Fear Factor- Bangkok style (and a river cruise)

Went to another market, this one is a weekly one and is apparently one the biggest in the world, it covers 35 acres and has more than 8,000 stalls. We barely scratched the surface, but with our big group (including a pregnant mama and 5 kids under age 10) we never last too long in any one location. But a definite highlight was watching the boys eat some fried bugs, yum...

And Ben... Good effort....

Another day we took a cruise down the Chao Phraya River. It was really relaxing and a fun way to see a different side of the city. Side note: We got into a taxi to take us down to the river and our driver was telling us how much a boat ride would cost. I had done my research and already knew what to expect, so I just smiled and nodded. Then we pull up at this pier and little did we know that he had been telling us how much it would cost for his friend to take us on a river cruise. It ended up working out fine, but I felt like we had been hijacked. You've got to be careful, because the taxi drivers are always trying to take you somewhere else. We had one guy that was negotiating a price for us (to take us back to our hotel) and he finally says "okay I give you that price, we just make one stop at the Thai Village" - no thanks, we'll find another taxi. They must get a commission for how many tourists they bring to certain destinations. Another guy tried to take us down to the floating market (an hour away!) when we only wanted to go the mall that was like 10 minutes away. Tricky, tricky. We found the best way was to get a ride with the taxi that was not very eager to take you at all, then you knew he was going to use the meter and get you there as quick as possible so he could get back to whatever else he was doing :)

I was amazed by some of the houses we saw that people were actually living in. Some of them looked like a semi-strong wind would just blow them over or the slightest wave would knock down the stilts holding them up. Then I'd laugh when I saw a satellite dish hooked up to the side of one of these homes (wouldn't wanna miss CSI).

Longtail boats- these are a common mode of transport all around Thailand, whether down the river or out in the ocean to get from one island to another.

And so Bangkok came to an end, It was so fun to see Jeff an the girls, we just wish they could have stayed longer :(