Bangkok - The final Chapter

And so, we are sitting in our hotel waiting for the taxi to the airport. This is the last update out of Asia.

Yesterday, we went on an all day tour outside of Bangkok. We went to the Bridge on the River Kwai and the war museum. Karel was able to walk across the bridge, but I chickened out because there was nothing to hold on to and there were a lot of people on the bridge. We watched the Eastern & Oriental Express train cross the bridge and back. It was an extra side trip we found out later. It appeared that the Thai were getting ready for a celebration around the bridge as they were setting up some lights and stage parts.

We then went on to the Tiger Temple. It was quite a drive. We arrived to see about a dozen tigers lounging about with their caretakers in tow. We were able to get close to take pictures and then we got the chance to walk with a tiger to the Tiger Canyon, where there were more photo opportunities. We then paid an extra fee to have our picture taken with a tiger with his head in Karel's lap and me sitting next to them. After this, we were driven back to the city. We hired a private taxi and the driver did not speak any English, so it was a quiet drive.

Updated: 11/24/08 - I forgot to tell you that as we were walking back from dinner to our hotel, we saw an elephant walking down the street. There was a guy on top of him - "driving" him and another guy on the street selling treats so that you could feed the elephant. It was a bit disconcerting because of all the traffic and this poor elephant. We didn't have our cameras with us, so we didn't get a picture of it.

Today, we took about a 2 hour private boat tour of some of the side canals in Bangkok. We got some really good pictures of houses on the waterfront. We also stopped at yet another temple for more pictures.

We ended our day with lunch at The Oriental Hotel. This was a nice end to our trip.

Next stop - Chicago - via Los Angeles.

Namaste,
Deb & Karel