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Published: December 3rd 2006
A Local Temple
this is the local temple with the amazing wood carved walls
Well what can I say... for those that know me, you wouldnt be surprised at the mishaps and adventures... it seems wherever there is a Reety there is trouble!! The Flight Over
The flight started off eventful, after Dad pointing out the 'lumpy clouds' on the way to the airport. Well yep as usual, Dad was right (again) and 20 minutes into our flight drinks were stopped being served (luckily I already had my Singapore Sling in hand) and the cabin crew sent back to their seats to await our crash! The 'lumpy clouds' lasted for about half an hour and then it was fairly smooth sailing the rest of the way to Singapore (in terms of the weather).... Unfortunately Reety's nervousness got the better of her and she downed 2 Singapore Slings and a Red Wine in the space of two hours and then spilt half the red wine over herself and Trent... A few death stares later from Trent and my cheeks stopped burning from embarrassment so I stopped drinking and got on the water!! Sobered up and then had a Baileys (well it was free and the entertainment system was Wood Carving on Wall
The wood carvings on the wall, all 3D... crap!) Had to amuse myself with something other than reruns of House and CSI and stupid games that didnt work!
Great landing in Singapore and I was feeling rather confident for the 2nd leg... but I had a killer headache!!! A quick stop at the chemist in the Singapore Airport and a mishap of pi$$ing on myself trying to use an Asian squat toilet and we were on our way..... Again the flight was ok and the food rocked, and then all my dreams were shattered when the pilot announced that we were going to have 'some' turbulence for the landing.... Turbulence 12 kms in the air I can handle... turbulence 1km from the ground I dont handle quite as well! The landing was rough!
BUT the end result was worth it.... Bangkok.... The world is my oyster! And all that stuff!
I had our driver put Trents name on the sign for when we were picked up and needless to say he was pretty excited to see his name held up like a VIP!! The Airport was really quiet before immigration.... baggage took about 20 min to come through and then we walked through customs without
Tong
Tong with all the orchids at the Benjarong Factory... anyone even looking at us!! The other side of customs was a different story.... people everywhere.... Tongs guide Charlie met us and took us to the hotel... very funny guy! Didnt stop chatting the whole way there and between his jokes and the driving of every other thai driver, the whole experience became more surreal by the minute!
Check in at the New Siam Guesthouse II was smooth and we quickly collapsed into a restless hot sleep, only to wake up 2 hours later freezing our asses off from the airconditioning.. The room is pretty basic and VERY small but hey, we are only there to sleep and shower so for the price, its not too bad. They have cheap fast internet, cheap banana pancakes for breakfast that rock, cheap laundry and a pool! The only thing missing that would be nice is a fridge but the drinks are cheap enough so who cares!!
Our Day with Tong - The Floating Markets!
Where do I start .... what an absolute great start to Thailand! Tong arrived at 6.30am to pick us up and after finishing our Banana Pancakes (she couldnt believe how fast I inhaled mine!) we Trent Enjoying His Chicken
This chicken was so yummy Trent had 2nds and 3rds! were off. Tong took Trent and I to make merit with the Monks... a pretty surreal experience... felt kind of weird! You buy food from the street vendors (it is all packaged) and you then approach the Monks as they walk the streets, you take your shoes off, bend right down bowing to the ground then stand up and place the food in their bowls.... there is an order you do it, but I cant remember, rice first, then a couple of other things and a drink... as a female it is very important that you do not touch the monk or their bowl.... after giving the food to the monk you again bow right down to the ground and they bless you.... Its all part of the Buddist religon and I wont try to explain it because I may offend those who actually know more about it.... It has something to do with not being able to change the past but doing something in the present good that allows for you to eat in the afterlife?! Trent was a bit funny about it... saying 'make sure you watch my shoes!' Ha!
We stopped to pick up our new
friends Mike and Susanna from England, who I had met on the internet last week when I was trying to find someone to split the days cost... found them 2 days before leaving! What luck! They are both 29, and really nice... Susanna is originally from Spain... a gorgeous stunner! It could of been a disaster had they been difficult, annoying or just not on the same wavelength, but luckily we got lucky!
We headed out to the Floating Markets... I was originally not very keen to go out there but decided to do it at the last minute... I am glad I did... it was worth it! We stopped at a local temple along the way and it was gorgeous.... Photos attached! The inside walls were all handcarved 3D wood carvings... unbelievable. We did a quick toilet stop at the Benjarong Factory (really want to go back at some point and buy something, it is ceramic dinnerwear etc that is all transparent, made by hand and hand painted with no stencilling... it is the official dinnerwear of the King / Royal Family).
