Reclining Buddha and Dinner Show (Friday, November 6th, 2015)

First thing this morning we got a text with a picture from our oldest daughter, showing us that it had snowed at home. Oh, we are sure not ready for that!

As we headed down stairs to breakfast we noticed that we had a message, so we went to the front desk and waiting for us there was a package. We picked it up and took it to breakfast with us. As we were eating, we opened it up and it was from our friend Saovanee that had given us the wonderful tour around Bangkok two days previous. 

It was a set of beautiful elephant salt and pepper shakers. It reminded us of the clay elephants we had made two days before at the Sampran Riverside. What a thoughtful gift from a wonderful friend. We will enjoy them very much! 

After breakfast we decided to walk down the street from our hotel to a wholesale shopping district called Pratunam market. It would be about a 15 minute walk, so we thought that would be fun before our Gate-1 orientation meeting later this morning.  The walk took us by a lot of the usual street vendors.

There are hot woks of oil at just about every stand we pass on the street

As we got further from the hotel, the area got more and more interesting. We had to cross a large set of train tracks, and there were some very interesting shops along the way. We saw a glass cutting shop (all done my hand) and a metal shop where all of the was recycled which we really liked to see.  We saw several workers preparing the used metal for resale.  All were working with very simple hand tools as they squared up the ends so they could be resold. 

We got to the wholesale shops, and because it was so early only a few of the shops were beginning to open. So the wholesale building felt a little uncomfortable with everything closed up. We didn’t stay long and then headed back to the hotel. 

Looking down from the pedestrian bridge into the wholesale market

On our way back a train was on the tracks, and it was right there next to us, like 4 feet away as it sped by. Pretty scary compared to what we are used to but was just a way of life for all others that were waiting for the train to pass.  

These trains really go speeding through town!

We finally thought we were starting to get used to Bangkok, but with each new area, it feels like a new world all over again.  

One of the interesting things we saw on our walk was Thai women commuting to work on motorcycle taxis.  Since it wouldn't be appropriate to touch their driver, they ride sidesaddle, and rarely held on. 

This woman was holding on to the back, but that is unusual

I'm sure she's only holding on because of the railroad tracks

 They even do this on the highways.  They have great balance!  It is just fascinating to us.

And this hard working man delivering rice first thing in the morning

Our Gate-1 orientation meeting was from 10:00 to 11:00 and then we had about an hour to ourselves before our first tour left. We enjoyed meeting Mike who would be our Tour Director for the next 2-weeks, and getting to know a little bit about the other people we would be traveling with.

Steve and I took advantage of our hour by walking through the park again and grabbing a couple of coffees at 7-11. We enjoyed our coffees on the bus along with a banana and Cliff Bar for lunch as we drove to our temple tour. This was our first time of many to come where enjoyed the luxury of our Gate-1 bus, our driver Pong and our busboy Yut who worked to keep the bus clean and comfortable for us.

The drive through Bangkok was as interesting as our others, and we once again noticed the fascinating mix of ancient and modern. We drove through Chinatown, by the Bangkok Flower Market and then on to the colorful Indian Market where lots of textiles are sold. 

China Town

I think the power lines in China Town are even work than other parts of Bangkok

The Bangkok Flower Market under all of it's umbrellas, to keep the sun off the flowers.

Another view of the Bangkok Flower Market

Our tour destination was the Wat Po Temple, the oldest and largest temple in the city, with the incredible giant Reclining Buddha, over 150 feet long and almost 40 feet high.  It is so large, and in such a small building that you really can't get a single picture of the entire Buddha all at once.

The crowds to see the Reclining Buddha were large, making picture taking a bit of a challenge!

The Buddha's head is the first thing you see as you enter the front of the building

As you make your way through the building, most of the Buddha comes into view.

But you have to look the other direction to see the feet.  You can't view the entire Reclining Buddha all at once.

The all important selfie

After we walked through the building, we turned around and walked back through the building behind the Reclining Buddha.  On this side of the building there is a large line of offering pots.  The Buddhist people believe in reincarnation, and are supposed to give an offering for each of their remaining lives, but since none of them know how many lives they will have, or how many they have already lived, they leave an offering in each pot just to be safe.

The line of offering pots goes from one end of the Reclining Buddha building to the other, with an offering being left in each pot

Our final view of the Reclining Buddha as we leave the temple

We had time to look around the grounds at the pagoda’s where the ashes of the first 3 kings of Thailand are entombed, and then we had a chance to go in the temple itself. 

