Thailand Photo Album

We have a photo album on Snapfish of the Thailand trip. If you are interested, let me know and I will send you the link to see it. OAT really did a great job and we had so much fun and got good photos. We are about to get over the jetlag and back into normal life. Guess it is time to start planning the next trip!

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Home Sweet Home

We made it home this morning after a good rest in the hotel in Atlanta. It feels really good to be home and we are enjoying looking at all our treasures and trying to get unpacked and the laundry started. We have tons of photos to go through but I will post some more good ones in the next few days. My best camera broke right at the end of the trip. The shutter button just came off. I have two of the parts, but I'm not sure if it can be fixed or not. At least it was gracious enough to wait til the end of the trip! It has taken great photos so I hate to lose it.

I was thinking again today how very blessed we have been to go and see and do all the things we have done in the last few years. It has been an awesome experience and certainly the best education I've ever had! Thailand was amazing and much more than I ever expected it to be. The flowers were just wonderful and the people so friendly. I would certainly recommend this OAT trip for anyone interested in going!

winding down

Well, the trip began winding down as we flew back down to Bangkok from Chiang Mai. That morning, we went to a Celedon workshop and factory so we could see how the porcelein was made and it is beautiful. We all commented that it was a good thing we stopped there at the end of the trip instead of the beginning, because we all knew our suitcases were bulging and couldn’t hold much more! If we had gone there early on, we might have been under the assumption that the suitcases could stretch to any size! We all enjoyed it though and came back with nice souvenirs to remember it by. When we flew to Bangkok, Ya checked in our luggage as a group and it was 60 lb overweight! We were allowed 44 lb each, but with all the shopping we’d done, we had all grown a lot! But Ya was able to negotiate for us and told the guy we were supporting the local economies and so no one had to pay.
Thursday we went to the Royal palace and it was exquisite. Lots of glitter and gold everywhere and we got to see the Emerald Buddha which was beautiful.
We had an afternoon free and Megan, Eleanore and Jim went to the Teak museum and some other fun places, but I was so hot and tired that I opted to go back to the hotel. After cooling off a bit and getting a bite to eat, Ya told several in our group that he’d take us to the international market not too far from the hotel, so I went with them. It was a 4 story shopping center that had all manner of things, from groceries, souvenirs. The last night we had our goodbye dinner on a cruise down the main river in Bangkok. It was beautiful and we could see the Grand Palace and all lit up at night. So it was great fun.
We had to get up at 2 to get ready for our plane flight home. They gave us a boxed breakfast to eat in our room. Our flights home were uneventful and ok. I was lucky to be able to sleep a lot. We got back to Atlanta about 8 and Jim and I are in the hotel getting ready to sleep and will drive home in the morning. I will try to post a few more photos when I get home tomorrow. Thanks for following along!

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This is on the stairway up to the temple. The serpent heads are down at the bottom.

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I forgot to mention that before we went to the temple, we went to a monastery where a senior monk talked to us about Buddhism and answered questions and all. It was very interesting and his voice was so soft and peaceful that it put me to sleep and I had to really fight to stay awake, even though it was interesting! Of course, having gotten up at 5 didn't help. Tonight I am packing in between uploading photos as we have to fly from Chiang Mai to Bangkok tomorow afternoon. The weight limit is 44 lb but I don't think many of us can get under that! Luckily, we go as a group and average out and Ya says he can manage even if it is over by telling them we have been buying to support Thailand. So it may be interesting! It is only an hour flight but guess is it getting us somewhat organized for the trip home as well. But that trip, we can have 2 bags each weighing 50 lb so no problem.

In this elephant photo, I was feeding bananas to the one that has it in his trunk when the 2nd one came "out of nowhere" and wrapped his trunk right up on me and I didn't see it coming! It was so funny. Meg captured it well in this photo!

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I forgot to mention that before we went up to the temple on the mountain, we went to a monastery where one of the senior monks gave us about an hour talk on Buddhism and what they believe and answered our questions about it. He had the most soothing voice, that he just put me to sleep! It was very interesting and he was very good at explaining it.

