THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI

Today is a travel day, heading north for Kanchanaburi through lush river country. Our goal the famous bridge over the River Kwai. But, traveling with OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) is so much more. Panu points out the salt flats, where ocean water is piped into clay pads. Salt is made only in summer. With the intense hot sun, ten inches of water can evaporate in one day. The farmer uses the salt for pit toilets, house use, preservative and to put in the soil to sweeten the mangosteens and coconuts. When the rains come, the same flats are used to raise fish and shrimp. They produce fish sauce for sale. Thais have used windmills for years to pump water and are now experimenting with wind power.
Panu stops at a fruit stand and buys for our tasting pleasure, Longan, Mangosteen, Pomelos, lychee, and tangerines.
Our second stop is this amazing woodcarving company that ships beautiful pieces all over the world. Oh, how I wanted the bench above with its bird arm rest and pheasant back piece. Gorgeous. The pieces are drawn on paper and deeply chiseled to produce a dimensional work of art. The piece is drawn on a paper and pasted to the wood. The carver below is nearly finished.
Next stop a coconut processing plant. Its a family affair, not for export. People in the region produce for their own use and barter with neighbors. Transportation was made easy by the canals built by the king before good roads were built.

It was absolutely fascinating to realize this wok is boiling coconut milk into a syrup using the coconut shells to fuel the stove. The foaming sugar boils up but instead of boiling over onto the stove, it seeps through the bamboo slats and drips back down into the wok again. So clever.
This photo shows ground coconut meat fried until it releases its oil. Then the oil floats and is separated. A tool called a rabbit is used to remove the fresh meat from the shell easily. We tasted, fresh, juicy and delicious. I learned that coconut milk is plentiful in a green coconut. When the coconut ripens, the meat gets thick and is taken for oil and food. This family allowed us to traipse through their house and see how a typical,middle class Thai farm house looks inside. People here live simply and spend much time out of doors. Can you imagine us allowing 10 people to roam through our house?

Our next stop was the floating market, kind of carnival in atmosphere. This farmer augments his income by bringing his elephant to town. People pay him to have their picture taken with the elephant. It is against the law to have an elephant in town, but in this country place, the people seem to ignore the law. Most Thais have no refrigeration, or traditionally had no refrigeration and they bought their daily food each day from the market. Everything transpires here on the canal. Goods brought to town from outlying farms, they cook on the boats, eat, sleep and socialize. At one time they threw all their garbage in the canal. The king beseeched them not to do that and a market place on land as well as on the canal developed. Toilets and washing places and garbage containers helped take the stink away and what is left is a fascinating, wonderful place.

This woman is cooking and arranging her wares on banana leaves.
Fruits and flowers of all types are available as well as dry goods like hats and pots and tools. In recent years, souveniers as well.

When your shopping is done you can sit in the Gossip Cafe for a sip and a treat.
Or, have your picture taken with a snake.
We finally reach Kanchanaburi. Above is one of the original Japanese steam engines used on the rail over the River Kwai.

At lunch, we view the new Bridge over the river Kwai. We walked the bridge and could see a small remnant of the original bamboo bridge that was blown up by the Brits.
Later we visit the War Museum and War cemetery with graphic pictures of the Allied POWs and the Asian conscripts forced to work themselves to death on the infamous railway.

200,000 Asian laborers and 61,000 Allied POWs built a 260 mile stretch of rail in abominable conditions. For every half-mile of track, 38 POWs died, 700 Americans, 13,000 Aussies, 18,000 Dutch, 30,000 Brits. If a prinsoner had no solid feces, they were made to catch 2000 flies a day before they died. They actually counted the flies.

The Chinese cemetery.
Flat Stanly managed to hook a ride on a wooden elephant at the market before we got to our hotel and dinner.

DRAGON TAIL MARKET AND ATONEMENT

Many years ago, the King wished to make a European style road. A straight, modern boulevard right to the palace. The clever Chinese and French purchased Thai Homesteads and when the King wanted to buy them to build his road they asked an exorbitant price. Instead, the King purchased properties around them and ended up with a twisted road that resembled a dragon. Thus the Dragon Tail Market, And Dragon Tail Temple. The temples used to be a place where all social activity and business took place. But, you cannot lie, so they removed the business from the temples. Hmmm! Sounds familiar. Buyer Beware! The Dragon Tail Temple was a very small affair. Later I will present a slide show of Temples and another of street scenes of interest and so on.

