The people of Thailand are among the most polite and gentle inhabitants on the face of the earth. They are attractive, slender and soft-spoken with lots of dark hair regardless of age. My husband and I have white hair, not gray, but white, albeit prematurely. We do not consider ourselves "elderly" - yet. We have friends who are old folks so we figure if we keep hanging out with them, sooner or later we will "catch it".

When we arrived at the airport in Bangkok after a long flight we were schlepping our carry-ons down the concourse. Along came an official little golf-cart type vehicle and we were offered a ride to the terminal. How nice. I hoped we were not looking feeble!

We had come to Bangkok for sightseeing of course. However, the Thais are famous for their silk so we were interested in checking it out. Since we were staying in a hotel right in downtown Bangkok, we moseyed around the city shopping for silk. Later the desk clerk recommended we hire a taxicab to take us to some of the large silk emporiums.

We found a driver at the cab-stand affiliated with the hotel. Our cab driver was impeccably dressed in a white suit, black tie and smiled profusely. His standard greeting and departure was to put his palms and fingers together in front of his chin while he bowed from the waist as well as bobbing his head. He spoke in quiet, sparse English. He could have been any age from 14 to 54.

The Traffic in Bangkok is suicidal. In addition to cars and busses whizzing by every which-a-away, there are some pickup trucks that have been modified with seats on the sides of the truck bed and open-air canopies on top. They are used as small public busses. There are also motorcycle rickshaws that can carry two passengers, again open-air canopies on top. These are small enough to zip in and out of traffic at amazing speeds. Pure chaos!

Our driver took us to several silk stores and waited for us as we shopped. The last one he took us to was just beautiful. They don't display the silk in bolts. Bundles are folded on shelves in the walls and there is a large polished teak platform on the floor where one bundle at a time is unfolded and displayed by the sales lady.

We learned a lot about silk. Single threads of silk woven together are one-ply. If two threads are twisted together and then woven, it is two-ply. Ultimately six-ply silk is somewhat heavier and tough as leather. It can be used for upholstery. The Thai silk has body and a unique sheen. We came out of there with 125 yards of one-ply for draperies and six-ply for a couch. It is gorgeous! The price, less than one-third the cost of any other fabric we had seen at home. All that pure silk folded into two large shopping bags.

Back at the hotel, our driver made an announcement. Not a question, request or suggestion. He made his customary bow and said, "I take you to dinner tonight. Eight o'clock". He bowed again, turned on his heel and left.

On the dot at eight we began driving what seemed to be all over the city, finally arriving at a sprawling restaurant. Our driver had advised us on what to order, aware that we are not accustomed to the hot spiciness of Thai food.

We had a lovely dinner and were delighted by a show of live indigenous music and delicate little Thai dancers in colorful, exotic costumes. We found out later that it is the largest pavilion restaurant in Asia. Back at the hotel our driver went through his now familiar ritual, the bow and "I show you my country. Tomorrow morning. Eight o'clock." He bowed and left. He was waiting in the lobby when we came down the next morning so off we went to the Grand Palace.

It would be a mistake to even try to adequately describe the structures within the walls of the Grand Palace Complex. In addition to the Royal Residences are Audience Halls of the Court, high government offices and galleries. The majestic Temple of the Emerald Buddha - Wat Phra Keo - is a masterpiece of opulent architecture. The exterior is covered with one-half inch squares of pure gold. The interior is of dazzling intricacies with the Emerald Buddha atop the gold altar. The Buddha is actually carved from a single piece of green jade about two feet high. It is an object of national veneration.

Next stop, the Wat Traimit, Temple of the Golden Buddha, a blazing statue weighing five and a half tons of solid gold!

Near the Golden Buddha, I found a Ladies' Room, immaculately clean, with a gleaming white porcelain bowl - flush with the floor! This required some skillful maneuvering with a minimum loss of dignity.

