The drive from Chiang Mai back to Bangkok was about 8 hours, so a long day. We made a stop at an unusual mountain formation for a photo op and were surprised at what we found. The two small/tallish mountains jut out of the ground in what is very flat land otherwise. The name of the formation/area is Khao No. There is a road that goes between the two mountains. We turned down this road with the intention of taking photos. When we got to the place between the mountains (about 1.2 km off our main route, so not far at all) we noted large concrete monkey statues, and then saw that there were hundreds (probably thousands) of monkeys live in this small mountain area! They are fed fruit by the local people so they are not aggressive like the monkeys in some tourist areas. The are not really afraid of humans, but they also do not come very close to you. There were big ones, little ones, mamas nursing babies, you name it. HUNDREDS of monkeys. Quite a sight!

We got back into Bangkok in time to take part in one of our favorite Thursday night activities.... quiz night at the Pickled Liver. We ended the night solidly in LAST place. Good to know we are consistent... lol. Anyway, it is always a fun evening with friends. I'm always in awe of the general knowledge that some of the teams have about a huge variety of subject matter! But then, these teams compete at least 2-3 times a week at various location around Sukhumvit. Even though we lose, we love the competition!

Now time for some laundry and then sleep. Back to my home sweet home, Adelphi Suites on soi 8, sukhumvit!

I'm loving your report. What do you think of the tours in Chiang Mai and staying in tree houses.
I saw some on airbnb , orient xplorer

Patricia, I've never done a tour in Chiang Mai so have no opinion. There are many places to visit, for sure. We barely touched the surface. Doi Inthanon is a particular favorite as is Doi Suthep.

Dear friend Lars cooked lasagna for a "goodbye" dinner. It was delicious, as was the wine. All in all, a great finish to my last full day in Bangkok. I did manage some shopping time at Paragon, where I picked up a few must have items, but no time for Platinum Fashion Mall. Next time.....!

Tomorrow will be filled with last minute things to do, as always! I'm so glad I'm not flying out on the usual 6:30am to Tokyo. I don't like that early departure time. This time I'm leaving on the Thai A380 in business class to Frankfurt in the late evening. I should be practically asleep when I board the flight! That will certainly help me sleep.

I'm so glad I escaped the still-cold Illinois weather for a bit. I'm being told that it still isn't like it should be, weatherwise, but things are slowly getting warmer.

Glad you had such a great trip, Carol.

I've flown the Thai A380 in first class a couple of times, and it is excellent. This time I flew in business, BKK to FRA. It was actually quite nice. I managed to slepp most of the flight. Leaving BKK at about midnight means it's time to sleep anyway.

Frankfurt airport is huge. I spent the better part of my 2 hour layover just getting from one gste to the other. No time to visit the lounge which is a nice one. The lounge was too far awayfrom mygste.

Hello from Naples... Off to berlin tomorrow

We are concluding our 3 days in Berlin, most of which we spent on the hop on hop off bus... Great way to see the Max amount with the least possible effort--60 euros for 2 days for 2 people...2 routes which hit the most significant parts of the city. Lots of construction continues here.

Spent a wonderful evening Tuesday at the koncerthaus enjoying sir Neville marriner, age 90, conducting an orchestra playing fantastic classics.

Marriott Berlin is very well located behind the ritz Carleton at potsdammer plate with subway located beneath the platz. Even though I booked thru priceline ($111.), they honored my platinum status and upgraded us to an exec room with club status. Talk about luck...

K visited the newish holocost (sp) museum yesterday and had to wait 60 min for entrance to the underground part. It is directly across the street from the American embassy.

Renting a car today, thru Gemütlichkeit (Avis) and beginning an 11 day driving trip thru Poland (Poznan, Warsaw, Cracow, Worclaw and finally back into germany with a visit to goriltz and Dresden (dinner with Ingo). Flying home from Dresden (united one way miles on Lufthansa).

Thks carol for loaning me this space.

Above by bob..

Car rental is from Gemut...

Are you going to visit my favorite area of what was east Germany? I really enjoyed Meiningen, Suhl, Erfurt area, especially the smallish town of Meiningen.

None of those towns, just goriltz and dresden

Hello from Warsaw. Fantastic highway all the way from Berlin, but tolls stiff on last 1/2.

Marriott upgrade to floor 32. Garage costs out rageous--- like $80/24 hrs.

Opera tonight in national theater-- Madame. Butterfly.

Delicious Burger King for lunch today on highway-- about $6 for whopper w/ cheese and bacon combo.

Snacks in club before opera tonight, maybe more afterwards.

That Burger King burger is a lot cheaper where you were than it is in Switzerland....

Yes, parking a car is expensive in the cities in Europe. We don't pay quite that much though... We pay about $35-40 in Lucerne, and maybe $50-65 in Amsterdam.

Bob and Karen, Cheryl and I send our greetings from Paris (where we are not eating Burger King!).

Eating a Burger King while riding on the road built by Hitler - what a holiday!

Kathie... don't even think of eating BK in Paris!! haha

Hanuman... 555!

Planning a trip to Italy in late August. Same friend who spent a week in Paris with me last year. We're planning on Venice and Florence, with a couple of days in Spoleto in between, to visit my very dear Italian friends. Thoughts? Would you fly INTO Venice and OUT OF Florence, or vice versa, and why?

The one, and only (so far), Burger King in Paris seems to be a big hit with many of the locals....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...-in-Paris.html

Gosh. If I was in Paris, the last thing I'd be doing would be wasting my time on an internet Travel Forum, especially on a thread about Bangkok!

Kathie must be bored already (lol!)!! Have you been down the Paris Sewers Museum yet?...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attract...de_France.html

Read between the lines, it's a fascinating insight.

Allez les bleus!

LancasterLad, a number of fodorites (on this board in particular), happen to be good friends who have met face-to-face numerous times, at GTGs (get togethers). Don't be surprised when a Bangkok thread has folks popping in from Paris, Rome, Dresden, Zurich, Tokyo, Honolulu, Rio, etc etc just to say "hi" and check in! You should join us at a GTG at some point.

simpsonc510.

I've popped into this thread from from Gosport UK, but I only popped in because of the title of the thread.

As an outsider looking at the title of the thread, I shouldn't have to 'cherry-pick' all the useful stuff.

It's extremely boring to read what ought to be going on in in a Chat Room!

It really doesn't matter which airport... I guess it would depend on which has the better schedule...however it is probably easier to arrive in Venice at the train station and leave by air.

Carol, I have good places to stay in both Venice and florence-- both very central-- non- hotels