These guys were standing guard all over the temple grounds

And his friend

The three pagodas where the ashes of the first three kings of Thailand are buried

The grounds of the temple

The pagodas are very ornate and colorful

Over time the gold wears off of the Buddhas and they have to be prepared and have the gold reapplied.  That is why we sometimes see the black Buddhas

As we walked through the temple, a monk was giving a lesson to a group of school kids that were there on a field trip.  It was fun to listen in, even though we couldn't understand a word.

 We then drove to Royal Avenue where most of the Government offices are located. We enjoy the sights that we see while we are driving around.  Like the two license plates below.  Interesting...

Thai license plate written in English

Thai license plate written in Thai

And this is not an unusual sight.  It's hard to get pictures from the bus, but this shows it well enough.

We were supposed to return to our hotel to clean up before our evening adventure, but traffic was so heavy that they bypassed the hotel.  The City of Bangkok was having a bike ride for dad day, so they were closing many of the roads for the event. They were anticipating in excess of 20,000 riders to participate. 

Bangkok traffic is heavy on any normal day, but with the road closures it was nearly impossible to navigate the city.  So our bus driver took us straight to Asiatique, a large modern shopping center on the river. There is a large variety of different shops here, but it also offers a beautiful setting to sit, relax and enjoy the sights. We chose to bypass the shopping and enjoyed a table by the river instead.  We were joined by two other couples from our tour, so we all had a chance to get to know each other a little bit while we watched everything that was going on by the river.

We enjoyed watching the multi-copter that was flying over the river

As well as the jet-boot stunts

We then joined up with our tour for dinner and a Thai dancing show at the Calypso. 

The food was definitely tamed down for the american pallet, which allowed everyone to enjoy it, the dancing was very good and the service was excellent.  It was a very nice way to end our first day as a group together.  We headed back to the Century Park Hotel, Bangkok on the bus, and traffic had eased up quite a bit.

A side note about Bangkok...according to Mike, our Tour Director, there are 11 million in people in Bangkok during the day, and 9 million people that actually live in Bangkok.  Traffic is so heavy because there are 2 million people that have to commute in and out of the city each day, plus everyone else that is moving around.  Mike says that if he leaves his house at 5:00 his commute takes him less than 45 minutes to go approximately 10 miles.  If he leaves at 5:30, it takes him about 1 1/2 hours.  If he leaves at 6:00 he will likely be late to his 8:30 start time, so he elects to leave at 5:00, get to his location and then sleep in his car for an hour and 1/2 before he reports to work....CRAZY!  They are attempting to expand the Sky Train to the suburbs to help with the daily congestion.  Bangkok is 1,500 square kilometers so that's a lot of expansion that needs to be done on the train line.

A Day with Our Very Kind Host (Wednesday, November 4th, 2015)

A few weeks ago, we attended a band competition for the high school that our girls attended, and were introduced to one of the band parents who grew up in Thailand.  Her sister, Saovanee, was visiting from Bangkok, and we got got to know both of them. Before we left that day, we exchanged information and set up a day that Saovanee would show us around Bangkok during our visit. A very nice offering on her part.  Of course we were very excited to get the opportunity to continue to talk with her.  

After breakfast in the hotel, we headed down to the lobby to wait to be picked up, but while we were waiting, we were approached by a group of Japanese women who wanted to have their picture taken with me. I realize that blonde haired people aren't very common in Asian countries, so I said yes, and let them circle around me for a photo.  They started out in a rather mild manner, but soon they got really excited and started getting very loud.  They kept rearranging themselves and switching scarves, and eventually added Steve into the pictures too.  

A little photo fun with some of the tourists in our hotel

The porters at the hotel noticed and made them stop by bringing over a sign written in their language that asked them to calm down and be more reserved, and then asked us about 10 times if we were OK.  Of course, we were as it was all just in fun.  The whole thing was really funny and fun.

Saovanne's mother and niece met us at our hotel at around 8:00 this morning.  They brought a fresh coconuts, melon, guava and dates as a gift.  It was so nice of them, and we enjoyed our treats as we drove through the city.  Their driver took us back to their house which was in the suburbs of Bangkok.  It was large and breathtaking house with a beautiful entry gate.  We were invited to sit in their living room and offered fresh juice to enjoy while we waited for Saovanee.  When she arrived a few minutes later, we returned to the van and their driver took us to a place called Sampran Riverside.  It is a beautiful area right next to the river. 

