THAI SCHOOL

Today we check out of our hotel and head for Sukhothai Thailand's largest National Park. It contains a huge complex of ruins of Ancient Siam, temples, shrines and palaces. On the way we visit this old rice mill. It still employs a steam driven hydraulic system of wheels and belts that defy modern mechanization. Still efficient and readily repairable, now considered "old" green technology.
Rice has many forms. Between chaff and rice flour is the skin, nose, broken pieces, and full grain. All command a different price and use in the market. This mill uses the husks to fire the steam, and the ashes for fertilizer. Nothing is wasted.

At the Ruins, Panu hires a ride for those who choose not to bicycle. The weather is hot and the bike ride cooling, invigorating and enjoyable.

Ancient Siam in the Utria period, had no written language. The ruins here start in the 1100's and cover the layers of history of the 1200's and 1500's, three different Buddhist temples.

Here we see the main Chedji, (old Stupa), that hold the ashes of deceased Kings.
Above, one of several giant sitting Buddhas. The old population around this area was laid waste by a cholera epidemic and when King Ramkamhaeng took the throne, he brought great architecture, art and stones inscribed with a chonicle of his achievements. He is credited with inventing the Thai script. He was a skillfull combatant from elephant back for which the Thai's have a long, interesting history. He spread Theravada Buddhism and developed relations with China.

Our next stop is 40 miles away to visit a local school, one of the high points of an OAT trip. On the way, we watched for several minutes in fascination as a farmer worked his ride paddy with a motor. Thai's have mechanized from the water buffalo to machines. Now, with gas prices so high, some farmers are returning to the water buffalo.
We arrive in time for lunch with a local teacher. She set up this lovely lunch, all cooked in banana leaves.
We were invited to eat in the "old" style, with our fingers, from our banana leaf plates. She demonstrated taking a pinch of sticky rice and using it to pinch the more liquid pork and gravy entre and bring it up to your mouth. There was fruit and the traditional coconut milk tapioca, dessert. This teacher spoke good English though we tried to communicate in Thai. And, of course, we had the option to eat with chop sticks rather than our fingers if we chose.

After lunch, we walked a short distance to our teacher's house and met with her 83 year old mother. We asked her questions about her life, her children, her husband and traditions. A delightful encounter.

At the school, Mason, the only boy, was a hit with the kids. The older girls broke into giggles and shyly peeked, quite entranced by this "foreign" boy come to visit. After the kids entertained us, we paired off with younger students and listened to them read in English.
Susan and Sheila had this instant rapport with the children, while my student was tongue tied and could barely speak. They are endearing and sweet. It is obvious they went through excited preparations for our visit and put their best foot forward. After the entertainment, we taught them to do the Hokey Pokey.
And, of course, Flat Stanley met the students after they danced and played musical instruments for us. How cool is that?
After our school visit, we drove on to Phrae, which is in the Province where the current Queen was born and raised. Thai's are very conscious of their royals and hold them in high esteem. This province was at one time covered in ancient teakwood trees which were logged. The queen headed up the project to reforest the slow growing teakwood which is now on the endangered list.

FRIED RAT AND OTHER ROADSIDE TREATS

On the road again today to Phitsanulok. Panu, man of many talents, teaches us about the National Anthem and the Kings Anthem, but we especially enjoyed his demonstration of traditional Thai clothing both male and female. He teaches us how to tie the sarong and why it holds up. Clothing so cleverly useful and cool, we all want one. One of his jobs is to find rest stops along the way which isn't quite as easy as in the U.S. But our first stop on this trip was non parriel. I loved this wonderful black sticky rice cooked in a bamboo stick so much, I found bamboo sticks to take home and try it.

Here Susan kind of trepiditiously tastes a spoonful of the sweet concoction made with black eyed peas, black rice, (we know the sticky comes from tapioca flour) and coconut milk.
Equally fascinating was the special grill used to cook these bamboo tubes of rice over coals. The operator, wearing thick gloves, would turn them from one side to the other as they cooked. An amazing treat.

I mentioned roadside rests and here we stopped at this rock quarry because they have a bathroom, that is, a "Happy Room". We all loved this pose of Adria with camera and cousin Wendy still dressed in Thai pants that she modeled on the bus. Pants with no buttons or ties, just a simple, single piece of cloth. Can you tell we are having fun?
Our next roadside rest brought us to a fried rat stand. Gophers or some other larger rodent with buck teeth was also for sale along with small hens. And, yes, several of us agreed we wanted to taste fried rat so Panu bought one for our lunch.
Soon we arrived at a quaint and lovely market that has just been issued its UNESCO credential. The town is Uthaithani and the market is superbly clean and picturesque. The picture below shows the town from the bridge.
This is a rural town and the market is not so hectic as others we've visited. The woman below quietly sews on her wares while people browse.
The fish and vegetables and fruits are beautifully laid out. We find soups and rice dishes and what looks like coconut ice and milk shakes. Wood carvings, steel knives and tools; musical instruments and toys. Silks and rugs and wall hangings and purses. It is instantly evident why it received the coveted UNESCO rating. For those unfamiliar with UNESCO, these heritage sites are considered historically unique and worth saving for all mankind. And, collectively, many nations contribute to keep these sites for posterity so they don't fade away with progress and social change.

