Floating Market 2008

For the new year we, along with X's family, went to the Bangnamphung floating market, in Samut Prakhan province near Bangkok. Traditionally, Thai markets were congregations of boats in canals. Nowadays these have all been replaced with modern malls, but a few semi-floating markets still exist. Here we found old-style Thai foods, snacks and drinks difficult to find in most other places. Standouts were a purple juice made from a flower called dok un-chan, khao haw bai bua (fried rice in lotus leaf), and som chun (sweet and sour chili paste in oranges and tart vegetables).

We rented an old-style Thai canal boat and paddled our way up and down the canal (with me in a ngob, or Thai sun hat), to the smiles of many Thai families who chuckled at a foreigner like me in such a traditional Thai setting. Amazingly, I only steered the boat into the concrete retaining wall two or three times!

At the Chao Phraya river ferry crossing, from Bangkok to Samut Prakhan.

Chiang Rai 2007

Over Christmas holiday 2007, we took a trip to Chiang Rai, the northernmost province in Thailand. This time of year it can be almost freezing in the mountains here, but the coolest temps we got were 17 degrees Celsius. Still, it was a nice break from the heat and pollution of Bangkok.




A decade ago the King's mother had a mountain retreat built which has been turned into a museum. My pants were a little too short for entrance (for entry into palaces and especially temples in Thailand one must be dressed politely in long pants and no cut-off shirts), but luckily the guards were well-equipped to outfit miscreants like me in the traditional blue pants of the north, called mo hom, even though these pants were only about an inch longer than the ones I was wearing! Without question one of the nicest houses I've ever been in.




At the entrance to Doi Tung (Doi= mountain; tung= flag) is now home to the Queen Mom's palace, an arboretum, and a fantastic coffee shop selling locally grown arabica.

Traditionally, in front of every Thai home the family would place small ceramic cisterns which held drinking water for weary travelers. This is still done in rural areas of Thailand.

At Mae Fah Luang Arboretum and Garden.

At the Thai border with Myanmar is the town of Mae Sai- "The Northermost of Thailand"- a strip of markets selling cheap goods. I sampled the local bamboo worms, served roasted and tasting not like chicken but more like a potato chip. The worms tasted strangely like the roasted grasshoppers I once tried.

At the "Golden Triangle" and the mighty Mekong River. Laos on the right bank, Myanmar (Burma) on the left, and Thailand in the foreground.

In Thailand it is considered good luck to walk under an elephant. I've tried this once with a live elephant (and lived to tell the tale); this one was a cooperative statue.

We rented a motorbike for the day and headed out on a winding and beautiful drive to Phasert natural hotsprings. At one pool- not this one!- the temperature of the water was hot enough to boil an egg, and we did exactly that after buying some.

X at the magnificent Wat Rong Khun. Thai artist Chalermchai has devoted his life to creating this temple. It is, I believe, destined to become one of the wonders of the world. Only twenty to thirty more years, he says, until completion.

Cambodia 2007

In April 2007 we flew to Siem Reap, which is the provincial capital nearest the famed temples of Angkor. Angkor Wat was on the internet voting list for the "New 7 Wonders of the World", but did not win a place, probably because of the lack of internet in Cambodia. The Cambodian people were well aware of the vote, and there were signs hanging around town urging people to vote for Angkor. Like the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat is even more stunning up close; every inch of the sandstone is engraved, carved, decorated, chiseled or otherwise embellished. Particularly stunning are the bas-reliefs which depict not only war and conquest but also such daily activities as fishing, cock-fighting and childbirth. One of the fascinating things about the Angkor temples is that they are largely inspired by Hinduism, not Theravada Buddhism, which is the dominant religion in Cambodia today.



At the main temple, Angkor Wat.


X with some apsara, or Hindu heavenly nymphs.

Our friendly tuk-tuk driver/guide.

X at the Terrace of the Leper King.

Ta Prohm temple was left more or less as it was found, slowly being reclaimed by the jungle.

The magnificent Bayon temple, with 216 faces of Avalokiteshvara. Both X and I liked this temple best.

Some of the many faces of the Bayon temple.

X and I are both gastronomes of sorts, so we were keen to sample the local cuisine, often called "Thai-Lite" for its relative lack of chili peppers and spices. Khmer cooking is heavily dependent on fish, and we had some wonderful fish curries, called amok. The local beer- Angkor Beer ("My Country, My Beer"), is just a notch or two more beer-like than water; it does not compare favorably with BeerLao from its northern neighbor, nor in my opinion does the cuisine match the almost unreachable standard set in Thailand. Still, all smiles at the local market.

Krabi 2007

In May 2007 we took a trip to Krabi in southern Thailand, one of our favorite provinces.



Ready to head into the mangrove swamp.

Railay beach.

X in a water cave.

In the mangroves.

Lopburi 2007

In November (2007), we took a trip to Lopburi, 3 hours north of Bangkok. Lopburi is famed throughout Thailand for its fields of sunflowers. The sunflower festival reminded me of many of the rural festivals in the USA; at this one there were sunflower seeds being roasted and sold, fresh honey, elephant rides for the kids, and hoards of camera-toting Thai families. We joined in.

Lopburi, like Ayutthaya and Sukhotai, contains a great number of 500 year-old ruins from the historic heydays of Siam. Lopburi has the added attraction of monkeys at its temples and hosts an annual monkey festival. The troops of monkeys frolic in the town, swinging from electric wires and stealing bags of food from out of hand, before congregating at one temple in late afternoon. A local boy who seems to know all the monkeys keeps them from becoming too rowdy with a swat of a bamboo stick. The monkey in this pic was at the train station.

We were lucky to be in Lopburi for the annual Loy Kratong festival. Throughout Thailand little rafts are decorated with candles and incense and placed in waterways and ponds in homage to the water goddess. Lopburi adds a Loy Kratong parade.

Ko Lanta Yai 2007

On our recent trip (October 2007) to Ko Lanta Yai, an island in Krabi province in southern Thailand, we went sea-kayaking and snorkeling, rode an elephant, explored some magnificent caves (and swam in crystal pools in the caves), explored the island by motorbike, sampled the local Muslim cuisine, swam in the sea with phosphorecent dinoflagellates, and did some birdwatching (highlights included the white-bellied sea-eagle and asian fairy bluebird). Pic of our new friend Gai.

X and Mick on the rope bridge at Il Mare resort, Khlong Nin beach.


Our very moody elephant who was much more interested in exploring the jungle than staying on the path!

Mick in the crystal cave pool.

On the ferry between Ko Lanta Noi and Ko lanta Yai.

Traffic lights in Krabi town...one of the many natural wonders the Krabi area boasts are cave paintings and remains of Pleistocene hominids.