2009 World trip with the Percivals

Thailand

Monday afternoon 2009-04-06      Driving to our hotel from the airport   After clearing airport formalities, we drive to our hotel over an amazing tollroad system. The roads signs look strange.
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Monday afternoon 2009-04-06      Driving to our hotel from the airport   Bangkok is the world's 22nd largest city by population with approximately 8,160,522 registered residents. Because of an influx of unregistered migrants, the population of greater Bangkok is estimated at nearly 15 million people.
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Monday afternoon 2009-04-06     Driving to our hotel from the airport   Bangkok is about two metres  above sea level, which causes problems during the monsoon season. Often, after a downpour, water in the canals and the river overflows  resulting in massive flooding.
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Monday afternoon 2009-04-06     Driving to our hotel from the airport   Bangkok has a tropical monsoon climate.  Absolute maxima is 40.8 ° and absolute minima is 9.9 °.  The coldest daytime maximum temperature of 22.3 ° was recorded in December 1999.
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Monday afternoon 2009-04-06      Driving to our hotel from the airport   Hailstorms are virtually unheard of in the city, with only one having been recorded in the past fifty years.
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Monday afternoon 2009-04-06    Driving to our hotel from the airport   Development money continues to pour in to Bangkok.  In 2005, Bangkok produced a GDP (PPP) of about US$ 220 billion, which accounts for 44 percent of the country's GDP. Bangkok's GDP (PPP) per capita is well over US$ 20,000, one of the highest in Southeast Asia.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Walking to the train station   Next morning, we leave the hotel to start our adventures for the day.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Walking to the train station   We plan to catch a train to the river and then a ferry to the Grand Palace.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Walking to the train station   After the snow of Germany, it's weird to see tropical flowers in full bloom.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Royal Bangkok Sports Club   The club's grounds include a golf course ringed by a horse racing track and a huge clubhouse. Races are held every two weeks on Sunday 12:30-6 pm. Club members can participate in more than 20 sports and there is also a gym, restaurants, a bar and a beauty parlor.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Rachamdamri Station
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    Rachamdamri Station   This is one of three Sky Train Routes operated by the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS). It is a public company.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Rachamdamri Station   Security is very tight everywhere in Bangkok.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    Saphan Taksin Station - our destination   Saphan Taksin is by the river. We saw a sign advertising a long-boat ride through the canals and almost immediately we were approached by someone wanting to “help” us.  A short time later we’d paid for a ride: THB650 ($26) each.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    Chao Phraya River   For that amount we had a boat for the four of us, a driver and a very charming tour guide called Yelli. She said the boat’s name was James Bond after the scene from a movie that used a long boat but there was no way of knowing
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Chao Phraya River   The long-boat has a large engine balanced at the rear end of the boat and where the driver can lift the prop shaft out of the water.  They’re also reputed to be quite fast.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Chao Phraya River   Yelli welcomes us aboard with a traditional wai. The wai  is used for greeting, farewell, or acknowledgment and it comes in several forms reflecting the relative status of those involved.  Generally it involves a prayer-like gesture with the hands and a bow of the head.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    Chao Phraya River   The Chao Phraya River begins at the confluence of the Ping and Nan rivers at Nakhon Sawan in the Nakhon Sawan province
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Chao Phraya River   It then flows from north to south for 372 kilometres from the central plains through Bangkok and on to the Gulf of Thailand.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07       Chao Phraya River   We branch off the Chao Phraya into a canal.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Chao Phraya River   Yelli assured us that people did not eat these water monitors.  This, as you can imagine, was a huge relief.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Chao Phraya River   The Grand Palace from the Chao Phraya River
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Chao Phraya River   They're looking at a school of catfish swimming in the water below.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Wat Arun Temple   The height of the central prang is 86 m. The corners are surrounded by 4 smaller satellite prangs. The prangs are decorated by seashells and bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Wat Arun Temple   At the riverside are 6 pavilions (sala) in Chinese style. The pavilions are made of green granite and contain landing bridges
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Wat Arun Temple   The central prang symbolizes Mount Meru of the Indian cosmology. The satellite prangs are devoted to the wind god Phra Phai.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Wat Arun Temple   The outstanding feature of Wat Arun is its central prang (Khmer-style tower). Note the very steep steps leading to the upper platform.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    Wat Arun Temple   The temple's name name comes from Aruna, the Indian god of the dawn, hence the "Temple of Dawn".