We had a buffet dinner in the hotel that evening. Usually one takes a plate and helps one's self. Not so in that Bangkok hotel. Servers placed our selected food on the plate. Back at the table were two, sometimes three waiters and waitresses, patiently eager to anticipate every little desire. After each trip to the buffet they had replaced the silverware, replenished the water glass and waited for us to be seated to place a fresh napkin back in our laps. It was all very nice, but with all that hovering, at one point I felt like telling them to leave me alone and let me eat my meal!

Promptly at eight o'clock the next morning our driver told us we were going to the Floating Market down the River of Kings - Maenam Chao Phrayat. By this time of course we knew our driver's name, very long and unpronounceable. He good-naturedly laughed at our attempts.

A water taxi driven by a woman took us meandering along the river and the Krung Kasem Canal. Our driver took off his tie and white coat. He pointed out all the Temples and sites of interest the length of the waterways. The four of us had a delightful time, relaxing and enjoying the trip. Almost every house or business has a Buddhist shrine outside. They are ornate little structures about three feet high in red and gold.

The river and canals were thick brown slow moving water with a foul smell. All manner of trash and garbage floated by. Along the banks of the river and the canals were houseboats and falling-down shacks of abject poverty. We saw women squatted on the banks washing clothes, others dumping garbage out of windows into the already polluted water. At several places we saw little boys swimming and playing in the water. All I could think of was, those kids must have immune systems that won't quit!

Our driver stayed with us while we went through the Floating Markets. The shops are on rafts that require some fancy footwork. He was at our elbow every step of the way to prevent a misstep. We didn't want to fall into that water!

It was somewhat hot and humid that day. My husband had had enough shopping and sightseeing after the Floating Market. He wanted to go back to the air-conditioning of the hotel and take a nap.

There is no such thing as enough shopping for me so I went back by myself on foot to some of the stores in the city we had seen the first day. It is a sight to see Colonel Sander's visage beside the Kentucky Fried Chicken Logo in the Thai language with a Buddhist shrine outside.

Several hours later I collapsed on a couch with all my bundles in the lobby of the hotel for a cold drink. A tiny little waitress came to take my order. She was strikingly beautiful. She was wearing a long narrow tube skirt of Thai silk. I don't know how she managed it but she knelt down and sat back on her heels in front of the coffee table. She made the traditional bow with her palms together in front of her chin, took my order for a tall ginger ale with lots of ice, bowed again and rose with pure grace. She returned with a small round tray, balancing it as she again knelt, sat back on her heels and placed the tray on the coffee table. She carefully put down the napkin, then the drink on top of the table along with the bill. She bowed, folded her hands in her lap, sat back on her heels again and patiently waited for me to sign the check. She then bowed once more, picked up the tray, rose and floated away, all in one fluid motion. She made the simple act of taking and serving an order into a ritual of poetic beauty. I was amazed!

As I was sipping my drink a young man in a white jacket had to pass in front of me. He was bowing the whole time and bent his knees as he walked. I guessed it was the custom to try to lower oneself in such a situation but his gait reminded me of how Groucho Marx used to walk. It tickled me and I got the giggles. As in church when you are not supposed to laugh, the harder I tried to suppress my giggles, the longer they persisted. I finally had to gather up my shopping bags and leave.

Going down the corridor toward the elevators I saw another young man in a white jacket whose sole purpose in life is to stand there, bowing, and push the button so the guest doesn't have to wait for the elevator. Astonishing!

At the airport we left Bangkok with an almost tearful farewell to our dear little driver. We had become very fond of him by then. We can never forget him. How much did his invaluable service cost us? Including a most generous tip, a mere pittance considering the rate of exchange of Thai Baht for American dollars.

Our next stop was Hong Kong, a vibrant city with throngs of people. There was a park across the street from the hotel that was swarming with a crowd. We decided to check it out and see what was going on. Nothing much. Just families out enjoying the fresh air and sunshine of the park.