Monks and massages

Today was a fun and more relaxing day. It started off very early with us waking up at 5AM so we could go watch the monks go out to receive their alms from the locals. We drove to a big monastery where they have a school for a lot of novices so there were many young boys as well as the older monks. Ya taught us how to give the alms and he had food prepared so we could present it to the monks which was sort of neat. We came back for breakfast and left again to go to the big temple up on the mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. It was beautiful and big and has a very tall set of stairs that had a big serpent as the bannister-side of the steps. It was very neat looking. From there we walked to the jade factory next door, but it was much higher than in China and no bargains were to be had at all. We had some time to shop the stalls and vendors around the temple while some were shopping in the jade store. They had beautiful orchids which was fun to see. After that, we came back to town and ate at another local and unique restaurant. Ya tells us each day that OAT chooses local and unique so it has become a joke. It was pretty good and I especially enjoyed the pumpkin and egg dish.

We came back to the hotel and Meg, Eleanore and I all had Thai massages. For Meg and me, it was our first ever massage and boy, was it nice. We got special pants from OAT for the massage which was a hoot and I am sure you will enjoy our photo before the massage. The massages here are done fully clothed except you wear these pants. It really was interesting and Meg and I had ours together and Eleanore had hers in their room as the ladies came to our room to do the massage. It was so nice. We had a 2 hour massage for $25....at that price, Meg and I agreed we'd do it a lot more back home, but I don't think that is the price for them there!

Megan, Jim and I opted out of the home hosted meal since we really have not enjoyed the food and we've been in several homes already. So we just enjoyed an evening to ourselves and went to Burger King and boy, did it taste good! Then we spent the evening at the night market which was much more fun than the other day because the weather has been outstanding the last two days and there was no rain.

After Eleanore came back from the home hosted meal, she, Megan and I went to the whirlpool and enjoyed that so much-on top of the massage, it was the perfect relaxer!

Tues night

We had a great time on our boat ride and dinner and Thai dancing tonight. The boat ride was from out in the country into downtown Chiang Mai near our hotel and it was really pretty. We saw a big snake in the water-it was several inches thick and about 2' long that we could see and then he went under. I don't know how big he would have been if we had seen all of him! we had good snacks and cokes as we went along and it was very relaxing and pretty. Then we went to a local restaurant where we sat on the floor and took our shoes off and left them at the door. Actually, our tables had places for us to put our legs but not all tables did. It was a pretty good meal as Thai meals go and then there was a dance performance afterwards for about an hour and half. It was quite impressive and pretty. We are getting up at 5AM tomorrow and leaving at 5:30 to go to the alms giving ceremony of the buddhist monks. We will come back and eat breakfast after that before we begin the rest of the day. Every day has been jammed packed and we have loved it. I think the things we wanted to do the most have been done though so we are winding down and slowing down a bit, which is good. I hope we will be so tired on the way home that we will just sleep the 26 hours away. lol

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Next after the elephant ride came our ride on a bamboo raft down the river for an hour. It was so relaxing and quiet compared to other ways we have travelled and it cooled us down and was very peaceful. We all enjoyed it very much. There were 4 of us on a raft, whereas the other tours we saw had 6 on a raft so that was nice. The boatmen were both from the hilltribe of Lisu, which is different from the ones we saw when we made the trip up to visit the villages. When we got off the raft, there were some crafts for sale from some ladies from the tribe.

On our way to lunch, we stopped at a beautiful orchid farm for a happy room! Boy, was I happy with that! There were so many gorgeous orchids and of course, we can't bring them back in so we just have to look and enjoy. They also had a small butterfly garden. It was a short visit and I could well have stayed there for another hour or so! But it was nice to get a chance to see it even that much. We had lunch at a private home that has a restaurant in part of it and it was the best meal we've had for me. They had fried fish that was just delicious and also we had fried flowers! That had a syrup on it and it was very good. We have come back to the hotel for a break and we will go for a river cruise and dinner and Thai dancing performance this evening.

Elephant ride and bamboo raft ride

Today was a really fun day. We drove to an elephant camp and got to feed the elephants bananas and then we went down to the river to watch the elephants get in the water and cool off. On the way, Ya got me to get on an elephant bareback and be the mahoot (sp) and that was great fun. His hair was very wirey and it was bumpy and fun. It was a very neat experience. We watched the elephants get down in the water and blow water from their trunks and watched another group that was coming back from their rides on the elephants as they crossed the river.

Next we went back up and watched the elephants put on a show for us, playing soccer and basketball and the star event-one of the elephants painted a picture of an elephant holding flowers. Next we went and got on our elephants for our hour long ride through the countryside. It was so much fun! Let's say that a camel ride cannot compare to an elephant ride! We had a great mahoot and he took our photo and was just excellent. the countryside was really pretty and it was just a really fun experience. We all took photos of each other along the way so we can share as it was difficult to take photos of ourselves up on the elephants. Our mahoot did take several of us and caught Megan and Eleanore in the background so that was neat.

