We arrived in Bangkok with no problems- the city centre is dry for now and the subway and sky trains are fantastic. Walking into the Bangkok airport was like arriving to an oasis- clean, quiet, serene. In general, Bangkok is clean and quiet (all is relative, of course) and the people are very friendly and polite.
The floods have kept the bulk of tourists away so we have been spoiled by the relative privacy we've experienced at most of the monuments and attractions. François has been in awe of how few other people are around, compared to his last visit!
Another treat has been the street food. Scared off by warnings for our life while in India, we were hesitant to dive into local street food in Bangkok, but we gave it a go bit by bit and the food is fantastic, and scandalously inexpensive. We also ventured out to the Pat Pong night market in Silom. It's tourists galore- and the hub of "nightly activities". Word of advice- don't play "ping pong" in Pat Pong; it's not what you think. Trust us :) We opted instead for the Dr. Fish foot massage- a hilarious experience to say the least.
Since we only have a few days in Bangkok, we stuck to the highlight spots. Stand-outs were Wat Po and the Grand Palace (which we were lucky to get to before it closed the next day due to flooding). We did our best to stroll around the Chao Phraya river, but the flood waters were rising and spreading. When we left, Central Bangkok was preparing for the flood to arrive.
Next stop: Cambodian border and a few days in Siem Reap, home of UNESCO's Angkor Wat.
PS- new word of the day: Yak-crylic= acrylic textiles that the vendors in Kathmandu try to pawn off as "yak"wool. Doesn't exists, so we discovered. It's all yak-crylic :)
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