Thailand - Last Thoughts

Last Day

My travel day home was on Monday (albeit 5:50AM). I got up bright and early and headed out on my own to get some more shopping done (bartering at its best ), grab some lunch, then pack and just spend time with my friends.

I had learned the currency fairly fast and could haggle/barter in stores, cabs and street vendors. Speaking of Money the equivalent fare for a 45 minute ride to the airport is $7 US plus tolls- sheesh.

Travel in Thailand brought my modes of transportation to a new high -- ready? Plane, taxi, car driven by foreigner, sky-train, subway, motorcycle, tuk-tuk (sort of a motorized bike with with a golf cart on the back), feet, bamboo raft, longboat and let's n ot forget -- elephant.

I ate 'beef' only once and treated myself to Thai dishes only. The prawns were HUGE so I ate a lot of 'sea' food My first Thai phrase was Mai Pet -- which meant Not Spicy -- it was all uphill from there. They eat healthy and don't overeat. There is no such thing as soup, salad, appetizer, main dish, dessert. Their soup has veggies in it and some protein, plus noodles or rice and is all you need. If 2 appys are ordered and main dishes -- everyone shares everything -- all you keep in front of you is a dish with rice to which you add samples of the other food. They have us beat here!!.

The Thai people are family oriented. Children stay up as late as parents and are taken everywhere, which is why they are so well behaved. Money is always sent to parents by their children and many live with their children. What I saw was mothers and daughters, cousins ,etc all as friends as much as family. They love spending time together and actually prefer to have 10 hang out in a bedroom, laughing, eating and drinking, than in a spacious living room. THEN they all go to sleep together on the floor and bed. Oh yes, children do NOT have their own room - if there is a grandmother, they stay with them in their room. It is just how it is!

Did I mention how CLEAN Thailand is? Whether on the streets of Bangkok, in the subway, on the sky train or in the country -- Thai's are proud of their country and take care of it. The new airport is absolutely amazing -- spacious, easy to navigate, bright and clean!! They do not charge for use of luggage carts -- they are waiting on the curb when you drive up in your taxi so you can maneuver luggage without a problem (JFK charges $5 )

Thank you again to my Thai family -- Erik, Pim, Zen Alex, Yay, May, Som Tam (white pup - name means salad( and Kai Dao (pekanese - name means friend egs). I cannot imagine having done this with anyone one else but them.

More about Kanchanaburi

Day 7 continued

Apart from being the 3rd largest province in Thailand, it seems to draw a lot of tourist other than Americans (who go solely for Tiger Temple). Throughout my 7 day travels I pretty much saw only Thai and English on road signs, advertisments, etc. Imagine my surprise when I entered my room at the Bridge on the River Kwai Resort, and saw the following in the bathroom:

Yes, you heard correctly the name of the resort -- and for good reason, it was located on THE River Kwai! Who knew? The dining area was by the water and you could see the bridge down the river. In the background is a Chinese Buddah. I became fairly expert at knowing the difference between Thai, Cambodian and Chinese Temples and their respective Buddah images

When I first heard the name, then saw the bridge, I heard this song being whistled in my head, which turned out to be from the movie. The bridge is still in use (was rebuilt after the war ended) and there is a war museum, war cemetary (for those who perished during the construction of the Death Railway, Hell Fire Pass. This area was a tourist trap -- lots of guided groups and picture taking etc -- so we didn't go any closer than taking pictures

Notice the bombs on either side of the entrance


The last day in Kanchanaburi was spent at the elephant camp and spending time with the monkey families on the side street we found. The elephants were majestic and graceful and you looked in their eyes and everyone was home Such a quiet power needs to be respected, which is why the Thai people consider elephants a lucky symbol. They are on ties, signs, keychains, carved from ivory, wood -- you name, it is represented in some medium.

Monkeys on the other hand are just hysterical. They feed each other, clean each other, fight with each other and just carry on. We were driving back to Bangkok when Kim yelled to Erik that we just passed a street with monkeys on it. A quick u-turn and we were back at the spot. As expected, there was a vendor selling bread, rolls and corn-on-the-cob to feed them (corn on-the-cob is HUGE in Thailand). We fed them, played with them, took lots of pictures, then headed back to the city.

By-the-way the cost to go out to dinner with this group of six and have a table full of food --

$30 US.

Last few days - Kanchanaburi

Day 7

Weekend in the Country

Getting out of Bangkok by car is a feat in itself -- I think it took an hour, plus another 2 to get to the country but it was worth it. With a borrowed car (no reason to own one in the city), me, Erik, Pim, her mother, her cousin and baby Zen in tow we headed out at around 11AM.


Kanchanaburi is a provence west of Bangkok and just inside the border of the Republic of Myanmar (Burma). English disappears with the exception of road signs. Gas runs about 16-31 Baht per litre, or about the same as we pay per gallon. It is one of the few 'expensive' items here. The country is interesting to see. One can go from a short barren area to huge business compounds on the road -- almost all have a large picture of the King on the front. Again, the median has flowers, trees, colorful flags and is CLEAN. I rarely saw a piece of paper in the streets.


