Thailand

We had a lovely, short stay in Bangkok. We were right along the river so we watched the comings and goings of the barge traffic as well as the fishing boats and water taxis.

Water taxi

We spent our time wandering some, going on a night bike tour, eating and relaxing. In Africa, we had our dead skin eaten (maybe nibbled off is a better way to put it) by fish in a spring we were swimming in (where we were also exposed to liver flukes). In Bangkok, there were tanks where you paid to sit and put your feet (or whole body) in. The boys loved it. In my opinion, it was not an easy thing to sit for.

One day we took a dow (kind of boat) ride that was along the canals and stopped at a little side market area. We didn't have much time so we tried to rush and sample as much of the amazing foods as we could. One stand had all greens and veggies that were fried with a very light tempura-like batter. They had things like flower blossoms, leaves (that we would have thought poisonous to eat) and mushrooms. Paul and I both felt like we could have come back and spent more time there. There are several places on our ride where you can stop and feed fish. The fish seem to be type of catfish and some were GIANT and they knew what to expect if someone comes near because they start to froth and turn the water. The boys said they were so thick in number that you could just walk across the water on the backs of these fish!

Along a canal, you see some of the homes
that are backed up to the water.

One of the many snacks from the side
market. A thin dough is spread and filled then
 folded on a griddle. After is it drizzled with
sweetened condensed milk and sprinkled with
sugar. The square one pictured here has an egg in it.

These were in a place selling food so we
weren't clear if they were pets or food.

I liked how many people through town and along the streets (often in front of the doors of businesses, as well) solved the problem of garden space in the city by having lots of pots lined up with trees, shrubs and even full of water with lotus plants.

At the side market. A sweetened snack of light
and crunchy puffed grain drizzled with
hot coconut sugar. She cautioned me to be careful.

One of the temples along the canals. We saw some
young monks swimming and drinking
from a giant 2 liter bottle of Coke.

The night bike tour activity was a recommendation from one of Paul's tutors, and I am so glad we did it. The kids did really well keeping up and our guide went pretty fast but stopped here and there at interesting points. Two of the highlights were the night market and one temple- silent and lit up in the night with monks chanting.

Really, no photos can do justice
to the temples. They are so
detailed and stunning.
This is a deity who guards one.

Meat anyone? A certain someone in my family wanted these every time we passed them.

You can buy things to offer at temples or to
give to monks. They were incredibly beautiful and all made
fresh. They also had small pre-wrapped packages of things
to offer to specific places, people (memories of- statues, etc.) and such.
These are actually examples of some of the more simple offerings.

Here is where I went crazy. Our guide knew quite a few things but not all of them in English.

The market had stunning flowers. You wanted to just admire them forever. There were piles and PILES of orchid blossoms too.

We watched this monitor spend a long time eating this
live toad. We were certain he would in no way be able to swallow it.
The toad put up a good fight by puffing up quite large.
In the end... toad lost and monitor won. The monitor spent a bit of time
wiping his mouth about on things afterwards, so it must have been a slimy affair. 

This was from the night market. Fried rice curry ball (mashed by hand in a bowl). Sour pork, spices, and served with greens that you can pinch bites with. I found a few of these worm-like pieces. I knew were only meat, but I saw them and the texture was like raw meat. The dish was quite good, but at this point I sort of lost my appetite to finish it. Later that night Paul and I went to a place for a quick small snack and I found someone who could tell me what the sour (or fermented) pork sausage really was. It is pork meat, and skin, ground, mixed with spices, placed in a plastic bag, put outside (needs to be at least 30c/86f) for several days to a week for all the bacteria to develop. Paul wasn't super excited when he learned that I also had fed this to our eldest son. Oops. We didn't get sick but at that time we didn't know if the next day's flight would be exciting or not.

I made Paul take this photo. Rogue Brewery beer in Bangkok, from my home town.
 I didn't drink any. I had a really yummy lemongrass, chili martini.