Goodbye to Bangkok:

Liked Bangkok more than I thought I would--and have to leave long before I've really gotten to know the city and find my way around. What I will NOT miss in Bangkok is the traffic. The Sky Train and subway are easy to use, I've been told, but three tours in three days did not allow time or energy to try them out.

As for China Town, the largest one in the world, I've been through it three times going somewhere else. Because it's the Chinese New Year, the place is half shut down as the Chinese take advantage of the week-long festivities accompanying the holiday. What I could see from a moving van showed streets jammed with shops and markets and hung with about a zillion red lanterns.

I also missed one of the world's largest INDOOR shopping malls featuring only luxury brand names but I saw that, too, from the van. (Probably just as well I missed getting lost in it and spending my children's inheritance on Gucci bags and Vera Wang gowns.)

Next time I return to Bangkok will be the last day of February and I will stay near the International Airport since I fly out the next morning for home. In the meantime, the wonders of Northern Thailand await!

(Wonder what's happening in the Olympics. Catching very little on television in the evenings. Have we won any medals yet?)