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Arrival and First Sights

We landed a bit before midnight, and arrived at the Pathawam Princess Hotel about 1.00 am. The reception was smooth, and we were into our room without any fuss. We got a few hours sleep, but were up reasonably early, had breakfast and explored the immediate surrounds of the hotel.

Jim Thompson House

First stop today was the museum that has been created from Jim Thompson's house. The american credited with reviving the printed silk industry in Thailand, he disappeared many years ago, but his reputation and work lives on, and is on display in this museum. While it is still early when we arrive, and still cool from the previous night, the gardens have a wonderful, cool and gentle feel about them. We had to wait a few minutes for the next English speaking guide, so we paid a quick visit to the shop, and strolled around the gardens in that time.

One got the feeling that Jim Thompson is very highly revered, both for his art, and the contribution that he made to the country. While the questions were general, the responses were generally open and informative. When someone asked about the very obviously absent Mrs Thompson, they were given about as short an answer as it was possible to politely give, and we moved on. The great man's halo was not going to be tarnished.

Another visit to the shop on the way out and we were on our way back to the hotel to prepare for the afternoon's activities.

Thai Cooking Class

Well, you knew that I would have to give this a try. This was a little adventure in itself, venturing out onto the Skytrain and finding my way from the station to the hotel that was running this activity.

It turned out that I was the only person booked in for this day, but the hotel still ran it. They were also expecting Elaine to come with me, even if she wasn't going to do any cooking, so everything had been set up for two.

First up, we went down to the local supermarket, and my guide explained what produce we were going to be using that day. Some vegetables, like the really small egg-plant that we used, I don't see in Australia. Others we see, but packaged differently. For example, this supermarket was packaging two or three kaffir lime leaves, a stalk of lemongrass and coriander or another herb to be sold together.

Then it was back to the hotel for the cooking class proper. This was run as in classic skills training lines - they did it first, then I did it next. For the first dish, a crab entree, we did each step in this fashion. For the later dishes, the chef showed how the whole dish was prepared, and then allowed me to try my hand at it. It was wonderful fun, and I did learn a couple of new tricks about preparing Thai curries that I will use.

Night Markets

Having successfully negotiated the Skytrain during the day, both of us did it again that night to get down to Patpong Rd for the night markets. We got there early, and they only just starting to assemble the stalls in the middle of the road. Some traders were already there getting merchandise onto their stand, but in the main, it was still far too early. We strolled down the length of the market and back, and went off to have a meal before returning about 6.30 pm. Even then, there were still some people setting up their stalls, but most were ready for business.

Elaine was shopping with a purpose, but she takes a bit of time to hone her bargaining technique. Tonight was no exception, and by third purchase, she had become much more confident. I'm still not sure why we had to buy two handbags just to get her back into practice. I suppose I shouldn't ask!

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