Mekong Boat Ride

Today was somewhat interesting. We went to Chiang Saen, on the border with Laos. Took a short boat trip on the Mekong River, which took us to the Golden Triangle. You leave the pier at Thailand and at the triangle, you can see Burma on the left and Laos on the right.

We had a great opportunity and actually got to go into Laos and do some shopping at a small village.

Next we went to Mae Sai, on the border of Thailand and Burma. Could not cross over - a little risky, but did take photographs of the checkpoint and bridge going into Burma. Had a picture taken with a couple of Thai border guards.

Tomorrow is an optional half day trip to see some hill tribes, one of which is supposed to be the long neck women.
 

Sukhothai - Ruins of Siam

Sukhothai was interesting. We saw the ruins of the first capital of Siam (previous name of Thailand). Next came the textile museum and a tad bit of shopping. 

 

We later went to Sri Satchanalai. It was the northern most outpost town of the Kingdom of Sukhothai,which was built by King Ramkamhaeng.

 

A few miles away was an ancient kiln - huge. Reminded me of how the terra-cotta warriors were found. The kiln was uncovered. Very interesting.

Thai Massage

I forgot to mention that on Friday several of us went for a Thai massage. It was good and bad. I felt like I was being beat up but on the other hand I drifted off a few times. I never knew my body could be bent so many different ways. In Chiang Mai several of us are going for the fish spa. Should be interesting.

And, yes, it's still raining off and on

Northern Thailand Here we Come

Today we left Bangkok for northern Thailand. We had to take an alternate route because the flooding damaged the main highway to the north. We had to bypass Ayutthaya because it is under water, so we will see another site tomorrow. We stopped in Lopburi "Monkey City." They weren't kidding. There are approximately 20,000 monkeys that roam the city, churches, schools etc. The Monkey Temple was an adventure. They were everywhere and tried to hitch a ride on one of the ladies in the group. She started screaming. They also tried follow us inside the temple, so the gate was closed behind us.

However, there were bats already in there. Back outside I walked around and a smaller one jumped onto my leg. While I was getting my picture taken one jumped onto my back. We were told that they are becoming more aggressive because there are more of them and they are having to fight for the food. It was creepy with so many of them. We also visited a bronze factory to see how Buddhas are made.

After arriving in Phitsanulok many of us went with our guides by rickshaw to the Night Market to see fried silk worms, crickets, water beetles, grasshoppers, etc. Then we went for some Thai whiskey and fried marigold. I tried the whiskey but the marigold - I don't think so. It looked like seaweed, then we strolled through the Night Market.

Tomorrow we head toward Lampang.

The Damneon Floating Market - Very Interesting

We visited the Damneon Floating Market about 2 hours from Bangkok. We got to it in what they call "James Bond boats" They are like long canoes that seat 7 and it took us about 25 minutes going down lots of canals to get there. The canals were up about 3-4 feet here too but most of the houses were on stilts.

 

Very different way of life. The market was like nothing I ever seen. Some of the stores are actually on dry land with small canals all around and then other vendors come in their boats and sell food and anything else you can imagine. And, yes, I have done some shopping. My bargaining skills are still in tip top shape. I've made some good deals.

Next we drove about an hour to the Rose Garden Resort and had a buffet lunch and saw a Thai culture performance. And yes, I have elephant pictures, but more to come.

Tomorrow we had to northern Thailand, but have to take an alternate route because the main road has been damaged by the flooding. Also, we are not able to go to Auttaya because it is totally submerged, so they are taking us to another heritage site.

More from the Travlin Fish at the next hotel stop.