With Kyla and Sharon in Bangkok

It has been a few days - never will be as verbose as Andrew...

First of all, Happy Birthday Mum!! Sorry I never managed to get hold of you on the right date... I will bring you home a present - promise!!

I think that as she has never had a turn, I will let Sharon write this one... here goes :-)





I discovered how useful Kyla could be while travelling, when just after going through the gate at Auckland airport she spotted a sign that said Cafe Espresso, and she pointed it out to me. What a useful girl. We will keep her I think.

The flight here was 12hrs 10mins. It doesn't take long to say but seemed to be never ending. Still, Thai airways has individual consoles now, so Kyla watched Beauty and the Beast, and a couple of other movies to keep her occupied. The plane was not full - perhaps New Zealanders are scared of tanks? (We haven't seen any.) Arrived in Bangkok, and after being met by Sonia and walking out of the airport, Kyla's first comment -"I can smell the heat". We are getting used to the heat a little, and even felt the need for a jacket when returning to our air conditioned hotel room today.


Yesterday, Wednesday was shopping day, local mall in the morning - tiny shops crammed with stuff, and 1 or 2 sales people as well. It was tempting to ask to see the bag at the bottom of an enormous pile but we resisted the temptation. Found a dress for Jayna - it is beautiful and I am sure Jayna won't want to take it off. Sandra may not be quite so thrilled, but it is so pretty! The flash mall is a complete contrast - huge designer stores with prices to match, and a very cool gourmet market that even sells Mainland Cheese, very strange to see that here. So who did the sign in the photo remind us of...



Back at the hotel we watched the Banyan Tree staff practice their fire fighting skills on the roof of the building next door - nice to know they will be able to protect us if the building goes up in flames! Bizarre though - who in Auckland would let you use their roof to light multiple petrol files which the staff then take turns to put out... Spectacular.



Then we bowed to junior pressure and headed to the pool. Someone was very hot by this point... Nighttime came while the swimming continued. The pool is lit up really nicely.




The night market was a little disorientating - so many stores that sell the same stuff that you feel like you are going in circles. We learnt to barter, a little, but are not as good at it as Sonia is, she does a very good "So expensive, kah!" I think she is a little more convincing than Kyla and I who tend to look quite hesitant.

We caught a tuk tuk back to the hotel, after Sonia negotiated a 100Baht fare, (about $4) however the driver seemed determined to show us that he thought it was too cheap, which involved going very fast and scaring the living daylights out of Kyla who was woried that I may fall out. At the traffic lights he would kill the engine, and when we did arrive back at the hotel, he killed the engine and swept around the little traffic island in such a way that I nearly fell out of the tuk tuk because I was laughing so hard.

Today we woke at 6am , Well, Sonia tried... we nearly rang Andrew to ask him to tell her to get out of bed but eventually she surfaced. A 1 1/2hr van ride took us to the floating market, which begins with a high speed boat ride through the canals, continued with us walking through parts of the market, and then being paddled through the rest, where we were continually accosted by people trying to convince us to "buy this for baby" meaning Kyla.... who wasn't thrilled about being referred to that way.

She was even less thrilled about our guide "Rabbit" who kept holding her hand to guide her. Suddenly I found her holding my hand, a rare occurrence. It was effective however.






Here are some other floating market photos - note the beautiful framed bat - a popular souvenir!! MAF may not be so thrilled, and they speak so little English it is not worth trying to explain. This little girls only English words were 'buy hat'. Very cute.


















The ride back to Bangkok was very different to the ride there, about twice as long, and instead of all on Motorways, it seemed like the driver was determined to show us the rest of Thailand, narrow back roads that had us hoping he knew where he was going. Lots of traffic when we did get back to Bangkok meant a lot of sitting in traffic waiting.

Kyla is enjoying herself, although perhaps affected by the heat a bit. She swings between full of energy (in air conditioned spaces) and wilting when outside. She is not particularly adventurous about trying the thai food, just as well the breakfast buffet has croissants and fresh fruit.

About to go out and post postcards. That's all for now.