Koh Kred Island

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I bought the best book yesterday. It is called "Very Thai" and it is small essays on all of the things that make up Thai culture. There are quite a few things that I have seen and definitely asked myself about as they seem to be distinctly Thai and this book covers all of them, such as:

- why some men have long fingernails;
- the popularity of foodstalls especially food on a stick (I have had quite a few things on a stick ... quick, easy and quite good) and drinks in a bag (Jana was quite excited to have Coke in a Bag and Orange Fanta in a Bag in Ayutthaya);
- the traditional thai tattoos (a lot of men have them and I have seen many women with tattoos on their fingers, wrists, etc.)
- blind bands (I saw one blind man and he pretty much had a full karaoke machine strapped around his neck and was signing away);
- trash recyclers (you see them with their carts and they pick up garbage ... some of it gets made into souvenirs);
- shrines and amulets;
- why there are always a pack of motorcycles for hire at the end of each soi. My hotel in on Sukhumvit Soi 15 and there is always 6-7 of them every morning;
- nose inhalers (you see a lot of people with a type of Vicks stick ... aromatherapy and to soothe from the pollution of Bangkok);

and there are of course many more and seeing that many I have witnessed first hand, it can only mean that I had a very Thai experience while I was here.

Today was a bit of a slow paced day but such a pleasant surprise. The things that I had planned that I was really looking forward to turned out great but there were a few little surprises during this whole trip and today was one of them. For about $ 10, I took the Chao Phraya River Express which has a tour on Sundays only to Koh Kred island. This is a man-made island created by the cutting of khlongs into the main Chao Phraya River and therefore creating this island. There are no cars and you can pretty much walk around the island in about two hours. The island is primarily inhabited by the Mon people (I don't really know their history to be honest) and they are skilled potters. There are a couple of Potters Villages right on the island.

As you go down the River, you see quite an active waterway with the ferries, long tail boats, the River Express, barges and the like. The homes all along are on stilts; some in states of disrepair while others actually quite beautiful.



































The first stop was Wat Chalermpakiet. There were two temples actually; each with two very different buddha images. In the second temple, there was a big golden buddha but this very ornate fan actually masked his face. I don't really know why.











In the back of these two temples, there was a white stucco chedi. I could see off on the side some traditional thai houses and they were very obviously lived in. I poked around a little and could see orange robes hung out to dry, books with scriptures, gongs and large drums. This was the monks' residences. I took a few pictures but moved on quickly. Women are not to address monks directly and there is a huge amount of respect for them here; for example priority seating in all of the common transportion.





























As I continued walking, I came upon this absolutely beautiful park. It had immaculate grounds, three very ornate salas for resting and another larger sala (also quite ornate) and surrounded by a moat.







We got back on the boat and the next stop was Baan Kanon Thai, which stands for House of Thai Sweets. My kind of place. We actually had lunch there and in the back there were a couple of women doing demonstrations of how some of the sweets are made. When we walked in, we had to take our shoes of (of course!). I had to go to the washroom and I wasn't too keen on the idea of doing so barefoot ... not to worry there were communal flip flops! They think of everything.























We then made our way to Koh Kred island. They had given us a map and the guide said to always make sure that the water was to our right so we would not get lost. We were leaving from a different pier than we had arrived at so it was important that we make it back to the proper place. Of course, at one point the water was to my left ... mmm ... keep walking and eventually someone will point me in the right direction.

In the meantime, I poked my head into some little shack because I could see racks and racks of unfired terracotta and wanted to take photos. A woman saw me and I asked her if it was okay that I take pictures. She takes me by the wrist (at this point I am thinking that she is taking out the ruler to smack me with it!) and she leads me in. There were three men there actually using the pottery wheels; each making a different type of pot. Yesterday a guru said that I was in a lucky place; well yes indeed!! So I got my personal demonstration and some really cool shots!


















But now I had to find my way back and walking through the narrow streets with hoards of people means that you are moving at a snail's pace. I stopped to listen to this guy who was playing some bluesy guitar and at one point he was playing Change the World by Eric Clapton which I just love.











I finally found my way and hit another jackpot (photo wise anyways) ... there were little girls doing traditional thai dances. There was actually another temple I could have gone to but I decided to spend the rest of my time watching them dance. They were quite young and sometimes they did not seem to know the steps so they would look at each other and laugh. There were also a few proud parents in the small crowd. The show got cut short because it started raining and at the same time it was time to get back on the boat.















It stopped raining just long enough for me to get off at Pha Atrit (we could get dropped off that the pier that we wanted to on the way back). I went to visit the Santichai Prakan Park which is right besides the King Rama VIII bridge. As I walked off the pier, there were some cool graffiti on the wall and I think that this is a more "artsy" part of the city (apparently due to the fact that it is close to the Silpakorn University).











In this park, there is a small pavillion that looks like a traditional thai house. Right beside it is a huge bodhi tree and apparently the last remaining lamphu tree in the region. At the edge of the park, you have the Phra Sumen Fort which is one of two remaining defences of the old city walls. It was built in 1873 but was renovated in 1999 so it looks really new.

















As I was walking around the park, I saw this young guy with long braided hair and a bongo. He sat at a bench and just randomly started playing. Just a nice relaxing way to end the day. I got back on the boat to make my way back to the hotel and realized that I have been here too long ... I actually recognized a monk! I saw him yesterday on one of the boats. Oh boy!











It is pouring rain out and so the street food vendors are few and far between ... I think that it will be room service for tonight. Tomorrow ... cooking school. Woohoo!!

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