We opted not to stop at our overnight location but went directly to Tiger Temple (which was only slightly easier than getting out of Bangkok). Having read up on TT, I was prepared! I wore a black tank top and jeans so I would blend in -- HOWEVER, since it was a 'Temple', even though we were outdoors, women were required to have their shoulders and knees covered. There was a lot of quick changing in the back of the car.


As we walked into Tiger Canyon we approach a table where they take away all our belongings except for our cameras. They lined up our group and had us place one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of us, to walk to the Tiger, then seated us one by one (group photo op). Course no pix would be complete without their placing the tiger's head on someones lap

Above L to R: Pim's Mom, Pim, Pim's cousin May, me, Zen and Erik

After they take pictures with everyones cameras, the move the tigers head and march us out the same way we came in. Just when you think you have done it all-- they take us individually by our hands and walk around to almost every tiger in the area (8) for a photo op -- Here is one of the twins I didn't include before

More posts to come

Tigers and Elephants and Monkeys, OH MY

Last night in town -- Enjoy the pictures, will fill in with words when I get home

For your viewing entertainment!!

Shopping

Day 5

Shopping in Bangkok

A 8-story building in the heart of Bangkok lies the 'legenday' MBK building. What an assault on the senses. It would be a shop-a-holics dream with over 2000 stores. It reminded me of the weekend market I went to on the first day with the exception that it was indoors, brighter, airconditioned and more spacious. Did I mention it was also a holiday?

There is something about the Thai way of thinking that I just didn't understand. Why have one iPhone accessory shop when you can have 40 in the same area --with the same items? Go figure! Same was true with jewelry, clothing, furniture, etc. Black market DVDs and computer software are commonplace.

I passed on buying anything on this trip -- it was way too much for me.
Erik and I did enjoy lunch at a sushi place -- the food in Thailand will have one page for itself at the end of my journy.

Tomorrow we head out by car for Kanchanaburi. The famous Tiger Temple is there as well the 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. Tiger Temple is the one request I put in for touring and I cannot wait to get there. The next post will hopefully have GREAT pictures.

Wat Arun and Wat Po

Day 4, Part B

Wat Arun, Wat Po and

the Fish Market

Wat Arun is also best viewed from the Canal. It's other name is the Temple of the Morning Dawn.It is one of the more unusual Buddhist Wat's since it was build in Cambodian style with spires (Prangs). We did not go inside this one as the Wat Po was coming up next.




The Fish Market undoubtedly was there from the days when the Canals were the heart of business. You either get used to the smell or breath through your mouth. Everything you can imagine is for sale there. Pim is trying to describe the different items on display from dried squid with sesame noodles to sting ray. Oh yummmmm, NOT.

We leave the market without taking any samples -- awwwwwww and head for Wat Po, the 'Temple of the Reclining Buddah.' As jaw dropping as the Golden Buddah at Wat Suthat was, it pales by comparison. The Reclining Buddah is 140 feet in length and 50 feet high and created in the 16th century. It is made from brick covered by plaster, then gold leaf. The temple had to be built around the figure and with the supporting columns, it is literally impossible to view it in one shot (at least that would do it justice) . This Buddah was also built about 200 years before Bangkok was established as Thailand's capital

Image of the back of the head of Resting Buddah

Supposedly it is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha.



(Bottom of Feet)


There are over 1000 Buddah images on this 20 acre Temple. It is a photographer's dream (yes Tony, you ). This is the largest and oldest of the Temples in Thailand. Wat Pho is also famous as Thailand's first university, and is center for traditional Thai masage.

We had dinner at a Mexican Grill back in Bangkok with 4 of Eriks friends (and their 'mates'). These expats really need the commeraderie of each other (although alcohol usually runs theirs evenings)

Cruise along the Canal

Day 4

Part A

Canals of Bangkok

Starting a day off with lunch is always a good start. I think I am addicted to Jasmine rice at this point!! We had lunch at the on8Cafe and then headed out to Cruise the Chao Phraya River. It seems that Bangkok was known as the Venice of the East with its many Canals (Khlongs). In the 19th century 400,000 people lived on floating houses on the rivers. Things have changes, houses are in terrible shape, water is dirty, but the life still continues on the river. Our boat was as most are, a dougout, 2 across and about capacity of 20 max. We had 3. There are still floating markets that make stops along the canal at both the floating houses and other boats.

We made a stop at an orchid farm. Orchids are big here and are grown in pieces of coconut husks. Pin loves them and wants her own farm someday. No good Orchid farm is without its own residents.

The term 'swimming with the fishies' takes on a new view here. I would not put my hand into that water nevermind expect anything to live there but we made a stop to buy fish food. The first piece was thrown in and these fish started popping to the surface in a total frenzy -- slithering on top of each other trying to get the food. These guys was at least a foot long and famished

On to Day4 part B