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Wat Arun Temple   The original tower was only 15m  high but was expanded during the rule of Rama III (1824-1851) to its current height.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Wat Arun Temple  Next to the prangs is the old chapel with the old ordination hall to its left.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Wat Arun Temple    Because of their religious discipline, Thai monks are forbidden physical contact with women. Women are therefore expected to make way for passing monks to ensure that accidental contact does not occur.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    Wat Arun Temple   From the upper platform looking across the Chao Phraya River at the Grand Palace.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Wat Arun Temple   The steps are very difficult to ascend and even more difficult to descend.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    The scam  We  meet the con man.   He produces a plastic card to prove that he is genuine (and just as quickly puts it away). He tells us that the palace is closed to foreigners between 12:00 and 2:00 (and it had just turned 12:00). “Thai people only” he says.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Tuk-Tuk ride   He has a suggestion: take a Tuk-Tuk ride and visit other attractions in the area, cost about $2.50. This seems like a bargain so we agree. Two Tuk-Tuks magically appear (the ones with the white number plates are reputable he assures us).
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Tuk-Tuk ride   The first stop really isn't the first stop; the first stop occurs shortly after entering the traffic. We seem to wait for ages in traffic, so much so that he would turn the engine off. Then we’d progress a few metres and then stop again.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Tuk-Tuk ride   The fumes are awful, the noise is awful and there is no alternative to sitting there feeling trapped.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Tuk-Tuk ride   But Bonnie loves the experience.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Tuk-Tuk ride  I've been to many Asian countries and Australians are a favoured and easy target to rip off.  But at this point in time I suspect nothing.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Tuk-Tuk ride   We are taken to the Lucky Buddha at the Golden Pavillion.  Thailand is one of the most devoutly Buddhist countries in the world. The national religion is Theravada Buddhism which is practiced by more than 95% of Thais.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Tuk-Tuk ride   Here we meet an interesting Thai who speaks perfect English. He tells  us about the Thai New Year celebrations that start next week – Songkrat:  a key activity is that everyone squirts water over everybody else but that they probably won't do it to me because I am old. Hummph!!
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    The Tuk-Tuk ride   It appears that he is very important. He has something to do with the movie industry and he is going to Australia next week to make a movie about Australia/Thailand relations.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Tuk-Tuk ride  Then, casually, he tells us about a jewellery store "50% off, today only".
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    The Tuk-Tuk ride   Our next stop is the Thailand Centre which turns out to be a place that makes cut-to-measure tailored suits.   I refuse to go in although Bonnie and Jenni take a look.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Tuk-Tuk ride  Our final stop is the China Centre which is a shop that sells Chinese jewellery. Bonnie goes into the centre and buys some ear rings that she is completely happy with,  "50% off today only". So  this was the scam: get us into their Tuk-Tuks and take us shopping.    Later, on a TV show called "Scam City," it turns out that the guy at the Lucky Buddha is also part of the scam and the scam still runs to this day.  On the TV show he was a university academic visiting Thailand.  You just have to admire the complexity, smoothness and continuing success of it all.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Tuk-Tuk ride   A "Red shirt" near the United Nations building. Red shirts are the supporters of deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and are demonstrating in the city. A couple of days after we leave, riots start that result in two deaths and 123 injuries. A state of emergency was declared on April 12.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    The Tuk-Tuk ride   The Democracy Monument: The monument was commissioned in 1939 to commemorate the 1932 Siamese coup d'état which led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in what was then the Kingdom of Siam.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Tuk-Tuk ride   The centrepiece of the Monument is a carved representation of the Thai Constitution of 1932, on top of two golden offering bowls above a round turret. The Constitution is symbolically guarded by four wing-like structures, representing the four branches of the Thai armed forces - army, navy, air force and police - that carried out the 1932 coup.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Tuk-Tuk ride   We return to the front of the palace where we learn that the Palace never was closed to foreigners - the final element of a very sophisticated scam. Damn, they were good!  Thinking about it though, what sort of country is Thailand where a citizen who speaks perfect English, and can pass himself off as an academic or businessman, cons tourists for a living?