Monday Night

We just returned from an evening of looking at the Chiang Mei night market. It is enormous. We did not begin to see it all but it was drizzling rain and while most of it has canopies as cover, we chose to go in the original market that is indoors and several stories high-about a block wide with stalls selling every conceivable thing. We didn't buy a thing-saw a lot of the same material that we got the bags in China from the 3 for $1 people and lots of fake name brands. It was great fun to look, but after the shopping we did this afternoon, we didn't see anything to compare. We have two more nights here so we figure we can go back another night if it is not raining. It is literally outside our door and there is also a 7-11 across the street and a Burger King and McDonalds on the two corners of our street. Every meal except two were provided on this trip, but we may well be hunting down that Burger King on the one night we have to have dinner on our own! By this time in the trip, BK starts sounding mighty good!

Two things I want to add for my own information when we get home. The two hilltribes we visited were the Yao tribe and the Akha tribe. The Yao were the more developed and their standard of living was much higher. There are hill tribe people selling in the night market and I think we will run into them a lot in this area as well-probably different tribes.
Tomorrow is our elephant ride and bamboo float trip. I hope it will be as much fun as it sounds like.

Chiang Mai

We have arrived in Chiang Mai and our hotel is lovely. We are on the 16th floor with spectacular views of the city. We are resting a bit before dinner and going to the night bazaar. We traveled by bus this morning and since it is a holiday, the traffic was light and we made good time. We had time to go to the first handicraft shop before lunchtime. All afternoon we went from one shop to another seeing how the different crafts were made and having an opportunity of course, to shop. First we went to the umbrella/parasol shop where we found out how the pretty umbrellas are made. And Ya told us that they would hand paint on our clothes -one souvenir one free for a small tip. I didn't have a plain shirt, so I bought a tshirt and had it painted withalovely orchid on it. But one lady spotted my waist pack and pointed to it and she painted a pretty butterfly on that, which is very nice. I also got a 2nd tshirt and had a tiger face painted on it. We had an interesting assortment of things painted-from snakes to flowers to butterflies to elephants. It was great fun.
Next we went to lunch at a local restaurant that was excellent. They had great noodles and fried noodles and enough plain things that we were able to do just fine. The tapiocca pudding looked like pink worms which we thought was funny, but it actually was very good.
After lunch we went the gem shop-wow. The quality of their stones was amazing and while they were still very expensive, I think they are very good prices for what we got. I got a beautiful small ruby and diamond necklace. What a souvenir! That is my birthstone and I have always loved them. So this is special.
Next we went to a lacquerware shop. The owner showed us how you do the gold inlay and several other techniques and it is really pretty. Next we went to the Thai silk factory. Thai silk is beautiful like the Chinese silk is. The factories are different but the things are similar and pretty.
I have not downloaded the photos from today yet so will try to add those later. Tomorrow is our elephant ride and we are all excited about that!

