OK....part 2 of the new years travels is finally here! I know it took me two weeks to get around to posting part 2 of the trip, but here it is! After Taiwan, my mom, Mr. Bud, and I headed over to Bangkok, Thailand.
We were so happy for the hot weather and I was super excited to get some delicious Thai food, starting with chicken phad thai....my favorite! Its ironic because I really don't like Chinese food, but I LOVE Thai food!
Mr. Bud about to enjoy his first plate of real Thai food!
In Bangkok, we participated in a full day tour that brought us to the floating market. The tour began out at a coconut and orchid farm. I didn't even know, until visiting the farm, that there is such a thing as coconut sugar. Here, they showed us the process for making the sugar. Above is a picture of all of the discarded coconut shells from that morning.
They boil water, add in the coconut juice and continue boiling, then they stir it for about 5 minutes, and finally pour it into small bowls over netting until it hardens.
This is the finished product, coconut sugar! We could sample it and it was pretty tasty!
The orchid farm. We were able to see a few different orchid farms while in Thailand and they were all quite beautiful...hundreds of fresh flowers every where you turned in all different colors!
Next up on the tour, a long-tail boat ride. A huge tourist attraction for Thailand is the floating market, which can be reached by car OR by boat, which is way more exciting! Long tail boats are given the name because of their appearance...they are long! They were made famous by the James Bond film, "The Man with the Golden Gun", which was filmed in Thailand in the early 1970s.
The boat ride is enjoyable, but also allows you to see the many Thai homes, buildings, and shrines that are located on the water, whether on banks, or literally on stilts in the water. It reminded me a lot of Louisiana bayous.
My mom and I enjoying the boat ride!
One of the beautiful homes along the water.
And finally we reached the floating market. Yes, that IS the river, it is just so jam packed with boats that you can barely see the water! At the market, you have the option of taking a ride on a small paddle boat to see the market, or walking along the sides of the river. There are hundreds of boats on the water selling goods, souvenirs, and traditional Thai food. If you choose to walk along the river, you have the option of buying items from a land market or one of the boats.
Mom and Bud enjoying shopping for souvenirs at the market.
This is a traditional Thai food and another of my favorites, mango with sticky rice. I know it sounds weird, but it is actually delicious! The mangos are fresh and sweet and the small bag is filled with coconut milk and sugar that is poured on top before eating.
I bought the mango and sticky rice off of one of the boats at the floating market for mom and Bud to try. I don't think mom liked it as much as Mr. Bud and me!
Finally, the tour brought us to a wood carving shop. All of the pieces are hand-crafted.
They can take weeks or months to complete because of all of the intricate details. It was quite impressive.
That night, we went to see a famous Thai show called Siam Niramit. It is more than just a show. The Siam Niramit (Siam is the old name for Thailand) is a large compound that includes a theater, traditional village replica, restaurant, souvenir shops, and more. Before the show, guests are invited to eat traditional Thai food at the restaurant and walk around to see replicas of traditional Thai homes from hundreds of years ago.
Inside one of the homes. This is the bedroom and the mat on the floor is where people slept.
A Thai woman giving me a traditional good luck charm. I couldn't understand what she was saying because, obviously, I don't speak Thai, but she tied a string around my wrist.
There was also a pre-show. Before entering the theater (where cameras were not permitted) there was a show outside, that included dancing, fighting, music, and elephants!
We did many other touristy things while in Bangkok including taking river buses, visiting markets, visiting Khao San Road, and visiting Jim Thompson's home. Jim Thompson is the American man who started the silk trade industry for Thailand after World War Two. After the war, he moved to Thailand, where he remained for the rest of his life. He mysteriously disappeared in the jungles of Malaysia when he was older and still no one knows what happened to him!
The last thing I want to share in this post is my newest obsession....coconut ice cream! I had my first bite during this trip and now I am hooked for life! Above is at one of the street markets where the coconut ice cream is served inside a coconut shell! I guess I'm just a sucker for anything tropical and touristy!
Still to come, Part 3 of the new years travels in Chiang Mai and Phuket!
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