We got to the Floating Markets and I changed some money, turned around to go
Reet & Trent
enjoying the floating markets... my bum was numb by this stage!! find our boat and totally got sucked in by two little girls selling crappy postcards and (of all things) pencils.... She wanted 100 baht for the pencils, I offered 60 baht and then Tong stepped in and argued the point and said 40 baht... the other little girl sulked because noone wanted her crappy postcards, but they probably would of been more use to me then these stupid pencils that probably wont even make it through customs! Doh!
The Floating Markets was much better than what I imagined... We did a little bit of the 'touristy' area and then ended up down some canals where we were the only boat and it was really peaceful (if a little smelly!)... We got to try some of the food that they cook in their boats... some chicken pieces on skewers (Trent went back for 2nds and 3rds!), a noodle soup, a fresh coconut juice straight out of the coconut (top cut off & straw stuck in!) & spicy papaya salad! We were pretty full and it was only 10am!
Attack of the Killer Monkeys - How we survived!
After the floating market we went to Tongs Fishermans Village on the Water
A lone 'shack' in the water... there were hundreds of these everywhere as far as the eye could see! 'secret place'... we still dont really know the name of it, but it is a fishermans village where the river meets the sea, a conservation area.... and it was really beautiful.... We started off heading down the river past all the houses, and then out further to sea.... we went across a heap of mudflats where the water would of only been one inch deep (in a longtail boat!).... This is where the adventure really began! We went to go down a narrow waterway between trees and bushes and then the boat conked out.... before we could get it started a few monkeys appeared (see pictures).. At first we were all saying "wow monkeys cool" and taking photos ... then we realised there were LOTS of them and they were starting to circle the boat! Seriously!! They didnt look too friendly and I started to freak out (along with Trent)... Susanna and Mike were a bit cooler! The fisherman (who only speaks Thai) and his son were trying to keep the monkeys away from the boat while trying to get the boat unstuck from the mud and get the hell out of there! One of the monkeys jumped into the
Awwww cute monkey! Look!
At this stage we were not alarmed ... just fascinated! tree above us and was right above me! I was almost in tears and put an umbrella above my head thinking it would save me from Rabies if it decided to jump in the boat!
Little did Trent and I know that there was a massive pile of bananas in the back of the boat so they were probably more interested in them, but we swear they were about to kill us! Trent saw one monkey creeping up behind us, and this monkey was communicating with the monkey above me... we were like "get us the hell out of here NOW"..... We finally got away in one piece but then they took us down a new waterway and stopped the boat.... about 50 monkeys appeared out of nowhere again and Trent and I were FREAKED! When Trent gets stressed or upset he displays it by being angry and he was telling the monkeys to 'piss off'... the fisherman gave everyone bananas and Trent starts pelting them at the monkeys heads! I was sitting there just freaked and wanting to get out of there.... The more bananas we threw the more they calmed down... there was one big sucker that
Surrounding the boat!
The monkeys started to circle the boat... making noises that werent very friendly! was right near the boat and you should of seen him shovelling the bananas in.... he had a mouthful that he could hardly chew and he was still trying to shove more in! Greedy pig!
Just before we were about to leave two monkeys decided to give my son a sex education lesson and started going for it doggy style (or is that monkey style?!) Hilarious!!!
Afterwards we went out further to sea and saw the fishermans oyster/mussel farms and viewed some wildlife before settling at his little house in the middle of the sea for a massive seafood lunch! We ate until we were almost sick and then lazed the afternoon away in the middle of the ocean! Very relaxing!
We are so buggered now so we have had dinner tonight at the Guesthouse and are having an early night. Another big day tomorrow... we were originally doing some shopping and bits and pieces, but Mike and Susanna invited us to spend the day with them doing all the temples and a klong tour (canal tour), sharing another one of Tongs guides Charlie (same guy we had at Airport)... I didnt think Trent would want to
The Monkey Above My Head!
Did I really think an umbrella would protect me from a rabid monkey?! Who was I kidding?! do it but he loved Mike and Susanna and was keen to spend the day with them... so temples it is!! Shopping will have to wait another day (even though Trent decided to pack one pair of shorts, one pair of pants and 2 tshirts! Men!!)
Thats all for us! A long one this time but it was just such a funny day that I had to share it with you all.... next time I will speak more about Bangkok, the CRAZY roads/drivers, the filth and the beauty! Till then love to you all! We miss you (kind of!!)
Reet & Trent xxxxx
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GaryBee
Gary
An auspicious start!
Well done on surviving the 'killer' monkeys!! There's hope for you yet. Have a great time! Gary x