Bangkok, Thailand

Our family, along with Dad and Terry, visited Bangkok, Thailand in early January this year.

This is our gang at the airport waiting for our departure flight.

We flew in on a Friday evening so we got settled into our hotel and then found a nice italian restaurant close by for dinner. We had hotel reservations at the Marriott Bangkok Sukhumvit. The hotel proved to have a great breakfast but not the best location.

One of the places we visited was the Snake Farm in the city.

We are all waiting for the snake show to start.

Aaron picked up some pineapple and mango from the vendor.

We took a ride in a Tuk Tuk which is a 3 wheeled motorized vehicle used as a taxi.

Notice I have a tooth missing? Yeah, that will get taken care of over the next 6 months :(

We took a Tuk Tuk from the snake farm to our next destination...Chatuchak Market.

The market was HUGE! It is one of the largest weekend markets in the world!

After the market, we took a taxi to the Jim Thompson house.

Jim Thompson was an American who found his way to Thailand because he was with the U.S. military in WW2. After the war he decided to permanently relocate to Thailand and
established a beautiful compound that is very well preserved.
He was an architect and silk trader.

At the museum was a very nice cafe where we could rest and eat. 

This item from the menu is a pineapple chicken dish. 

Darby ordered the mango sticky rice. Yum!

On the grounds were these ladies showing us a Thai dance and also how to prepare silk.

This guy is getting the silk from the silk worms cocoon. 

We are resting our feet and waiting for our tour of the Jim Thompson House.

That evening it was Ice Cream for dinner! 

That is what happens when you eat a late lunch :)

The Swensen's Ice Cream Parlor was located at a mall called Terminal 21 that gave you the feel you were at the airport. And each level was decorated like a different city.

We visited an English speaking ward in Bangkok on Sunday morning. 

Afterward we went to our hotel to change and then headed off to see some temples.

We took a boat ride on the Chao Phraya River to Wat Arun. 

"Wat" translates to the word "Temple". 

Here are some photos of the kinds of things we saw while on the river.

And here we are...Wat Arun.

I love these beautiful images and colors of this temple.

Back on the river we pass this building which looks like it is being built out of Legos.

Next we visited Wat Pho.

This Buddhist temple complex is also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha

We were not able to see the Grand Palace. They had closed before we could get there :(

We only have this one photo of the top half!

As always, we ended the night with ice cream...Again!

On our last full day in Bangkok, we had arranged a tour. A comfy van picked us up from our hotel bright and early. After two hours in the car we came to this popular tourist spot...

The Floating Market.

I don't think the snake was for sale :)

Melynn is trying to work a deal with this lady. She loves to bargain.

After the floating market, our tour guide took us to the Bridge over the River Kwai.

This plaque is a memorial of the Americans who died building the bridge during WW2.

13,000 people died building the railway and bridges. 

There was a movie that is based on some of these experiences.

We had a big buffet lunch at this place with all the other tourists.

Our last stop of the tour was the grand finale. We rode and bathed with elephants!
The guides took our cameras and took a ton of photos!!! It was really hard choosing some favorites so I am sorting some here byeach member of our family :)

Let's start with Jaxon...though Melynn is on this elephant with him.





Melynn...













Darby...

Darby was feeding the elephant some snacks.







Krissy...

Aaron...





Aaron is spraying me with the elephant's trunk!

Terry...

John...

You get a lot more spray action from the elephant's trunk than from a water gun :)

We had a great trip. Terry will tell you that riding and swimming with the elephants was the best part! I love sharing these unique experiences with family :)