Bangkok, Saturday

Our week in Bangkok draws to a close with a good day. After a week on my own with 2 young kids in Bangkok, Dave joined us today and it felt smooth and interesting.

We hopped the Tourist Express to the Northernmost stop - we began with a water taxi to the Southern stop. The ride from South to North took us from expensive resort-style hotels, glamorous brand-name shopping, Western meals with inflated prices, and Fodor's and Insight Guides; to the land of Lonely Planet, markets, street vendors selling unrecognizable food, signs for cheap internet access and used book stalls. This is more our style of travel. Less Prada handbags. More dredlocks and sarongs.

I am struck that either place, we were surrounded by Western tourists. It seems that Bangkok, even more than Shanghai, is an international city where tourists pay to see what they want to see. At the Marriott, they pay to see Thai dancing and kick boxing but also hospitality, climate, gardens and shopping. In the Lonely Planet section, its pedestrian streets and street vendors, tuk-tuks and food markets. Notably, there's tooth whitening, face waxing and Botox in both. It seems that Thai people either live in relative poverty, or much like us. That's hardly worth visiting.

Bangkok seems like a wonderful place to spend a few days relaxing and shopping, whatever your budget - a modern, international city - and then a good jumping off point for rural Thailand.