This bustling market had foods we could not recognize, but fascinating all the same. Panu said these are sweets.

Wah?
This little boy eats his lunch while his parents ply their nearby wares, a tub of sticky rice cooked in banana leaves.
This woman is just removing a duck, with head intact from the fryer. They also have black skinned ducks here and bright pink eggs.

Motorcycles compete with human traffic in the narrow aisles, but no gets hurt or gets angry as we jostle for space to move.
We left the market for a stop at our first look inside of a temple, Wat Kaniga Phol, where you have to remove your shoes before crossing the threshold. It is a significant place because it was built and funded by prostitutes. At first, the Thai kept it a secret, (like most secrets are kept-hah,) then later they openly commended the idea that this temple was an inspiration to turn your life around and do good by your fellow man.

Wat Kaniga Phol has a replica of the famous Jade Buddha shown above. We'll see the real thing later in the trip. At this temple we also learn about a stupa, a conical shaped edifice that holds the ashes of the deceased.
In the market, Panu bought a selection of foods to carry to our next destination, Tai Hong Kong. It is a prayer day and we participate along with the Thais in this ritual at an outdoor shrine.

First, they make their food and flower offerings and place them on the shrine. They kneel or bow and make three wishes. Most remove their shoes.
Then we purchased six candles and six sticks of incense. Above Mason and Sheila Yavari can be seen lighting the candles from a firey vat of burning oil.

The candles are used to light the incense and are placed around the shrine in these sand pits.
You then pray that your wishes come true. The offering of food that Panu brought was receipted and entered in a book. Below, a Thai woman burns her receipt and places it in the tub. Its a sign of faith not to use your receipt for a tax deduction and to burn it instead. Make points with Buddha.

If a Thai misses work, or drinks too much and scolds his children, he makes atonement. He must make offerings in one day at nine different temples if the infraction is serious. And, not just any temple, the main temples. Below is the temple with the largest sitting Buddha, Temple Wat Sutat. This Buddha with canopy sits on an ornate, beautifully carved base 8 meters high and 6.25 meters wide. It was built in 1807 and is the oldest and largest cast bronze Buddha in Thailand. Story art work covers the walls. I'm guestimating the building is about 5 stories high. Thais throw coins into 108 pots around the perimeter of the temple and ring the bells for their atonement. Some make atonement once a year on a festival day.


The story walls are undergoing restoration. The entire temple is painted with these stories and are an amazing work of art as well as the edifice that holds the Buddha.

Our next stop on the way to another temple was the Buddha store. Most of these Bhudda are commissioned sales, but many smaller ones can be purchased by anyone passing by. They have a variety of Bhudda and statues of generals, or famous people, their Kings, elephants, and so on.

Here a workman with a steady hand scripts his recent masterpiece.

Wat is the Thai word for temple. Wat Po houses the famous reclining Buddha and if memory serves me he is 127 feet long. Tough to get a picture, the post cards do a better job. He is a fine figure and this is the oldest temple.,

After lunch we visit the home/museum of Jim Thompson, a man who fell in love with Thailand during WWII. He returned and opened a silk factory and revitalized the Thai silk industry and expanded it to international markets. He had several typical open style teakwood houses. Thompson took a trip to Malaysia and vanished. His body, nor any trace of him was ever found. His houses were all moved to this spot and are now a museum. No pictures were allowed inside but we were allowed to take a picture from the outside. The grounds were beautiful as well as the antiques inside.
After respite at our hotel, we attend the Puppet Theatre. A nearly lost traditional art revitalized by a man called Joe Louis. This puppet show has won several international awards.

The Puppet Theatre is also a dinner house. The puppets each require three handlers and they visited our table. Mason was obviously enjoying himself.

As was Simcha Saul above and Wendy Aisley below.

Flat Stanley also attended the show and sat on the knee of a puppet master with a puppet king.
The costuming was fabulous. The show itself was in Thai with English subtitles on very visible screens.

