Bangkok River Ride & Flower Market

On Monday Heidi took me to Bangkok via a river boat.

At 10 days into my trip, my impressions of the Thai people have been overwhelmingly positive. They're happy, welcoming, warm, helpful, and did I mention happy? I've traveled many places where the locals seemed less than thrilled to have tourists and other foreigners around. I've even been made to feel unwelcome by locals in my own town.
Not the Thais though. Whether they be neighbors, street vendors, our driver, the lady lady giving me a pedicure, or the random strangers we pass on the street. Everyone is friendly.

However, they have no problem littering. So that made the river ride a bit depressing. The various bits of garbage floating in the water surprised me... like, how do barbie dolls and broken dog food bowls even find their way in there? Almost seems like it'd be easier to drop it in a public trash bin. But, it is what it is... and aside from the trash, this is a great place.

Our ride:




Heidi on the ride:




Some of the sights along our way to Bangkok:















Now, for some of Bangkok:



This blurry picture sums up Thailand pretty well. Thais zooming by on motorcycles, and a "peace to all who enter here" sign with monks strolling past.




The Thai people genuinely love and respect their royalty. Pictures of their king and queen can be found everywhere, though most often displayed in elaborate shrines outside of major businesses.
This tattered photograph, however, had been adhered to a dark and dirty alley's wall with masking tape. While Thailand does have its problems, a secluded picture of royalty would have been defamed if it was anywhere else in the world.



The highlight of my day? Visiting the Little India area of town and eating some WONDERFUL food:




Oh, and forget about to-go boxes. Chicken? Pepsi? There's a bag for that.



After dinner we took a took-took(?Took-toot? I'll have to clarify with Heidi on the spelling/pronunciation) to the flower market. That little thing was wild.







(I love their HOT PINK Taxis here!)


Me in the crazy vehicle:






Aaaaand we arrived at the flower market unscathed:





The flowers were SO beautiful! I couldn't get over ALL THAT COLOR!






















Hmmm I wonder if I can talk Donald into applying for an embassy job here. ;-)