Hong Kong is a very easy city to get around. All that is needed is a map and a spirit of adventure. We took a double-decker bus all around the perimeter of the island to Stanley, a town on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. Interesting shopping there.

I found a large brick building with a brick floor that housed the Ladies' Room. Inside was a long row of stalls. Within a stall was nothing but a brick trough about six inches wide and six inches deep. I checked out several other stalls. The trough ran the complete length of the building. No toilet fixtures. I had noticed when I came in the building that the entire floor was all wet so I presumed that someone came in from time to time to hose down the trough and the floor. Okay. Maximum culture shock! But then again, whatever works.

If you want to get down to some serious shopping, Kowloon on the mainland is the place to go. If they do not have it there, there is no need for it. The Star Ferry runs between the northern end of Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. It is a short ride with panoramic views of the cities on both sides of the harbor.

Our last night in Hong Kong we went to the famous floating Jumbo Restaurant at Aberdeen on the south side of Hong Kong. Aberdeen is where the boat people live. Free sampans go to and from the restaurants. There are a number of other floating restaurants there in the harbor.

The Jumbo is huge and the décor is right out of an epic Chinese movie. The food and service are superb. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find better Chinese food anywhere in the world! (Well, there was a little Chinese restaurant on Kauai, Hawaii with lemon chicken of the caliber right up there with Jumbo. But not the elegant décor.)

At the airport the next day we were pleasantly surprised to be bumped up to Business Class. There was no apparent reason for it that we knew of. We did not think we were looking frail. Whatever the explanation, we left with warm admiration and affection for the people of Southeast Asia.

A year later Hurricane Iniki shredded one of the lovely Thai silk living room drapes and scattered the master bedroom drapes all through the bushes and trees in the back yard. I replaced the ones in the bedroom and salvaged the lovely coral colored silk drapes by taking apart whatever wasn't too badly torn and hand washed them. I made two muumuus from the silk, one for me and one for my friend, Martha. We call those gowns our "Scarlet O'Hara" dresses.

Our next trip to the Far East was on a cruise to the South China Sea. This was my chance to see if I could replace the living room drapery. We arrived in Hong Kong after a long flight and I took a sip of the hotel's tap water before I remembered that was a no-no. We were in Hong Kong for three days before the ship sailed. I was a little queasy but determined to keep going.

We had seen Hong Kong before the Chinese takeover from the British and now, after. We couldn't tell the difference. Maybe dissimilar governments and political philosophies do not get along very well with each other, but people do.

We boarded the ship and I became violently seasick while we were still tied up at the dock, for heaven's sake! After spending two miserably wretched days in our cabin's bathroom living on crackers, I finally wised up and went to see the ship's doctor. He gave me a shot and some magic pills. From then on I was good to go. We visited a number of interesting ports before we arrived in Bangkok.

Since we had been there before and had done sightseeing, we opted not to take any of the ship's recommended shore excursions. We were dropped at a mid-town hotel and took off on our own. We had a number of items on our "to-do" list so we didn't want to wait for a taxi. There were some of the motorcycle rickshaws lined up at the curb. We climbed into one and announced, "304 Silom Road", the address of the silk store out somewhat in the outskirts of the city. We went zipping along through traffic.

The driver told us that if we stopped at this loose gem shop, he would get free gasoline. OK. We went in and browsed around and he got his gasoline. A little further, he came up with another shop where he could get free gasoline. We kept insisting on "304 Silom Road" and he kept talking about his shops with free gasoline. Eventually we arrived at our old silk store.

I had brought a swatch from the living room drape and showed it to the sales lady. She matched it up with a bundle from the shelf and spread it out on the teak platform to cut.

She looked at it and then asked me if she could see the swatch again. She held it against the length of silk and examined it closely and then said, "Same dye lot." A hurricane and several years later, half way around the world we matched up our drapery material from the same dye lot!

