Thai Water Market

On our second full day in Thailand, we headed out to a water market outside of Bangkok with a couple of my friends from Japan.  We had a van, driver, and tour guide to ourselves.  And of course we stopped at as many of the tourist trap places as the tour guide and driver could get us to.  That's one of the things that I dislike about some of the places I've traveled to, the insistence upon the part of various taxi drivers, tour guides, etc, to stop at every single place that can try and squeeze a baht or a penny out of you for things that usually aren't worth the money.  I realize they get kick backs and other forms of remuneration for bringing tourists in, and that they have to make a living, but I do not want to go shopping, thank you very much.

On our first tourist trap stop of the day, we stopped at this palm sugar place, and tasted palm sugar.  To the side, they had this huge orchid form/nursery area that was filled with beautiful orchids.  On the ground, I saw a little crab making its way from one side to the other, and unfortunately, for some reason, the picture came out all black.



After the palm sugar/orchid farm, we stopped at the wild animal/ride an elephant place.  We did see an elephant with a driver along the side of the road on our trip out of town.  But this place was depressing.  There was an elephant chained to a wooden structure so people could have their picture taken with the poor animal.  And there were the others chained up waiting for people to ride them.  There were other animals that were caged up so tourists could see them.  But we managed to talk the driver into leaving as quickly as possible.

Then we got to the water market itself, and took a boat ride.  Along both sides of the canal are vendors selling stuff of all kinds.  There are also vendors in boats that float along, too.  If you see something you like, the vendor will reach out with a hook and grab onto your boat and pull your boat to the edge or next to their boat.  The vendors are amazingly polyglot, switching from one language to another so quickly.  In our case, they would speak both English and Japanese in an attempt to get us to buy stuff, quoting prices in dollars and yen.


There were all sorts of dogs roaming about the area, too.

My favorite part of the water market:

When we first floated by, there was a giant snake hanging around on a platform below this sign.  When we floated by again, the snake was gone.

Outside of the market area is a more residential area.  There were obviously people living in these houses, which are all raised up above the water level.  There are walkways along the waterfront, and bridges over the canals connecting the houses.  Back away from the market area were some very nice houses.  I could certainly imagine staying there for a month or two, away from the hustle and bustle of the world, relaxing and listening to the sounds of the water.


Another dog.

Bangkok Adventures Day 1

Our first full day in Bangkok.  Oh, it was gloriously warm.  It wasn't that cold in Seoul, but it was cold enough.  So it was delightful to be in a place that steamed up my glasses when I stepped outside.  We stayed at the Royal Princess Larn Luang, since that was the ISCGM meeting location (and the reason for the trip).  We were able to walk around a fair bit, although the hotel was just a bit beyond comfortable walking range for a few places.

In the hallway near the elevator, they had a bowl full of flowers.  And yes, they're real (and yes, I poked them to find out).  By day 2, they weren't looking quite so fresh as they were the first day.



We headed towards one of the palaces near the zoo first.  This is one of the pedestrian bridges over the canal.


Statue of King Rama V.  It happened to be the anniversary of his death that day, so temples were open for free, and people were leaving flowers and offerings at the foot of the statue. They would put them on a tray, and one of the guard would take the tray when it was full and put the items near the statue.


One of the many palaces or palace type places along our route.

Monitor lizard along one of the canals.  Turns out we saw several of these along our walk along the canal.  Along with a few people with fish nets wading in the water.


This is Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram, a Buddhist temple also known as the Marble Temple.


Dogs of Bangkok.
At the temple we saw several dogs wandering about or even just lazing about.  After being in Seoul, where I rarely, if ever, see stray dogs, it was kind of surprising to find dogs all about in Bangkok.

Smaller structure within the temple grounds.


Bangkok parking.


I love being in places where the plants and flowers are so lush and green.  And I am still fascinated by all the houseplants that grow outside and can turn into gigantic bushes or trees.


Colors of Bangkok.

More houseplants outside.  I still find it fascinating to see these kinds of plants, the ones I have in little pots in my house, everywhere outside.


Corner of a roof seen through vegetation.


Golden Mount, another Buddhist temple.


This one is almost like a ride at Disneyland.  You go up one side (one way traffic), with things to see along the way, like this row of bells.

View from the top of Golden Mount.

After our walking adventure, we went back to the hotel to relax, then headed out to Pat Pong that evening for additional entertainment.  Pat Pong is the red light district that caters to foreigners.  And as you walk down the  street, all the various "salespeople" come up with menus of things you can pay to see, none of which are appropriate to describe in a public forum, so I will leave them to your imagination.  This is where we were followed by a European man, and when we stopped and turned around, he immediately said he was married and had kids.  We managed to ditch him in the Japanese section of Pat Pong, where all the signs were in Japanese.