Monday morning

We are on the bus driving to Chiang Mai. It is drizzling rain right now and periodically it rains harder. The rain makes it cooler but it is very humid. This is the last trip for the season for OAT as it gets too hot and humid and the monsoons come. Everything is green and lush and flowers are everywhere. Orchids grow on the trees and are blooming everywhere. And I am amazed at the variety and all the trees are blooming and it is really pretty.
I asked Ya why they put the cobras and scorpions and other critters in the liquor. He said they were supposed to have medicinal qualities…humm. We did not have a discovery event at the Opium museum, by the way! Ya joked about it. The cobras were really big-scary looking creatures. There is a difference in a cobra and a king cobra-king cobras are always fatal as they can jump and bite you waist high or higher.
The pineapple here is so sweet and delicious. I have really enjoyed it at all the meals. I like most of the fruit here and we have certainly tried all sorts of new things.
The Golden Pine resort was really nice. The cabins looked rustic from the outside but the inside was very clean and nice. The rooms were big and had wood floors and the bathroom had both a shower and a wonderful tub. It had beautiful tile and stone and was very modern feeling. The grounds of the hotel were so pretty with lots of flowers blooming. We wanted to use the pool and whirlpool but just didn’t have any time. By the time we got in and recouped each day, it was time for dinner and then the pool was closed. They had a great buffet for meals too. I really liked this hotel. We had time to catch up on laundry and think we can make it the rest of the trip now.
We have to have 44 lb on the plane from Chiang Mai back to Bangkok-just the big suitcase. But we have all bought and bought so our suitcases are bulging and heavy and I suspect that as a group, we are way over! He is banking on it averaging out but I don’t think it will. I’m not sure what we will do if we are way over. Expanded my suitcase is bulging. Coming home from Bangkok, we can have 2 suitcases of 50 lb each so we are fine for that. But this flight will be a challenge especially after we have the night market and the handicraft markets!
The food is spicy-always. They have been good to fix me stuff without the garlic and onions and other such. But they use curry and pepper and all sorts of spice and everything has something like it in the sauce or rolled on the meat or vegetable. I have just come to the conclusion that I really do not like Thai food. In China, I got tired of the food, but I did not dislike it every time. But here, it is just the same at every meal and I really do not like it except for the fruit. The fruit is awesome. We brought two packs of crackers and they are almost gone. We’ve had flowers and a fruit bowl in our room at almost every hotel as an Inner Circle member. It has been a nice touch as I love the fruit and I surely have not gone hungry!
Today is a holy Buddhist holiday-his birthday. So we are supposed to see hot air balloons tonight and maybe see other things along the way because of the holiday. And it is a Monday-on Monday it is common to wear yellow in honor of the king. There is a color for each day of the week and depending on what day you were born on, that is your color. I was born on Saturday so my color is purple. Megan was born on Thursday and her color is orange! The king was born on Monday so his color is yellow which is why everyone wears yellow on Monday. They love their president and his picture is everywhere-on billboards and signs and monuments all across the country.

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Three Countries in a Day

Today was our optional day to three countries-Thailand, Burma or Mynamar, and Laos. It was a really fun day and it was amazing how different the countries could be when they are so close together. First we went to the border with Mynamar and Ya took our passports and we each had to have our photos taken to get temporary visas as we went through the office. We walked across the bridge into Mynamar and it was neat because they drive on "our" side of the road whereas Thailand drives like the British do. So on the bridge, the traffic has to change lanes to the other way of driving! We got on motorized rickshaws to take our tour. We went to a temple and talked about the differences in the monks in Thailand and Mynamar. There were monks taking alms all over the city and the little boy monks stayed with us hoping for us to give them some. We came back to the shops near the border and had some free time to shop before we crossed back into Thailand. The country is much poorer and more primative than Thailand. It was obvious from even that short of visit. Back in Thailand we got on the local transportation-which was a truck with a motor that you can take off and use for all kinds of farm labor. It was very noisy and bumpy but the roads were a challenge for it! We rode way back in the "boonies" over dirt roads to our lunch stop with a lovely young lady who has a place that serves meals and has an art gallery of her work. And the local hill people from there set up their wares for us out on the road. We took the same transport back down to the Mekong River where we boarded a form of longtail boat and went up to the port where Burma and Laos and Thailand meet. Then we stopped at a small island in Laos and had some free time to shop and wander. We tried the local liquor with snakes and scorpions in the bottles...for a discovery!. ugh. We came back to Thailand and went to the opium museum and wandered around the area until it was time to get back on the bus to return to our resort. Tonight before dinner, Ya gave us yet another discovery. Tomorrow is the full moon and Buddha's birthday so we lit hot air balloons as we made wishes and sent them flying and we were amazed at how long they burned and how beautiful they were. It was a fun day. Tomorrow it is on to Chiang Mai.

