Markets, durian, and Buddha- hello Bangkok!

I made it through the 10 hour flight with some very swollen legs/feet but more or less unharmed. The airline had called the day before and offered promotional upgrades to first class for a discounted price, I know it's mean, but I upgraded myself and left everyone else in economy... I figured there was no way I'd make it through that flight all cramped up in the back of the plane at 7 months pregnant. Besides, Chris had Benjamin (our nephew) with him to watch after the kids. We met up with Chris's brother Jeff and his 3 girls late that night in Bangkok- the girls have gotten so big, it was really fun to see those little cuties!

Jeff had set up a driver and tour guide for our first day and we were so glad to have Pi. First of all Bangkok is a crazy city! Traffic is crazy, the noise is crazy a and you never know what is around the corner (stray dogs, street food stalls, motorcycle taxi's weaving in and out of traffic). So it was nice to have someone else deal with directions and traffic.

We headed down to the floating market, which is about an hour outside of Bangkok. Each boat sells something different from fruit/veg, ready to eat food, and of course tourist souvenirs.

Even a spot to stop and have your pic taken with a massive python!

Ben is not a huge fan of snakes, as you can tell- but always up for a challenge!

Just outside the floating market there is the Maeklong Railraoad Station and market. Now this is crazy, pay attention.

Can you see the train tracks we are standing on? Well believe it or not a train actually goes right through there, while the market is in full swing. The people set out all their stuff to sell (fruit, veg, meat, fish, some of it is super gross) early in the morning, then around 9am everyday the train comes through and they all have to pick up their baskets and move them out of the way real quick, then when the train passes, back they go. Crazy, right?

Here's our whole group together that day. We were a confusing bunch. Are those all her kids? who is the dad? who are the other guys? people kept asking our tour guide how we were all connected :)

At the market Pi bought a bunch of Thai fruits for us all to try: hairy fruit (which I later found is called rambuten), mangosteen (everyones favorite- if you get a good one), bitter lime (nasty, you chew on it like gum and from what Chris and Ben said, it is so bitter it literally sucks all the liquid from your mouth), pomelo (kind of like a grapefruit), salak palm fruit (hard to explain, reminded me of a soft sweetart candy), and dragon fruit (very pretty, but not all that flavorful, a little like a bland kiwi).

Then we were of to a yummy Thai lunch- pad Thai, Tom yum soup, sho she curry, some crab dish that I can't remember the name, fried rice, crab omelette, adn for dessert mango with sticky rice, mmmmm. They also served durian with sticky rice, so we got one so the bravest could try it. Durian is a fruit that is said to smell like rotten gym socks and taste like onion custard with the texture of chunky sour milk. And yes, people eat it.

The sticky rice helped mask the smell, but there was no getting past the texture and the taste, yuck! I only ate the teeniest of bites, but Chris and Ben were really brave!

We had to get all the use out of our driver and tour guide while we had them so we were next off to the Grand Palace.

Because it's a temple adults have to wear long pants and sleeves, so we had to rent clothes to go over our shorts before entering.

It's kind of gold overload in there,  but very cool. We got to see lots of interesting buildings, gardens and the emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade, not emerald at all).

The little cousins: Elena, Anna, Abby, Ellie, Caleb

Finally a stop to see the massive reclining Buddha, which is so huge it was hard to take a picture of :)

It was so cool though, I'm glad we stopped even though everyone was exhausted by now! 

Except those crazy boys who all went to a Muay Thai fight that night! They loved it though and got ringside seats and got to meet some of the fighters after, but pics are all on Chris's phone, so I'll have to get them later.