Bangkok is full of rich cultural, history, spiritual components. Bangkok for our family meant shopping, visits to get our hair and nails done, a last minute foot massage and of course pool time and chilling. I had thought about bring the girls to see the sleeping Buddha and the Grand Palace, maybe even a few other tourist destinations or even take a ride on the taxi ferry. When we got to our last destination on our three week tour, I realized we had done dozens of similar outings and in all honesty it felt like they had enough.
The girls were pretty good travelers but I did not want to push is. Sure, we had a handful of bumpy, grumpy, ungrateful moments. Meltdowns and sometimes demands that left Don and I asking, "Why are we traveling with them?" Yet overall they were phenomenal and patient explorers. Ten flights, several boat trips, one ox cart ride, along with time changes, new food and so much sensory overload for almost three weeks was a lot for one nine year old and one eleven year old. We figured that the most we wanted to push them in Bangkok would be the train (identical to the BART, except for being far cleaner) to some trips to the malls to do some last minute shopping (Amara had to get a phone case for her new phone that she got on Christmas and I had to do some hand bag shopping!) and lots of pool time. The girls had swam every single day and did not want to break the swimming streak! They also had their last few tuk tuk rides, which were loud but exciting. Bangkok is a busy, noisy city but it is full of so much to see even if we opted out of the more sought out destinations.
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| I felt sad leaving Trat (Ko Chang) knowing our time was drawing near. I could have keep on traveling. |
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| Thailand's exchange rate afforded us the ability to stay in some posh lodging. We had a a great view of the city from our place in Central Bangkok (along with a two bedroom hotel, two bath, full kitchen hotel room. The girls loved it!) |
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Overlooking the train and a traffic light. Traffic in Bangkok is off the charts crazy.
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| Taking some time at the hair salon. Something I don't have the time or energy for at home. |
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| Shopping for squishies at the most gigantic mall I had ever seen. Eight floors of endless shopping. It was a bit of sensory overload but Amara got her phone case, Havana her squishy, and I got several handbags. Oh and a small suitcase to put all the loot in to get it back to California!! |
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| Over the course of 2 1/2 days the girls swam several times. They swam right up until the taxi was going to come and take us to the airport!! |
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| Goodbye Thailand. A million thanks, hearts full of love and memories. |
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| Twenty hours later. |
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