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Saturday

Today we left our hotel in Phrae early and started our discoveries right away. Before we left town we stopped at a rice mill which was a family owned business and really looked like someone’s garage. Ya explained all about how you mill rice. Next door the family also ran a business to decorate and furnish funeral stands that carry the casket. In Thailand they cremate the bodies and they use these stands for the funeral and to carry the body from the funeral to the crematorium. It has gold leaf all over it and is very bright and colorful and pretty. Next door to that, we went to an indigo dying place. Again, it is family run and it was really interesting. They still use the dye from the native indigo plant and boil it and dye it all by hand. They are doing batik now too and we got to try our hand a doing a little sample to take home, which was fun. Of course, the discovery also included a happy room stop and a shop where they sell their things. They were so pretty and nice and most of us enjoyed supporting the local industry!
We continued on for a couple of hours but during the drive, we had another couple of discoveries. There was a farmer in the rice fields and he had both a tractor which he was using to prepare part of the field for the next step in the rice growing, and also several water buffalo. So we stopped and had a great photo op. We got so tickled because before we left, an ice cream vendor was motoring by and saw us and stopped to try to sell us some ice cream! The farmer bought some, but we had just had a rest break and bought snacks so there were no takers on the ice cream from our bus. It was just funny as he appeared out of nowhere. We stopped in Chiang Rai for lunch at a beautiful hotel. The meal was good and included a salad we could eat and some French fries which most of us really enjoyed! I did NOT eat rice for lunch! Lol. After lunch, we went a little way out of town and stopped to get on local transportation up to the hill tribe villages. The local transportation is a truck with seats in the back so about 8-9 of us could ride in a truck. It was a lot of fun. We wound our way up the narrow mountain road to the first village. I will have to get the names of the two tribes we visited from Ya again tomorrow, but they were different and both fun. The first one is more modern and has adapted a good bit to the outside world. We had fun shopping at their stalls of handmade items and seeing the way the ladies dressed. In both the hill tribes, it is mainly the older ladies who continue to dress in their native dress. The second hill tribe was much more simple and undeveloped. The houses were huts on a hillside and the mud was thick and stuck to our shoes as we crossed the creek and climbed up the steep hillside to see what their village was like. The grandmothers in the village were dressed in their native attire and enjoyed the attention. It was very interesting to see the village. We drove back to town in the truck backs and met our bus at a gas station. Our shoes were caked in mud but a lady came and there was a trough where she scrubbed our shoes (with our feet inside!) and got them all clean from the mud. We paid her 20 bat, which was less than a dollar-well worth it!
Our hotel is a resort outside of Chiang Rai called the Golden Pines Resort. The cabins did not look too fancy on the outside but they are really nice on the inside with a separate tub and a shower and beautiful wood floors and rock tile in the bathrooms. We are here for two nights so all of us came in and washed our clothes from the last 3 days and so there is laundry hanging everywhere.
We had a good buffet dinner that included fish and salad and the delicious pineapple and pineapple turnovers and French fries again and anything Thai you would want. After dinner, Ya told us there was a wedding that had taken place down the road in the village and they were still having the party to celebrate and took any of us down that wanted to go and see. So we trooped down the road and “crashed” the wedding party! By this time, the bride and groom were in jeans and tshirt but she still had flowers in her hair. The family was dancing and music was playing and they insisted we come in and dance with them and they were so nice and gave the ladies flowers and kept offering us things to drink, which we declined. It was definitely a discovery event!
So it was a full day and we really had fun and saw so much. Megan is better today-as she said-she has ankles again. They had been so swollen she had trouble wearing her good shoes and so it was good to have her back on her feet again! Jim’s back is holding out-he has had some rough times but has been such a trooper and has gone and done and not missed a thing. I think he is convinced it is time to do the surgery when we get back, but he has not let it stop him from participating and enjoying.

Friday

I had a post written on the laptop but since they don't have connection for my computer, I am just in the internet nook . We had a really fun day, but it started off a bit rough. We rode for about an hour to our first stop-the 13th century first capital of Thailand. As we got off the bus, Megan discovered she did not have her purse that had her passport, money, and camera in it. She checked the suitcases,etc and it was not there, so Ya called back at the hotel and they searched for it. They found it on the floor in the breakfast restaurant. Whew! Everything was there and they couriered it up to where we went to the school for a visit. I think we would have enjoyed the visit to the historic site more if we knew then that they had found the purse, but by the time we were about halfway through the tour, the hotel had called back and found it.
After the capital, we went to a school-the kids were precious! We had preschoolers who met us and sang for us and it was only their 3rd day of school! Then the 5th graders took over and showed us their English books and we visited a bit and then went to the music room to hear them play traditional Thai instruments. It was a great visit. There is more to write but it is late and it is easier to do it on my own computer so will close and if I can figure tomorrow how to do it, I will post the one I wrote this afternoon on the bus as we rode from the rice fields into the mountains
Love to you all.

