Day 6 - Sukhothai Day 7 - Kanchanaburi

We rented bicycles to ride around Sukhotai Historical Park which is now a World Heritage Site.  The city of Sukhothai (meaning Dawn of Happiness) was the original capital of Thailand's first kingdom and is believed by many to represent the golden age of Thai civilization.  Then we had a home-cooked picnic before our 6 hour road trip to Kanchanaburi.



Dec. 31 - Kanchanaburi  (golden city) is most infamous for the death railway that was constructed during WWII using prisoners of war and Asian labor.

trishaw

Kanchanaburi War Cementery 

We took trishaws to the Kanchanaburi War Cemetry and walked through that before going to the Death Railway Museum (Thailand-Burma Railway Center) to learn more about what happened in this area during WWII.  Unfortunately Hellfire Pass Memorial was closed.

Basically, the story goes that  the British were the first to survey the track lines but decided it would be too difficult to build.  During WWII, the Japanese wanted to establish a supply route to Myanmar and India; as the route along the river was covered by thick forest, the Japanese thought it would be better protected.  The allies only bombed the railway in two places.  The track is 415 km long with about 263 km in Thailand.  Around 100,000 Asian laborers and 16, 000 POW died during the construction.

We then waited 2.5 hours for our 2 hour  train ride along the historic tracks through the area and over the 2 famous bridges over the Kwai River.  After a late lunch, we had the opportunity to walk over the metal bridge.

Since it was New Years Eve, we bought some booze and just hung out together having a great time.  We went down to the river (where we could see the bridge we had walked over) and some other people had some small fireworks and had the Chinese lanterns which we set off another for the new year!

It was a great way to end 2011 and begin 2012!

Majestic Elephants

I was so looking forward to this day - the day I ride an elephant.  But do you know what?  That was not my highlight of the day.  The highlight for me was the opportunities I had to touch and feed the elephants.  It was fantastic!

We were able to touch the heads of the elephants and the trunks; we took photos with them and the trainers encouraged the elephants to put up their trunks and play around with us humans!  Then we watched the elephants take their morning baths and many of them came out of the water and squirted water at us.  So much fun!

We then watched the elephant show which showcased what elephants can do, such as, raise a flag on a flagpole to play instruments (xylophone, harmonica and drums) to move and pick up logs to painting!  Three elephants painted pictures which people from my group all bought (including me).  We then had the opportunity to feed the elephants and click more photos.   Then we rode the elephants for about 30 minutes in a forest in the conservation center.   It was an unforgettable day!

Chiang Mai - Temples, Rafting and Cooking

steps to Doi Suthep

Friday Buddha

After 13 hour train ride we arrived in Chiang Mai about 8am.  We loaded up our 2 vans and headed to town for breakfast and a walk through the local central market.  Then we headed to  Doi Suthep, one of northern Thailand's most sacred temples.  Legend has it that the king/emperor rode a white elephant and said when the elephant stops that is where I will build a temple.  So the elephant walked and walked and walked.  He walked up this hill, turned around 3 times and laid down and died.  So we climbed the 300 steps to the temple; tried to walk around the temple 3 times as that was good luck, poured oil in the lamps to help something?, saw our personal Buddha which corresponded with the day we were born (I was born on a Friday); and walked around the area with the locals and other tourists.

bamboo rafting

off to market we go

Then we grabbed something to nibble on, loaded up the vans and drove 2 hours to go bamboo rafting.  We had not gone to our hotel at this point and we were all a little irritable.  However, once the rafting started our wearies were diminished as we tested our balance and skill of steering the rafts.  Hopefully more photos will come as only one person had a waterproof camera.


10 out of 12 of us decided to go to the Thai cooking class (the others went for a bike ride).  What a fabulous day we had.  We first chose the meals we wanted to cook - there were 4 categories: stir-fry, appetizers, soups and curries; and there were 3 choices per category.  Then we were all given baskets and we walked to the local market to gather our ingredients.  Our leader/teacher showed and explained the differences between peppers, mushrooms, noodles and other ingredients.  Then we headed back.  There were 2 other groups also at the school and so when it was time to chop and cook our recipes everyone went to the kitchen and so we were all mixed up.  But it was so organized.  We all had our ingredients ready (to make one serving each), an individual wood block and knife to chop and then an individual wok to cook it.  So I made Fried Noodles thai Style (aka Pad thai); spring rolls; chicken in coconut soup; and Chaingmai Noodle (aka Kao-Soy).  So not only did we make these dishes we then ate them right afterwards too.  I was stuffed! We also got a great recipe book, so there is definitely potential for me to make these again.  And now I have a new outlook to my wok! The place was called BannThai - www.baanthaicookery.com  I highly recommend it if you are in the area!

Esther, me, Esther - Chiangmai Noodles

Now if we didn't eat enough in one day, we then in the evening went to a traditional khan toke dinner and watched traditional dancers and entertainers.  The day/evening ended with the group letting off 2 lanterns into the dark sky.  We made wishes and sent them on their way!

lanterns

Christmas in Bangkok, Thailand

Although I booked with a company called Adventure Company this tour Highlights of Thailand was run by a fantastic tour company called Intrepid.  I look forward to using them again.
Day 1: Christmas Day - December 25, 2011 - the group of 12: a group of 4/family of 3 - mother, 2 daughters and their friend all from Ottawa, Canada (Linda, Lisa, Esther and Sean (though Sean lives in Ankara, Turkey now)); 2 couples from  Queensland, Australia - one couple a little older than me (Felicity and David) the other couple older than me (Di and David); a younger couple from London, UK (Esther and AJ); another solo traveler from Chicago about my age (Kristen (Kris)) and me.  And then our leader Chompooh (pronounced Shampoo).  Fortunately we turned out to be a great group - all got along and everyone was happy!

So on the first day we took a boat trip  along the river and then went to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo where the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is located.  In the afternoon we had free time and most of us went to Wat Pho (pronounced Po - wat means temple)  This famous temple is due to the Buddha is reclining "lying down".

Then we boarded the train at 5:30pm for our overnight journey to Chaing Mai.

Bangkok, Thailand - Visit with former ACS student

Jill, Mew, Mao, Munin

The day before my tour officially began, I had a great visit with a former student of mine.  I taught Mew at the American Community School in Athens, Greece in 2008 before he and his family returned to Bangkok.

We had  a great visit.  They picked me up from my hotel and we drove about 2 hours outside of Bangkok to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.  We hopped into a traditional wooden boat (sampan) and cruised along the canals browsing other boatfuls of souvenirs and food as well as "stores" on mainland but you can only access them by boats.    I am really glad I had an opportunity to visit this place.

Then we went to another place for lunch by the river where we had many seafood options.  Afterwards, we went to a touristy/garden place where we watched a traditional show which highlighted many of the traditional ceremonies and activities in the Thai culture.




After a long but pleasant day, they dropped me back at my new hotel.  It was really great having the opportunity to spend time with Mew and listen to all that he had to share (he hardly said a word in my class!)

Christmas in Singapore

 Here are some of the lights and Christmas decorations along the most popular street in Singapore - Orchard Rd.

Here are the artistic elephants along Orchard Road too.