Steve and I both fell in love with this beautiful lily pond at the entrance.

Sampran  provided us with our own personal guide who took us through many hands-on exhibits where we learned about traditional Thai culture.  

Our first lesson was in Thai sword fighting, which of course we had to try.  There is a definite rhythm and pattern to it that isn't as easy as it looks.  

Steve getting his sword fighting lesson

And a boxing lesson as well.  Don't we look tough?

The grounds of the Sampran Riverside were absolutely gorgeous!  Everywhere we looked, it was so green and beautiful!

Beautiful ponds and plants everywhere as we walked from exhibit to exhibit

The next exhibit was silk making.  It is a very interesting process. It makes us wonder whoever discovered that silk worm cocoons can be used to make silk threads.

Silk worms in their various stages

A woman uses the silk worm cocoons to make silk threads.  Each cocoon was from 500- 700 meters of thread in it.

The threads are then organized onto a spindle and then dyed using all natural dyes

The silk threads for this particular pattern were pre-dyed in multiple colors rather than solid color strands.

Saovanne asks a question for us, as we learn about the silk weaving process

Another picture of the beautiful grounds with a fishing net hanging from the deck

Paper umbrellas in Thailand are all hand painted.  Here we learned that painting isn't as easy as it looks

And we learned a traditional Thai dance.  Obviously I needed more instruction than my talented husband.

Unfortunately, I can't remember what these beautiful instruments are called, but I made an attempt to play "Chopsticks" on mine.

We also learned to weave banana leaves.  They only trusted us to make these cute little angel fish, we weren't allowed to try a basket

And we also made elephants out of modeling clay

As hard as we tried, ours didn't come out nearly as cute as that of our accomplished teacher

Our next experience at Sampran was to make baked banana custard, but not on the stove, in a pan with flaked coconut out of a bag....

Here I am learning to scrape the coconut out of the shell.

Then we put the banana, coconut and rice batter into banana leaves.

And roll it up for grilling.  Look at the cute little lady behind us, thinking, wow are they uncoordinated!

And Ta Da! Baked banana custard, right out of a banana leaf.  So Tasty!

Next we learned fruit and vegetable carving.  Wow, what a talent that is.  They use extremely sharp knives to carve the fruit, so we weren't allowed to try, but we were definitely fascinated watching her do it.

It is unbelievable what she could do with a small knife and a few fruits and vegetables.  She has been perfecting her skills for 20 years, and it definitely showed!

Once again, Saovanne is translating for us as we learn to make a rose out of a cherry tomato.

Look at this beautiful leaf made out of pumpkin!  No, we didn't get to make it, we just posed with it.

Flower ornaments are sold everywhere in Thailand and are thought to bring safety and good fortune where ever they are displayed.  They are often seen hanging on cars and boats for protection.  Here we are trying our hand at making one out of orchids.

And here are our finished products.  Aren't they beautiful?  We did try!

It was now time to learn about traditional Thai farming.  Although what we saw here were the traditional methods of farming, they are still used on many farms in many parts of Thailand.  Some farmers still prefer to do much of their work by hand, rather than using machinery.

Saovanne is teaching us about growing rice.  On our left is a new rice field, just getting started, on our right is a more mature field.

After the rice is picked, it must be detached from the husk.  This machine is a lot harder to use than it looks.  You push and pull the handle to make the arm go around.  It works kind of like a grinder.

After the rice grains are detached, the husks are removed.  Since the rice grains are heavier, they remain on the tray and the husks fly away. 

A traditional Thai farmhouse is on stilts, with an open work area under the house, and the living quarters upstairs.

A small garden is outside.  In this case, the rice field is surrounded by the other vegetables.

Standing on the porch of the farmhouse.  This was just a two room house, with one room for living and one room for sleeping.

The bedroom

The living room

And of course the farm animals.  Water buffaloes used to be very common on the farm.  They are the tractors of Thailand!

Isn't this a sweet face?

This guy is trained to bow.  He's so cute!

Steve's giving him a treat for his hard work.

And our final stop before we left Sampran was to see the elephants. They are so smartest and so cute!

We started out giving them some bananas and sugarcane

And then we got to just enjoy being with them.

And then we made our way out of the beautiful cultural center and on to lunch.

Lunch was at the restaurant in the Sampran resort.  We had a beautiful view from our table, looking out over the river.

And as we were leaving to get back into our van, we saw this work cart on the side of the road.  These are still commonly used today, especially by the street vendors.

