Well, we took our first "real" tour with the ship. This was only because they decided that we weren't capable of taking care of ourselves in Bangkok while protesters were roaming around. We were signed up for "Bangkok On Your Own," but a day before we arrived in Bangkok we got a letter advising that this tour was canceled on account of the protests and that the other tours could be altered to avoid them. The next best option was "The Grand Palace and Shopping." 

The tour started out with a two-ish hour drive into the city. (Sometimes I really think I'm back on a track team with as much time as I'm spending riding a bus) But the "exciting" part of this ride happened in the first ten minutes. The tour guide comes over the microphone, "Yes, today we will be seeing the Grand Palace, Emerald Buddha Temple and then shopping in Pattaya." Sounds fine, but Pattaya was back at the ship, not Bangkok. A lot of people were using this tour just to get into the city due to the aforementioned cancelled tour. So after the word Pattaya, my head snaps to see if others heard what I heard. They looked confused too, but no one was saying anything. So shy, little Candice pipes up and yells halfway down the bus to tour guide, "Whoa, we are suppose to be shopping in downtown Bangkok." That's all it took to get the British started. We almost had another episode of mutiny. Tour descriptions were pulled out, while tour operation headquarters was called.

We had pulled the bus over on the shoulder while all this was going down. When everything seemed somewhat settled we still weren't moving, Sandy starts saying "Let's get going, figure this out on the way." Everyone joined in, bringing the tour guide back to the present. The bus started to roll out and the air conditioner above the seat next to us starts to leak on these British people I met standing in line. The wife was fusing over her husbands pants that were now wet with dirty water. He moves to the front. Not two seconds later, she is having her own shower of a/c rain. "Oh, bloody hell." Then it was our turn to get a little wet, but we didn't get it near as bad. It was priceless, what a way to start the day.

The day eventually turned around. The drive didn't seem that long, we were on very modern (the most American-like road system) interstate with at least four lanes the whole way. Had a "connivence" stop and encountered one of the worst bathrooms on our trip so far. (Best being a toss up between Exchange Square in Hong Kong and Rex Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, fyi) It was not a western toilet and it didn't flush, had to use a bowl to pour water into the porcelain hole in the floor to flush (I use that word very loosely). A quick stop at 7Eleven (they are everywhere, more so than McDonalds), and we were on our way.

The Grand Palace was a sight to see. Think "The King and I." This is where it all really happened. It was a pretty big complex, a lot of different temples and buildings that were intricately decorated. A person could spend two days there and not see everything; we had a little over an hour.

We had to be completely covered (shoulders and ankles) for this little trip; okay except for the heat. I think Arkansas weather prepared us well for this. We had a woman go down towards the end of the tour, she was pretty dramatic about the whole thing. After Sandy poured some water on the back of her neck to cool her down, she comes up to me, "This isn't any worst than when I mow the lawn." Like these Cunardians mow their own lawn. 

After rounding up a bus load of tour #17s, we were off to shopping. Out two to three hours of shopping on our own turned into cram something else that is in the area into our tour. Luckily, right down the road was Jim Thompson's House, which is  a collection of six different traditional Thai houses from around the country. Jim, who reinvigorated the silk business in Thailand in the 50's, had these houses relocated to Bangkok and westernized them. He later went missing while on vacation, and his houses were turned into a museum. All of his belongs are still there, including some very old buddha statues and dishes dating back to the 7th century. It was actually his birthday, so they were celebrating. 

We did do a little bit of shopping. Nothing like knockoff Hurley shirts for six dollars. If we really liked shopping, we could be doing some serious damage. We almost needed a calculator while out to determine the exchange rate. In Thailand we had to divide by 33 to get one US dollar. The prices can throw you off, just due to instinct. I'm not paying 100, all the while it's really $3. Had an Auntie Anne's pretzel in the mall and DQ blizzard. I was really in need of some comfort food, and it was a little taste of home at just the right time. 

While waiting for the bus, we did see some protesters drive by in the back of two trucks shouting and clapping. I'm just glad we didn't see any blood being pour over walls in protest. I don't know if I could have handled that. 

With the little time that we had, we were really pleased with the day. The tour company was good, too, aside from a leaky a/c unit. They had water, cool towels, and bananas for us. Wasn't expecting all of that.

crj