Thursday

I am trying to do several posts as I have already had a couple to fail after I was almost finished writing them. To read the posts in order, you can scroll down. We have been very pleased with our OAT trip so far. The group is so much fun and it is very similar to our pre or post trips we have taken before, except they are faster paced. We have less free time than we've had on the GCT trips but it has been fun and it has been fine tuned well. Today was a long drive on the bus but we actually enjoyed it as it gave us a chance to nap, read, and relax more. Jim, Megan and I have tried the local Thai foods and except for the fruits, we have not been very successful at finding much we really like. But we are trying it-so give us credit for that! We are not the only ones in our group who are having problems. Eleanore has been the most adventurous in the food department and has really liked a lot of it! The fruit is excellent here and the bananas are the best I've ever had. I never knew there were so many kinds of bananas. I don't think I will lose any weight from not eating though, because what I do eat is surely not low calorie! Fried bananas and fried grapefruit and rice .....
Today we saw a lot of rice fields in all stages of planting and harvesting. I've seen rice fields before but nothing on this scale. It was really fascinating.

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I have another small world story to tell you about. Night before last at dinner, we were sitting across from one of the couples in our group-Jill and Richard from New Orleans. We were discussing schools and being prepared for college and all and I made the statement that I went to Agnes Scott my freshman year and I felt unprepared when I got there in English. Jill looked funny and said she went to Agnes Scott her freshman year too and she also transferred after that year so was just there one year. She asked me when I was there-yep, same year! I said I lived in Inman Hall-she did too! I was on the 2nd floor and she was on the 1st floor and I remember her name and her roommate. Small world. We have laughed about that and had much to discuss after that!

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Another Burton Tradition

Well, we have had yet another Burton adventure to check out a local hospital in some foreign country! This time it was Megan, rather than Jim and I am thankful to say, nothing was broken. Last night on the way back to our rooms, it was raining and the steps were very slippery. Megan's crocs slid wildly and she fell down several stairs and really bruised and sprained her ankle. Her other ankle and leg is still black and blue from her retreat for her confirmand the weekend before we came, so now she has a matched pair. This morning it was really swollen and by tonight, we felt she needed to have it checked out to be sure it was not broken. So Ya took us to the ER here and was it ever a pleasant experience. We were taken right in, saw an orthopedic specialist, had the foot xrayed, and got his verdict and 3 prescriptions for $37!! We were back at the hotel in about an hour and 15 minutes. Unbelievable. It is a real relief to know it is not broken as it does look awful. But knowing it is not, we can relax now and she can do what she can do.
Today was a day that was spent on the bus driving from the west of central Thailand toward the north. We rode for about 6-7 hours but we stopped at lunchtime for a walk through a local market that was very different from the others we've seen. Then we got on a rice barge boat, which they no longer use in the growing and transporting of rice. This one has been converted into a scenic restaurant and so we cruised slowly up and down the river while we ate lunch. I saw some more kingfisher birds as well as several others. It was such a relaxing and pleasant way to eat lunch. We stopped at a sapphire mine and looked through some rocks to see if we could find any they missed -another discovery event. We finally got to try the famous durian fruit-the one that is known for having a terrible smell. It was not as bad as I thought it would be to smell, and it was not a bad flavor but not as good as I had heard either. But it was fun to try. Ya has been great about getting us to try all the fruits here and other local things. We had tapioca pudding last night since that was a big crop in that area of Thailand.
Our hotel here is very nice. This is a much bigger city than I thought it was going to be. We are only here overnight on our way up to the cities farther north. This was our longest driving day. Tomorrow we have more driving, but we go see the ancient capital of Thailand and the 13th century ruins that are left of that. Today was sunny all day-wouldn't you know it!
We had a tree frog come in our room this morning first thing and jump around and he climbed up the wall a bit and finally got into the bathroom where he had more nature to explore as we had one of the bathrooms that has the shower in the middle of the wall with rocks on the floor next to the tiles and wood beams. Very neat.
I will post this and try to get some more photos on-the internet is slow and so it kicks off if it takes too long. But at least I got a couple of the tiger shots on there. Eleanore's were excellent too but I don't have hers downloaded yet. I will try to get one of Megan. She had a different camera person who was not as good, plus the tigers were not as happy when she was around them. That was a real highlight of the trip for me.