We continued around Bangkok, shopping and sightseeing from our motorcycle rickshaw and our driver got plenty of free gasoline that day. Back on the ship our sailing friends were astounded that we had risked life and limb in one of those rickshaws. Well, we had seen them before and knew they were safe enough - sort of.

All over the public areas of the ship were darling ceramic elephants about eighteen inches high and two feet long. They were used as plant stands. Some had been painted in a variety of bright colors and others were plain colors. When we docked in Vietnam at Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, those elephants were displayed for sale everywhere along with T-shirts that said "Saigon". I told my husband I wanted an elephant. He said, "No".

We toured the city, the temples and all the usual tourist sites, seeing magnificent buildings alongside heart-wrenching poverty. One thing we have noticed in Asia as well as other areas of the world, there is a decided stench to poverty that must be centuries old.

Whenever we got off the bus, there was always a little cluster of women with adorable babies in their arms. The little ones appeared to be six to nine months old. The women pointed to the babies first and then put a hand, palm up, right in our faces. This went on all day. We emptied our wallets. An American dollar would go a long way against the Vietnamese Dong at an exchange rate at that time of 10,000 to one. They had to know that American women especially, were a soft touch for babies.

As the day wore on, though, we began to wonder. On closer examination, all the babies seemed to be healthy, clean, well cared for and sleeping. We never saw a crying baby! Wait a minute. It began to dawn on us that a baby could be a valuable commodity in a thriving enterprise! I suppose people everywhere do whatever they have to do to survive. But if true, and I am not saying it is true, only a suspicion, using a baby for financial gain is chilling.

Our group went back to the ship in the late afternoon and I noticed they were selling the ceramic elephants on the dock. Back in our cabin, I made some excuse. The ship is a big place! I went back out on to the pier to get myself an elephant. They were selling them for five American dollars each and a hand woven basket to carry it in was fifty cents. I chose a white one with beige etched into the creases of its design. Back in the cabin I slipped him under the bed and didn't mention it until we were at sea. I figured my husband wouldn't throw him overboard.

Our final port was Singapore. In one of the shops I spotted a beautiful silk blouse hanging high up on the wall. I asked the salesman how much. It was way too much so I left the shop. Next thing I knew the salesman was walking beside me with the blouse over his arm. He must have climbed up on the wall and taken it down. We started haggling over the price. Paul dropped back a few paces, looking in shop windows and pretending he wasn't with me. The bargaining went on for a block and a half before we agreed on a price fair to both of us.

On our last night in Singapore we happened to find ourselves in a restaurant obviously frequented for the most part by local patrons. A table or two away there was a birthday party going on. When it came time to sing "Happy Birthday", we spontaneously joined in, without any forethought. A little while later, we were each surprised and delighted to be served a lovely piece of birthday cake from the celebrants.

I had a bit of a crisis when it came time to pack for home. We had bought quite a few things and our luggage space was limited. I hauled out the elephant, who happened to be hollow. I stuffed dirty underwear and socks inside shoes and then inside the elephant. An old packing trick from our many travels. We checked one of our original carry-ons and took the elephant on board the plane. It was bulky but not very heavy, and I volunteered to carry it. My husband, always the gentleman, was trapped.

The cruise ended in Singapore. It was a six-hour flight to Tokyo and a six-hour layover there. Paul was not a happy camper as he sat glaring at my stuffed-elephant-in-a-basket for six hours. Then it was a nine-hour flight to Honolulu. We were a little tuckered out when we finally stood in line for customs. We had declared everything but wound up being singled out for a random fine-toothed luggage search, including the dirty-clothes-and-shoe-stuffed-elephant. The customs agent dumped everything out of our checked baggage, our carry-ons and my elephant. Paul stood as far away as possible, trying to disavow ever having seen me before in his life! It took me a good half-hour to re-pack that mess.

Ah, well, we, my silk and my elephant, made it home safe and sound. I now have a genuine Vietnamese "white elephant" sitting on the floor of the living room with an orchid plant on top. My husband has made peace with it - more or less.