Arrival!

We are finally in Bangkok! It was quite a trip to get here from Madrid but the kids handled it fine. We had 2h to Frankfurt, followed by 6h to Abu Dhabi and another 6h to Bangkok. Lucas and Aisha slept for most of the two long flights so we had enough energy to have a little walk last night after dumping all out luggage at the hotel (and a quick dip in the pool for Lucas).

We are round the corner from Kao San road, but we didn't manage to find it (mostly out of pride - we both refused to ask for directions). Managed to get some chilly sauce in Lucas' eye which didn't go down too well but we soon recovered from the incident with the promise of a laser as a present for the next day. Everyone was feeling a bit knackered so we had an early night and by next morning we were all out of jet lag mode.

Today was pretty busy. After a laid-back morning by the pool and copious breakfast (including Josh's first pad thai of the trip, the first of many) we got a tuk-tuk to the Grand Palace. The kids enjoyed it immensely, from mum and dad dressing in Thai clothes (borrowed, to be let in) to taking off sandals to be able to go in the king's temple (aka the Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha). And let's not forget the gold buildings, murals with depicting stories with crazy monsters (aka the Ramakien), and all the monks.

The plan was to get on a boat and then a skytrain to the shopping malls but hunger set in so we grabbed another tuk-tuk-tuk which plowed into Bangkok's crazy traffic at breakneck speed. We saw a minor demonstration, not quite sure what of (some sort of pacifist pro-conciliation / anti-corruption group). The main reason to go to the malls was to look for some sort of play area for kids. I think that might prove a bit difficult in SE Asia. You don't seem to find slides or swings anywhere. After a delicious lunch (no problem for the kids, except the hot stuff) we found a bunch of rides that did the trick. We seemed to get endless free vouchers so we got on loads of the attractions.

After a looong queue for a taxi we got back to the hotel. The kids fell asleep on the way so we put them straight to bed. While I write in the blog Esther has gone to get a foot massage. Hardly fair I'd say. I hope she finds a laser on the way back...

Lessons learnt today: always take hats & suncream with you (apart from that the daypack was pretty complete), and try and do a bit less in a day (even without boat and skytrain we got back late with both kids asleep).