BROKEN DISHES AND A COOKING LESSON

In a continuation of yesterday's blog, we left the market place and loaded into a colorful canopied passenger boat into the canal. Again, the contrasts of beautiful teak wood homes built next to tin shacks struck us. The monitor lizard above sunned himself in front of a rich "politicians" house. Panu told us they eat rats. All on the boat agreed the monitor choose the right house. The Thais feel the same way about their politicians as we do, it seems. The canal was built to help prevent flooding. Below we que-ed up to pass through the locks on our way to our home cooked lunch.

Meet Toon, a retired government employee who lives in an expanding compound of family residences and entertains tourists such as we with her engaging personality and authentic Thai cooking. We were introduced to the main herbs and spices used in Thai cooking.
Here fellow travelers, Phyllis Saul and Roberta Berman pound the chilies in a mortar. The dried chilies were soaked for several hours to soften them before grinding.
Then Mason and I were enlisted to grind lemon grass, ginger, shallots, Kaffir lime skin and corriander root into the chili paste.

Sy Shames stirred the paste with oil, then garlic, shrimp paste and chicken broth before the long beans were added. The final seasong Kaffir lime leaf, fish sauce, and sugar. One of the best meals we had on the trip. Fresh, home cooked on an outdoor gas fired wok.


Our next stop was the broken dishes temple. Well, The Temple of Dawn is the correct name. It seems a merchant ordered a load of ceramic dishes from China. When the boat arrived, the load had shifted and much of the order was broken. He sought permission of the king to return the load without payment. The king, before the word public relations was coined, decided it would make everyone unhappy, after all the work and a long journey. The King decided to buy the broken dishes and use them to decorate an old temple that was in need of renovation. I truly love the peaceable philosophy of the Thai. The results below.


Our next stop on the canal was the Royal Barge Museum. These awesome barges are used on cermonial days or any special event. They carry the King, the family or any special dignitary. At one time a new barge was built for every major event. Now, to reduce costs, the barges are used over and over again. Like the temple they are encrusted with broken pieces of glass to add shine along with the gold paint that is typical of temples, gates and anything royal. Beautiful. The prow figures all have special meaning and in olden times were meant to intimidate their enemies in time of war.

Our last stop of the day was the Tailor shop. Here the proprietor shows a sample of a silk jacket. They can be special ordered, measured to fit properly at a reasonable cost. One traveler order two jackets and three pairs of pants. Lovely stuff.
After dinner, our troop visited theBangkok night market. Mason and I were weary and hit the mattress.
The menu and recipe for the Long Bean and Tofu.
Cucumber Soup, Chicken Salad, Stir fried young lufa with egg, Stir fried Chili Paste with Long Bean and Tofu.
5 pieces Dried Chili, 2 Tspns sliced Galangal Ginger,2 Tspns, sliced lemon grass, 1 Tspn Kaffir Lime Skin, 1 Tspn Coriander root, 2 Tspn sliced shallots, 3 Tspn sliced garlic, 1 tsp shrimp aste, 2 Tspns Kaffir Lime Leaf. Follow the directions above and flavor with 2 Tspns fish sauce and 2 Tspns sugar. Add stir fried tofu and serve. Yum.

EXCITING, PULSING BANGKOK

Do I even recognize the 14 year old I took with me to Thailand? After 16 days of a venerable, ancient, culture we were both changed. Mason, above, is my grandson and traveling partner. We squeezed in a lot of life during our 16 days. He is holding Flat Stanley against a waterfall in the Tawana Hotel, Bangkok on our first day. (I'll explain Flat Stanley later.)

From our hotel, we set out for the flower and produce markets. We viewed the miasma of traffic, strange vehicles slipping past our bus window. Life swirls through the streets, shopping stalls crowd man and beast and machine for space. Its vibrant, exciting and such a contrast to suburban and big city USA.

We found Thai people, happy, friendly, clean, and a fascinating mix of old culture and new democracy. Third world, no doubt, but life is lived in the streets. Families run their shopping stalls, kids play around the street markets when not in school. Vendors eat on the street, socialize and nap in their stalls.


The snarl of wiring above this street reminds me a bit of India, yet you could plug in your computer, or phone chargers in any of our hotels.

Thai people love their flowers and you see them gracing their motorcycles, boats, buses, houses, temples-everything.

Fruits and vegetables and flowers are part of every celebration in Thailand. It was love at first sight.