Blue and Bluer in Bangkok - Travelling with Children

It's never easy traveling with children. It's a big responsibility because you want them to stay safe and healthy. It was great traveling with my 8-year-old daughter though because she had so many great experiences and I met so many people on account of her. She was shy when we left, but when I returned home nine months later, she was an outgoing little kid. The trip changed her personality because she received so much attention on account of being a red-haired kid with freckles.

It was a l-o-o-o-ng flight over to Bangkok - Vancouver to L.A, L.A. to Seoul, Seoul to Bangkok - and we were exhausted when we arrived. From the airport we shared a cab with two other young women and we went to the first hotel he brought us to. Everything in the place was blue - blue rugs, blue curtains, blue sheets, blue bedspreads, blue towels - and when my daughter woke up in the middle of the night whimpering 'I want to go home, Mommy,' I felt blue, too. Suddenly I had second thoughts about taking her out of school and packing up and just leaving. How would it all turn out?

The next morning we got up early and ate a stale breakfast and when I looked outside at the highway I had a panic attack and wanted to go back to bed. However, we must motor forth! The staff pointed us towards Bangkok and we hopped on a bus, but it wasn't long before the bus was caught up in the worst traffic jam I've ever experienced. As I sat there I realized that this was one of my worst nightmares come true, I didn't have a clue where I was going and I couldn't talk to anyone nor read anything. Where will I land up? But what really impressed me was the patience and tolerance of those on the bus, with everyone politely waiting for the cop to unwind the traffic and get everything going again.



Unfortunately, what I didn't know at the time was that Thailand had just experienced a devastating typhoon and travel south would be suspended for at least a week, so we visited the sites in Bangkok, visited some relatives and then went to Koh Samet island, which turned out to be brilliant.

First stop was the magnificent Grand Palace, which I don't have too many shots of unfortunately. Ah, the days before digital cameras! This linked website also has a long list of other cool things to see in Bangkok.







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