July 20, 2026

I've been looking forward to exploring Bangkok, as it has always sounded so exotic to me. My first impressions - big sprawling City, highways just like USA, lots of traffic, it's hot and they really like their King. His picture and statues are Everywhere! The architecture of the skyline is nothing special, until you start noticing all the gold, stone, carvings and opulence of the Temples andThe Grand Palace is wow so over the top bedazzled!

The current King of Thailand is Maha Vajiralongkorn (also known as King Rama X - since he is 10th monarch of Chakri, the reigning dynatsy since 1782). He took over, after his father's death in 2016, 10 years ago. He's 73 and has 3 divorced wives,  2 current wives and at least 7 children. There is tons of controversy over the Royal Family but their laws strictly prohibit disrespecting them. One story about his poodle's (dog) birthday party and young wife, in only a g-string, was eye catching! Surprisingly, I just learned this Monarchy is the wealthiest in the World, with an estimated new worth between $30 to 70 US Billion.  

Above are other images I saw all around town. The first one is the Queen Mother Sirikit (the King's Mother) who passed back in October 2025 and they will typically mourn for a year. The middle photo is Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendiradebyavati, who passed away just before we arrived on June 11, after over 3 years in a coma, due to a heart condition. She was 47 and was the eldest daughter of King Rama X. The 3rd photo shows another image of her Dad, King Rama X.

We actually got to see the start of the official royal funeral for the Princess at the Great Palace, as they had a 10 km motorcade into the complex, while we were finishing up touring there, our first day in Bangkok. We saw the buses of military personal coming into grounds and then the dignitaries cars shown below. Princess Anne of Britain was in the 2nd vehicle. They laid the Princesses body out in the Phiman Rattaya Throne Hall, which was the last photo I took below before leaving the Palace Grounds. 

 Video below captured by @Starr of the Odyssey (fellow resident) of motorcade.

Below is a fraction of The Grand Palace complex, it is a massive over 2.3 Million Square Feet. This was the home for the Kings of Siam ( later Thailand) from 1782 until 1925, when they moved to Dusit Palace.

  • Aerial view from web

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  • Emerald Temple

    The Temple of the Emerald Buddha

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  • Phiman Rattaya Throne Hall

    Where the King's daughter was laid out for Royal Funeral

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HONG KONG

By Pat Patrick • September 3, 2026
So excited to get out and explore this huge city. Our Port is attached to a huge shopping mall - so it is a bit of a hike before we even get outside. When we do the heat hits us like a brick wall! There are typhoons, in the area and according to a local, when the storms come in, they first bring a wave of fog, heat and humidity to Hong Kong .

ENTERING HONG KONG HARBOR

By Pat Patrick • September 1, 2026
On Saturday August 29, 2026 we achieved another historic milestone on this circumnavigation of the World , we cruised into Hong Kong Harbor. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. The land encompassed by Hong Kong is confusing. It includes part of the southern coast of mainland China, just below Shenzhen, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories . Looking at a map helps, but the rules changed so many times! I asked my buddy Chat several times, to tell me if what I was looking at was the Hong Kong that the British had owned for years. The answer was never straight forward!

HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM

By Pat Patrick • August 31, 2026
Ha Long Bay in Vietnam is one of those bucket list places I have had in my sights for years. It's the iconic picture in my mind's eye, whenever I think of Vietnam . We had made plans to go with 8 others on a brand new, swanky Red Dragon Junk boat for a harbor cruise and overnight stay, but sadly the weather did not cooperate the whole 4 days we were in port. No ships were permitted to sail, per the local government. Many of us were bummed! This is typhoon session and there was a lot of rain and high winds our first couple of days - we were hoping it would blow out the last day and we could at least do a day trip but no luck!