Auburn Tiger

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Wednesday

Today was an awesome day! We woke up to rain on the tin roof and thought "oh no" but instead, by breakfast it was clearing and except for a few sprinkles a time or two, it was sunny and delightful. We started off going to the museum for the Hell Fire pass of the railway. And then we took a walk down to Hellfire pass-down many many steps and back up again. Then we got on the back of a local transport -seats on the back of a truck and rode down to the river where we got on longtail boats for a wonderful ride down the river. We saw some absolutely beautiful kingfisher birds. And we saw two sizes of monitor lizards. It was a great trip. Next we had lunch at a local restaurant and then caught the local train and went over the trestle that the soldiers worked so hard to make. When we got off the train, the bus was not there, so we walked down the road awhile and boy, was it hot! The bus showed up and took us back to the hotel where we got off and immediately went to the local taxi -which was another seats on the back of the truck. It was just the four of us and so much fun. We got to the Tiger Temple and it was really a neat experience. The photos turned out great and we really did enjoy it. They had other animals but the tigers were just great. We came back to the hotel, walked down to the river for awhile and then showered and changed for dinner. It has been a full day and tomorrow morning we leave to go on the way northward.

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Tuesday

Today we left the city behind and struck out for the countryside. We left early to avoid the crowd and zipped right on out going against the traffic. Our first stop was to a coconut plantation which made all sorts of things from coconut. We got some coconut candy that tasted like Jim's mother's pralines without the pecans. Yum. Next we went to the floating market which was so much fun. They sell all sorts of produce and products from little boats along the canal. We had some time to shop the little stalls around the canal and Ya got us fried bananas that the lady made while we waited and it was really good. He is great about Discovery Events.
Next we went to a woodworking shop and we watched the artists carving beautiful things, from elephant statues as big as a chair to pieces of furniture to small things. We trekked on to the RiverKwai where we had lunch out under a pavillion beside the river and bridge. Then we got to walk on the bridge which was more daunting than I expected because we could see the water below. There was an elephant on the other side of the bridge which surprised us-he was there to use as a ride for the owners to make money but was tied down in their yard when we saw him. THen we went to the JEATH museum which told the story of the Death railroad during WWII. It was started by a buddhist monk that was a Japanese guard during the war and had a a change of heart. Then we went to the cemetary for the soldiers and it was very sobering, to say the least. Then it was on to our hotel which was about an hour along the way-when we were almost there, guess what was in the road! It was a family of monkeys! We pulled off and Ya got out the rest of the fruit we had left after his fruit demonstration on the bus. So we got a great discovery event with the monkeys! There were moms with babies and all sorts and shapes and sizes. What fun! It made my day!Our resort is very nice, right on the river Kwai. And it does have wireless in the lobby so am writing this at breakfast and cutting corners. It was a great day yesterday though. Our rooms are basic but have a neat spa like bathroom. I will try to put a couple of photos on before stopping this AM and getting ready to go for another day.

more photos

A Grand Day Out-AKA Eleanore & Megan not Wallace & Grommit

Today we struck out on our own. We aren’t sure if this is because we are adventurous or frugal. I promised Eleanore that I would get her safely from the hotel and back before nightfall. However, I made no promises about what would happen between the two points. We began by trying to find the Golden Buddha and were convinced that our taxi driver had taken us to the wrong place. After what seemed like an hour of eavesdropping on other tour guides, asking for help, and wandering around, we realized we were there all along. We watched monks pray, yawn, wander, and pick their noses (really).
After attempting to walk to the zoo, we found ourselves next to an information booth. We asked the lady how to walk there and she said it would be over an hour. We decided to go to Chinatown instead and asked her how to get there, to which she replied with a grin,” You are in Chinatown.” Then she showed us where the local markets were and such. We wandered through some interesting streets (the signs are crazy) and found ourselves in a small, narrow street like you would find in the Amazing Race when they are sent to market. In the market, we found some great souvenirs and food (get ready Allen). And then it began to pour. A very nice market owner let us regroup and wanted us to stay through the storm, but our adventuresome selves kept going until we found a temple that was refuge in the past and a refuge for us.
Next we went to the zoo, where we rode a tram, saw cool animals that you don’t find in American zoos, and saw a sleeping Siamese cat sitting atop a “beware of dog” game.
We were hoping to go to the Teakwood Mansion, but after conferring with important officials at Parliament about Thai national treasures, we saw more interesting sites (brick walls) and finally made it to the mansion, at 4:01 (everything closes at 4:00), just in time to see the White Elephant Museum (that is part of the mansion) close. However, we did walk around the grounds and had a great time. We bargained and took a Tuk Tuk (3 wheeled open air car) back to the hotel. We are about to eat (Megan hopes it will be pizza or anything but Thai food) and then prepare for our next day’s adventure.