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Published: July 18th 2017
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Geo: 13.7308, 100.521
Today was an early start for our last day in Thailand. We had made arrangement for a 7 am pick up at the hotel to take us to the floating market. The ride there was more than an hour. I know I could never drive here. The traffic is absolutely crazy and those taxi motorcycles go everywhere even against the traffic squeezing in between the cars stopped for lights, crossing lanes of traffic. There's all kinds of lane switching and merging so that I thought it would be better to concentrate on the surroundings and scenery and quit focusing on the driving. All along the way there were still small stands with people selling goods and food, even along roads where the cars are speeding past. We passed rice paddies and a several of the stalls were selling bags of rice.
Once we reached the floating market we boarded a long boat that went along the canals among the coconut groves. Along the edges of the canal are vendors wearing traditional farmer dresses and hats, mostly local peasants, selling everything you could imagine such as clothing, hats, jewelry, paintings, sculptures, and of course more delicious Thai food, tropical fruits
and vegetables. Also all along the way through the canals are vendors in boats selling their wares and food. They even cook on these small boats. It's was memorable and amazing to see!
We made a stop along the way back to try a new experience. Riding an elephant was never something I thought I would do. I was wrong. It's a rather bumpy ride and on his back as he walks into the river, down a steep embankment, was a little scary. I'm glad we did it though. Elephants are a symbol of good luck in Bangkok. With this little side stop ending we got back on the long boat and headed back to our point of origin and our waiting taxi. This trip was a great experience!
The evening was spent with Karn, Panny and her niece Faai. We went to Khao San Road. This area is often referred to as the backpackers area since many stay around here. There are numerous hostels and smaller hotels. Again the streets were lined with vendors selling souvenirs, clothing, jewelry, trinkets of all sorts and varieties of foods from meat on sticks, noodles, even scorpions and insects on sticks. It was like
a festival atmosphere! Walking through the streets was difficult because of the large crowds of people. Tonight we had dinner at an Irish pub. The food was good but the company and conversation was even better. It's so nice to talk with local people because they can provide you with so much information. Karn, Penny, and Faai informed us of so much history and facts about their city and their friendliness and hospitality made us feel so welcome! Our dinners ranged from chili, Greek salads, steak, nachos, salmon and stir fried chicken to dessert of apple pie and ice cream and a hot apple crumb choice with honey sauce. Sound good? Everything was delicious. Great atmosphere, good food and even better company, what more could you ask for?
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Larry and cynthia
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Ha ha I love the elephant ride pic!!!! How cool is that!!!! U and Linda sure are brave! Pictures are beautiful! Lucky world travelers!!!