Bangkok: Lessons Learned

Never get into a Taxi without first making sure they will use the meter. We had read this but should have stuck to it. I think we've gotten so used to bartering for our public transportation and it was scary not knowing how much it would cost before hand. But the few times we didn't use the meter to go somewhere, when we came back it was less than half the price. Yikes! But taxi's there are still so cheap! We could go 45 minutes away and it would still cost only less than $6 dollars.

Traffic, all day, all night, every road. Seriously, it was incredible.

If a taxi driver realizes you speak a little Thai, you'd better be ready for small talk. It's good practice.

Even if you're on the 6th floor of a hotel be sure to check you candy before you eat it. Damien made the mistake of eating chocolate in the dark and realized 5 minutes later that it was infested with ants. He was still finding them in his mouth an hour later. Yuck! Kids didn't seem to mind though. :-)

Assume a place 5 Kilometers away will take an hour to get to. It might not...but it might!

Taxi's are a great way to get around. So cheap. A lot of things in Bangkok were more expensive (restaurants, etc...) but with the 5 of us Taxi's were often even cheaper than the sky train.

I have finally admitted to myself that I'm a big city girl at heart! I don't care about the pollution, traffic...I love it. I would love to live among high-rises and people...maybe I'll do it one day....and then I'll realize that I'm not actually a city girl. :-)

Even though Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand after Bangkok, it's like you're in another world. However, there are aspects to Bangkok that when you see them you KNOW you are still in Thailand.

It's hot. Really hot. I'd hate to be there during hot season.

It seems like you could easily get around Bangkok without knowing any Thai. Chiang Mai is like that for a lot of things but other things it still really helps to know some Thai.

There are many levels of ability to speak English, and just because a website says a Doctor can speak English doesn't mean it's necessarily good enough to have a good medical conversation.

When you travel to a city far away to see a Doctor, don't forget important medical records at your hotel on the day you go to the hospital.

No matter how good a hospital is, it's still not the same as at home. Different philosophies, different ways of doing things.

My kids complain too much when we have to walk a lot. Definitely need to work on that.

We could travel all over the world but as long as we have a free breakfast buffet and swim every day the kids are happy!

Planning their strategy for jumping in.

Sora found her courage and swam on her own with the ring most of the time.