Bangkok for a week

Just returned this past weekend after 8 glorious days in Bangkok for the State Dept sponsored annual CME (continuing medical education).  it is great they provide this for us because otherwise it would be very had to keep up our licenses. at first i was not that thrilled with going to Bangkok - initially we were supposed to go to Zagreb, which i have always wanted to visit and it is much closer. it took 2 days to get from here to Bangkok (with a 13.5 hour layover in Paris). Now that i am back i am only wishing i could return. It is certainly a post i would bid for once i have some seniority.

some highlights. amazing food both at higher end restaurants and the street food. it is relative cheap there. good city transportation and easy to get around. and the biggest draw - Thai massage. i had an amazing massage almost daily (6 out of my 8 days) for about $10/hr. if you have never had thai massage, i highly recommend it. it is a combo of deep tissue/sports massage and yoga. the little women climb all over the place and really get in there. after a week of daily massage, my body felt amazing - very centered and happy.

most of the days were spend in classes (of course we went there for a conference).  but i arrived a day early so was able to check out the huge weekend market (Chatuchak) with a fellow Portlander who i was in orientation with - the lucky dog...Bangkok was her first post. I went and visited the Grand Palace - the main tourist site and well worth the visit. Also the Jim Thompson house. One of the evenings we went out with some friends/colleagues to the Red light district. it was truly a sight. Prostitutes everywhere (they didnt like their photos being taken), and live shows. there were guys pacing around outside the clubs with a menu of shows - most having to do with women shooting things our of their vagina. We passed on that! but this area was also next to a huge open air night market, so got some more shopping in.

now for the photos...

The Grand Palace - it it actually a compound with many palaces and shrines. This is the entrance. many of the buildings are painted in gold leaf. others have intricate patterns of ceramic and/or mirrors. incredible

within the Grand Palace compound were a few lovely gardens with statues such as this one.

Temple of the Emerald budda - very famous temple. unfortunately no pictures inside. the Emerald budda was really small (maybe just under a foot tall), but encased if a very elaborate shrine

Street food - YUM! cost about $1.80 for a big plate of delicious food. This is in the red light district (one of them, Pok Pong i think is the name), so we got to sit and eat and be entertained by all the interesting human traffic passing us by.

Kayle and Lenore

Erawan Shrine - just near our hotel

It was all so civilized. it is hard to be back in Ouaga. I feel ready to leave...