See below for a final post on India.

We just spent 4 nights/days in Bangkok.  Tomorrow, we head to Bali where we'll spend a week (11/6 - 11/13) . . . then to Sydney (arriving 11/14).

Although we have been to Bangkok before (and "did" most of the major tourist sites), I think we had an even better time this go round -- and we, for the most part, skipped the sites.  Instead, we wandered through the markets -- the sights, sounds, and especially the smells from the thai food street carts & stalls are just incredible.  We also did some shopping -- the "knockoffs" are fantastic . . . . and you can sit and leaf through HUNDREDS of dvds/cds/PS2 games, pick the ones you want, waith 5 minutes for them to be burned, and then pay about $1 per disk.  Incredible.  Even for someone like me, who does not usually like to shop, Bangkok has been AWESOME. 

After the rigors of India, B is a wonderful pleasure palace -- dunkin donuts, S'bucks, Baskin Robbins, 7-11, cleanliness, no free roaming cows, minimal car horns honking, movie theatres (the nicest we have ever seen -- Dodgeball was hilarious and the Grudge was great) . . . the list goes on.  BKK is amazing -- so modern and so much technology, and yet so different from home.   The skyline is filled not only with modern bldgs, but wats (temples), palaces, and other asian-typed buildings.  The city has such a great vibe and is so alive . . . and the food alone would justify buying a plane ticket and a visit.

We also took a night/dinner cruise -- seeing the major monuments lighted up at night (which we did not do last time) was amazing.  This time, we also had a brief visit to Patpong, although we declined to see the pussy ping pong show.  Finally, we visited a toxicology center and snake farm -- incredible (especially the King Cobra and the moment when Jenn had a python around her neck)!!!!

In short, BKK is just an awesome city.  Have a Singha or a Chiang beer and visit this amazing world-class city.