Elephants, Crocodiles....and a serenade.

Today is Saturday the 8th December and at midnight tonight we fly out of Bangkok,  my favourite Asian city.

We've had two wonderful weeks here doing all manner of things; massages, shopping the massive malls as well as the other end of the spectrum, the older street shops , sight-seeing, eating local street food, visiting a great dentist, relaxing in our luxury hotel, plus getting to know a few of the locals - including the four legged kind.

Yesterday was a massive 12 hour day on a tour that took us 1-2 hours north of Bangkok to visit the floating markets, elephant and crocodile show plus a cultural show at a place dubiously named "The Rose Garden". Roses in 40 degree heat? I was sceptical, and with good reason....I did see a few plants masquerading as roses, but not the variety I like to call a rose.

So here are the pictures. They show us at all three of the above places plus a few others with some of the lovely people we met on our mini bus, including the cutest three year old girl called Ameliana with her Bolivian mum and Aussie dad. She was fluent in both Spanish and English and didn't stop chattering away in both languages all day. She took a real shine to Georgia and happily played with her all the way back to Bangkok. She was delirious and giggling by the time we reached the inner-city, so much so that I doubt she'll wake up for at least 15 hours! (Georgia too, it seems!)

Last night Georgia really wanted to try the Italian restaurant in our hotel so we splurged and had a really nice meal of pasta, salads, breads, olive oil, cheese and olives. A duo of a cello and guitar player (interesting but effective combination)  latched on to Georgia while I visited the bathroom, and on my return, Georgia had them lined up with several requests, all of which they played for us. I sang along to some of them too, much to Georgia's embarrassment. :)

So sadly, today is our last day in Bangkok. We're just going to relax around the hotel and go for a swim, maybe a massage, then head off to the airport this evening for our flight to Spain at midnight. Once again, we're excited about the flying bit because of our BC perks and seats. We arrive in Malaga on Sunday afternoon about 1330 Spain time and I've hired a car for the month to get us around Andalusia. Will let you know how I go driving on the wrong side of the road while navigating to a small, country village after 20 hours of flying.

Wish me luck!