Bangkok, Thailand.  We had a very long tour that was supposed to be 10 hours and ended up being 12.  The port was quite far from the city so it was about 2.5 hours driving time each way and just getting around  the city in a huge bus was a challenge as the traffic is very heavy and we ended up just sitting in one place quite often.
Our tour started with a very nice buffet lunch in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel that is right on the bank of the Chai Praya river.  After lunch we boarded a boat and had an extensive tour along the river and some of the canals.  We saw the "Temple of Dawn", The Grand Royal Palace complex (home of the "Emerald Buddah") and numerous local temples.
Tom was last in Thailand 20 years ago.  Clearly there has been some progress on road construction with elevated toll roads that are a foreign investment but the traffic is still horrible.  Infrastructure has not even kept pace with the population growth.  Pollution is worse.  The last prime Minister was ousted in a military coup last May.  Unfortunately this is common practice in Thailand.  The 87 year old King and his cronies do not want the country to progress in anything including education. It is against the law to criticize the King and our tour guide was very reluctant to discuss the political situation and stated that she would answer questions on the bus but not out in public.  In fact the movie "The King and I" is banned in the country as well as two current best selling books about the King and the political situation.
It is sad to see the lack of progress in Thailand compared to other Asian countries such as Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia.  The Thai people like Americans and they are very friendly and welcoming.  It is a shame the way the country is governed.
Lack of infrastructure, heavy pollution, intolerable traffic, and ineffective corrupt government reminds Tom of Southern California!

Huge display of carved fruits and vegetables at the buffet lunch

There were still many wooden houses on stilts along the river bank

We saw several of the huge Monitor Lizards along the river, some were swimming

Tom rubbing the "Happy Buddah" at the Temple of Dawn

Three different style temples at the Grand Palace

Most of the buildings and statues were decorated    with tiny pieces of broken Chinese porcelain.

Inside the temple of the "Emerald Buddah"

The Emerald Buddah is actually made of jade and wears a robe of gold mesh.  It is 19 inches tall