Bangkok, Sunday

Our children can be remarkably well-behaved and able to amuse themselves if we keep them well-rested and well -ed. We all fell short in our missions today. With coughs lying in each of our throats, we kept each other awake for hours last night, so both girls started the day at a deficit. Although we kept them in fresh bananas and oranges through the morning, naptime came late and pushed back dinner.

That said, we guided ourselves through two of Bangkok's must-sees today, all seen via the river. The hotel water taxi ferried us to the Central Pier where we bought unlimited rides on the Chao Phraya Tourist Express Boat for 100 baht (about $3 USD). It turns out one ride only cost 15 baht - lesson learned. The river took us to the heart of Bangkok, really the heart of Thailand. The Royal Palace was built as a showpiece for the nation and along with the Temple of the Emerald Buddha shows beautifuly. No buildings were open, which gave the girls ample time to walk around outside and enjoy themselves.

The National Royal Palace

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha

Next we walked next door to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Both of these temples require appropriate dress - although it seemed they only enforced the no shoes rule. Still, we all got a kick out of walking in a public place in our stocking feed. The paintings on the walls kept both girls entertained and Lilly loved the plink plink of coins falling into rows of small tin pails as offerings. Although the world-renowned school for Thai massage lets their students practice on tourists outside the temple, we sadly decided that the girls couldn't wait the 30-minutes, so we grabbed lunch and headed back for a late nap and some time by the pool.

The Reclining Buddha

"plink, plink"

The hotel fronts a shopping center with a wide variety of goods and cheaper eats, so we grabbed a Thai meal and headed straight to bed. A run to the Lotus/Tesco/Esso down the street yielded diapers and wipes, setting us up for the week to come.