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok   The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings in Bangkok that has served as the official residence of the Kings of Thailand from the 18th century onwards. Construction of the Palace began in 1782, during the reign of King Rama I, when he moved the capital across the river from Thonburi to Bangkok.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok   Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha. The emerald buddha is carved from a block of green jade first discovered in 1434, covered in plaster.  Later the abbot who discovered it noticed green stone underneath and thought it was emerald.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Upper Terrace of  The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Upper Terrace of  The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Upper Terrace of  the Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Upper Terrace of  the Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Upper Terrace of  the Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07       The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    The Grand Palace, Bangkok   The Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Galleries of the Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07       The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07       The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok   The Chakri Group. The Chakri Maha Prasit was built by King King Rama V in 1882. The Chakri group consists of the Central Throne Hall and two wings.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07       The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07       The Grand Palace, Bangkok   The Chakri Maha Prasit
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok   The Dusit Group consisting of the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall and the Amphorn Phimok Pavilion.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Grand Palace, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Walking to the wharf, Bangkok   We leave the palace and decide to return to our hotel.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Walking to the wharf, Bangkok   Jenni's smiling because she makes it to the other side of the road. Dennis and Bonnie are still gathering their courage.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Reclining Buddha, Bangkok   On the way to the wharf, we discover the Reclining Buddha.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Reclining Buddha, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07       The Reclining Buddha, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     The Reclining Buddha, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07    The Reclining Buddha, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      The Reclining Buddha, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07       The Reclining Buddha, Bangkok
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Tuesday 2009-04-07      Ferry ride on the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok   We catch a ferry back to Saphan Taksin train station for the bargain price of $1.50 per couple.
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Tuesday 2009-04-07     Ferry ride on the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok
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Wednesday 2009-04-08      Bangkok Thailand   The next morning, we leave the hotel to visit the shopping centres. Tonight we return to Sydney.
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Wednesday 2009-04-08     Bangkok Thailand   The construction in Bangkok is amazing and is like nothing I've ever seen in any other city.  This is a dual overhead rail system. One overhead railway? Too easy, seen lots of them; but dual overhead rail systems?
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Wednesday 2009-04-08      Bangkok Thailand   Even more amazing is that this dual system merges with another dual system.
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Wednesday 2009-04-08     Bangkok Thailand   Just here, we are approached by an elderly well-dressed gentleman who falls easily into conversation with us. It is hard to tell if he is being genuinely helpful and friendly or is spotting for a shopping centre.
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Wednesday 2009-04-08    Bangkok Thailand   As we get to the end of this bridge, we are approached again, this time by an immaculately dressed older woman. Same deal; falls into conversation very easily, saw us in the hotel lobby this morning, recommends where to go and where not to go. Better to be conned here than robbed in Spain I suppose.
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Wednesday 2009-04-08     Bangkok Thailand   The mystery remains as to why this should be a good spot to have your photo taken.
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Wednesday 2009-04-08      Bangkok Thailand
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Wednesday 2009-04-08     Bangkok Thailand   Dennis and I are shopped out so we return to our hotel (late check out) while Jenni and Bonnie have some girl time.
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Wednesday 2009-04-08      Bangkok Thailand   Back on the surface streets, the traffic is amazing.
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Wednesday 2009-04-08      Bangkok Thailand   After the serenity of the quiet villages in Germany and France, this comes as a shock.
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Wednesday 2009-04-08      Bangkok Thailand   We return to our room and ready ourselves for the final leg of our journey.
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Wednesday 2009-04-08    Bangkok Airport   Throughout the trip I kept a daily log. Here, I write the final entry.
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Thursday 2009-04-09     Sydney Airport   All too soon, the adventure ends and we're back to the harsh reailty of being affluent, retired Australians with a wonderful circle of friends.  END OF THE ALBUM -    Return home     There is a small selection of the    best photos of the trip     if you would like to take a look.
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