of the group into the Royal Projects. This is basically an experimental farm inside one of the Royal palace grounds. (The King was actually in residence there at the time!) The King is running this farm to help better the lives of the farmers of Thailand through better crops, healthier animals and people, diversity of crops, etc. For example, one of his successful experiments was to create a candy-like milk tablet so Thais would get to eat more milk products. He discovered a way for cheap production, so these tablets are easily accessible and cheap to buy. Makes you want to get to know this King - must be a really interesting man. The Royal Projects is not a tourist spot at all, this was by special invitation only. Babies not allowed, so we stayed at the guest home. Michael took many pictures, this one is from a demonstration on paper making.
Our first time seeing tanks up close - and on the move! We went to the square where the coup had taken place. Since the coup, the two rows of tanks here have been the main attraction of an impromptu fair. Most of this was all over when we got there. In fact, after a few shots like this one, we were privileged to watch the tanks leave the square heading back to base. Noisy! Surprisingly manuverable and quick!
Our first flights in and out of the new airport for Bangkok. We actually flew in there on opening day! Brave perhaps, but we didn't fall foul of too many glitches. Just upon arriving we had to wait just over an hour for the one checked bag of our group. Which was better than others who had waited over 3 hours for their bags! Officially this was because the baggage carts hadn't all been moved from the old airport yet. In fact, on our way to the airport leaving Bangkok, we shared the highway with no less than 4 flatbed tractor trailers carrying - luggage carts! Leaving Bangkok, we actually had more trouble - the inevitable 40 min delay, the gate changes, and the worst: we couldn't find supper food. We spent 40 min before check in hunting food and then gave up and went through check in and security thinking to buy near the gates. Guess what? No food at all down our gate corridor! Thankfully the delay meant we could send some guys on a food hunt. They were partially successful...
The whirlwind tour was exhausting for all of us. I think we all envied Grace who is small enough to sleep anywhere, whenever she is tired! She quite enjoyed that extra 40 minutes of airport waiting!
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