Bangkok 12/16/11

I am still trying to figure out what day it is.  I awoke in the dark with fluorescent light gleaming in through the window, thinking it must be close to sunrise, and turned on my ipod to look at the time.  10:30am?  Obviously it hasn’t acclimated to local time, but what time is it, really?  I felt pretty awake, so rolled out my mat quietly so as not to disturb my sleeping children and husband, and I put on some music to inspire my morning yoga practice. I worked my way up to some satisfying shoulder opening, as I’m a bit sore from the journey here.

We arrived Wednesday night at 11pm, local time after a three leg journey from Medford to San Fran to Tokyo to Bangkok, the last 7 hours of which my 9 year old son was throwing up in the handy little barf bags.  He was exhausted and must have eaten something that did not agree with him, but I am amazed at his calm acceptance of the situation.   If it had been Anjali, who was sleeping peacefully in the seat behind us with her daddy, there could have been a whole lot more noise and agony.    

After a couple of little hitches and a short night’s sleep, we zoomed off on a tuk tuk for a thrilling no seat belt motorcycle sort of ride, and headed to Chinatown for the best pad thai of the day (We had three, at three different places.) The kids and I practiced saying “Ar  harn ah rohy mark,”  (That was delicious!) and the lovely cook giggled and grinned when we tried out our new phrase on her.

A long walk brought us to the royal garden and Wat Pho.  At this incredible temple, 7 year old Anjali turned into a camera wielding artist, and tried to capture golden buddhas, ornately painted ceilings and fabulously fancy architecture in just the perfect light.  I chased her around, as she aimed for shots of glittering roofs  from the perfect vantage, passionately declaring, “This is the most beautiful place in the whole world!”

We made our way to Chao Praya river and took the boat taxi to Tha Cha for my favorite dish of the day.  It wasn’t the pad thai, but wide flat noodles, spicy chile, chantrelle mushroom, shrimp, what I would call “drunken noodles.”  Oh, yes, this is heaven.

A swim in the pool set the kids up for the easiest bedtime in history, and they’re still sleeping now.  I only just figured out that when I woke up to stretch and write, it was only 1:30 am.  Good thing I didn’t wake everyone up for the day! Still a few hours until dawn…..