After the cultural center, Saovanne treated us to a trip to the Bangkok Flower Market.  It was amazing with so many things we have never seen before.  If you want flowers in Bangkok, this is where you come, there really are no other flower stores. 

It is a street market, set up and torn down everyday, enclosed by awnings that protect the flowers from the sun, but they also hold in the heat.  I have no idea what the temperature was under those awnings, but it was smothering hot, and the flower vendors spend their entire day in there.  The Bangkok flower market covers many city blocks, and is one of the most crowded places I have ever seen.  It was quite an experience.  The following pictures do not do the market any justice.  It is so amazingly colorful and grand.

Orchids

And more orchids

These are freshly picked lotus flowers, they have to be prepared before they are sold.

More fresh lotus flowers

A woman preparing the lotus flowers for sale

Lotus flowers ready for sale

Beautiful flower baskets made out of hundreds of small flowers each

Marigolds are the flowers used for the Buddhist offerings 

They also sell fruits and vegetables at the flower market.  These are guava.

And root vegetables

From the flower market we walked to the river, where we caught a sight seeing boat, and went down the river, then caught another boat and went back up the river.  

This is where we caught our first boat on our sight seeing adventure

A large monitor lizard trying to hide under the dock from my camera.  These lizards are all over Thailand and come in many shapes and sizes.

Our boat is approaching

As we cruised down the river we could see some of the damage done by the floods two years ago.  Many of the houses along the river were completely destroyed.

Loading and unloading these boats was interesting to say the least

A boat with flowers on the front for protection and good fortune

Real estate in Bangkok is extremely expensive and is often passed down from generation to generation, with multiple generations of  families living together.
Many people live right on the rivers and canals.

Some in smaller houses

And some in nicer apartment buildings

And of course, wealthy and modern Thailand thrives on the river as well

Some beautiful new condos on the river.  I can't imagine what one of these must cost.

And a few more fun sights as we cruised along....

A beautiful bridge

A cargo "train" on the right side

A small temple

A traffic jam

A hat tree

A couple of monks enjoying the afternoon

We went further up to the oldest shopping district in Bangkok, called Asiatique.  

Approaching Asiatique from the water

A love lock fence in Asiatique

We're not sure what these are called, but looked like a lot of fun!

The view from Asiatique was so beautiful!

A picture with our beautiful hostess as our day nears it's end.

 We then took a water bus back down the river to where we were going to eat dinner.

A beautiful wooden boat as we made our way back down the river.

The view inside the water taxi's.  This was when we first got on.  As we made our way down the river it got much more crowded, the isle was packed by the time we got off.

View from the outside of our water taxi as we got off.  You can see how much more crowded it is.

Saovanne did such a wonderful job of getting us around.  She had never taken the river boats before either, so this was a new experience for all of us.  

Dinner was at a beautiful restaurant called Sasa Rattanakosa  It was amazing!  We sat on a pier overlooking the river and had the most wonderful meal we have ever eaten. 

It doesn't get any better than this!

By the time dinner was over, Saovanne looked exhausted and so were we!  She was such an incredible host for the day.  We had so much fun with her, and saw so many sights that we could have never seen on our own.  

After dinner, Saovanne put us in a taxi for our ride back to the hotel.  The driver looked very confident as we left the restaurant, but the reality of it was that the taxi driver had no idea how to get to our hotel.  He was quite embarrassed as he took many U-turns, asked several times for directions from security guards and tuk-tuk drivers and kept referring back to the hotel business card that Steve had gotten from the hotel prior to leaving.  Thank goodness we had it with us! 

Steve always asks for two cards.  He then gives one card to the taxi driver's and if things start going south with a taxi ride we simply pay what is owed at the time and exit as quickly as possible. We then use the back-up card for the next taxi ride.   This strategy doesn't allow the drivers to hold you hostage for your hotel card!  

Finally, as we turned a corner, I noticed a banner on the top of a nearby building, and realized that this was the apartment building next to our hotel.  We immediately had the taxi driver stop so we could get out.  We finally knew where we were!  The hotel business card and the "ASU" banner on the apartment building beside our hotel saved us.   

I've never been so excited to see a banner on a building in my life!

After about 45 minutes of driving, we had finally arrived back at the hotel safe and sound and our taxi bill came to a whopping 109 baht, or about $3.15.  That was quite a city tour for the price.  Of course we had to tip him well for the stress he endured along the way with us.