Here Panu slogs through the various patterns to keep all of us happy as we choose a sarong. Our group sort of overwhelmed the proprietor who was trying to keep up with our choices.

We then board the Khiri Nava, a large traditional rice barge and cruise past peaceful scenes of river life while enjoying lunch.
Fish is often served whole with head and tail intact.
The buffet lunch was delicious, and, for a few of us, the fried rat was an experience. For my taste, though it resembled crispy fried chicken, I would have preferred it to be stewed. But, hey, you don't get fried rat everyday.
A typical house along the Saekaekrang River. This is rice farming country and like our own rural areas, people live more simply.

Another rest stop as we push north. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this wonderful wooden stump faucet for washing hands. The Thais wash hands continually, provide anti-bacterial lotions and stress cleanliness. No one got sick on our trip and our tour leader also provided hand wipes every time we re-entered the bus.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to stop at a roadside rest with these beautiful dragon benches? Amazing place.
Simcha and Phyllis enjoy sweet treats. Personally, I would choose black sticky rice any day.
We arrive at Leelawadee Hotel in Phitsanulok with the traditional refreshing juice greeting. Here Flat Stanley gets a close up of our drink. The waitress looked at us a little strangely as we pulled him out for a picture, but we didn't know enough Thai to explain to her.
P.S.
Tomorrow I travel to Tuscon to meet my ramblin partner. I've had the luxury of uploading many pictures, full size, from home. On the road things change. Signals are iffy at times. I can't always use so many photos and/or I must reduce them in size so you cannot click on them for a close-up view. In any case, more of Thailand coming. Chaio!

HELLFIRE PASS AND THE RIVER

After our long drive yesterday, it was nice to sleep in. Two of us had a massage before a lovely moonlit dinner along the river last night. I took portraits of our group which appear at the end of today's blog.
We loaded into the bus headed for a Long Tail Boat ride. We've eaten a lot of tapioca in many different forms in Thailand. We see only a box of small beads for pudding in the U.S. But in Thailand, there are many different forms of tapioca. The driver stopped to show us a tapioca plant and root. Now hear this, uses for tapioca, one of Thailand's top exports: envelope glue, animal food, candy thickener, (main ingredient in gummy bears), ketchup, glucose, MSG, desserts, pill capsules, stickey rice flour, shine for silk, plywood glue and medicines. I hope you are as amazed as I was.
We went in the back of a song taew (pick-up truck with canopy) to the river landing and loaded into our boat. There is going to be a quiz later, on how many different methods of transportation we used.
Everyone along the river owns a boat of some kind. If they have a garden, its often right on the water. Not all places are as plush as this one. We saw women doing their laundry in the river just like in days long past. Shacks and rudimentary houses along side the affluent, a consistent mix in Thailand.
We happened upon these elephants walking to the river for a bath. We accused Panu of setting up the scene, but he said no, its common along the river. The boatman stopped and we enjoyed watching for several minutes. At the end of our ride, which Flat Stanley enjoyed, we road in our song taew to a train station for the ride to Hell Fire Pass. Here we enjoyed the train station lunch and the firey spectacle to prepare it. It was a delicious stir fry with chicken, noodles and morning glory greens. You can see our train in the background.

The placque explains the building of the death train railway and why is is named Hell Fire Pass. If you click on the photo it will come up full size and readable.
The picture below shows a hole made with a handpick and an eight pound sledge the men used to create a dynamite hole. Horrendous work for men half starved.

They shouldered bamboo baskets filled with rubble to an ore car above them for removal.
The steep sides of granite rock they cut through the pass for the train.


After hiking the pass we hiked up to a museum (no pictures allowed) of the building of the pass. It is also maintained by the Austrailian goverbment.

We loaded back into the bus and stopped at this beautiful waterfall. Here we purchased tapioca and taro in many forms, candies, french fries, salted or sweet, with or without sesame seed. First Panu bought us the different offerings to taste before we purchased. Wonderful stuff.We returned to our resort and enjoyed a swim in the pool and some of us had cocktails before dinner. Below is the teakwood sink stand in my cottage.


And, the padlock for the sliding door entrance. Loved it.
At yesterday's lovely outdoor dinner at the Kao Nam Na Resort with the moon shining on the water. This quaint place has beautiful grounds, roosters running about, gorgeous plantings and pool, sculpture, atrium bathrooms and what looks like driftwood sink stands. Here geckos sing their snick, snick, snick in your room. Panu suggested we ignore them for they keep the bugs at bay. It was a welcome change from bustling Bangkok and the shining hotels we've come to know. Here is our Guide, Panu with Mason, genious boy.
Roberta Berman, our fashion maven.
Quiet Sy Shames, talented hobbiest, beautiful dancer, cousin of Roberta.
Mother Susan, a childs best friend, delightful sense of humor.
Susan's gorgeous daughter, Sheila, genius girl.
Adria, sophisticated New Yawker, deep thinker, cousin of Wendy.
Teddy Bear Simcha, cameraman.
Phyllis Saul, Simcha's keeper and spoiler. (Our only married couple on the trip.)
Wendy, loves animals, but not geckos. A huge one was removed from her toilet. She was animatedly telling us of her fright.