Bangkok!

the public ferries , used kind of like buses on the river by locals and tourists alike.

So we made our way from kyoto to Osaka airport by bus (though it was a big adventure to buy ticket for this damn airport bus...) and finally arrived in Bangkok.

First night was just about getting to the hotel as it was already 9pm by the time we landed.

We got the obligatory tourist scam with the taxi (charging us extra for being a foreigner) but nothing bad. The hotel was great! (merci famille chérie :)...)

I was obsessed with the Mandarin Oriental but we could not )and did not want) afford it.. turns out our hotel way better. The restaurant and food was great, the pool was awesome and we were very happy with the location, right on the water. It basically allowed us to take the water ferries rather than cabs or the metro which was great.

Now, bangkok was our real first encounter with asian travel like we all think about it (different culture, approximate cleanlinness - at least to western standard- ..slight discomfort...etc.

Our first venture outside to find the boat pier was not the most succesful but we persevered and finally found it. It was an adventure on its own and a little scary at first but like most things once you get the hang of it, it is really fun and not scary at all. Traveling is indeed teaching me a lot about who I am , and who I can be.

Frankly, the pier areas were really dirty and so was the river, but the temples and other areas were fine. We did smell some "interesting smells" stemming from the dried fish open stalls/stores outside the temple (in 85 degrees weather, these were definitely smells we were not used to!)

We got a foot massage at the international school of thai massage for super cheap ($10), that was fun! (and everything was very clean there)

We went to see the wat po temple and then went back to the hotel to have a late lunch (it was 4pm by then) and enjoy the pool.