Floating Market of Damnoen Saduak

One last thing on my list before we leave Bangkok: the floating market. It turns out the "real" floating market is about a 2 hour drive east of the city so we hopped on a minivan at 7am. Unfortunately it is now primarily a tourist attraction but still, it was great fun to wander along the sides and observe the tour boats dodging the actual fruit, vegetable and food vendors. And the colors were superb.

Here are some of my shots from today. I wanted to try Melissa's color trick (left) but I need to take lessons from her when I am in SD later this month.






















































































Hard to believe that this is our last full day in Thailand. Thanks to the magic of the international dateline, we leave Bangkok at 6:50am April 3rd and arrive in Seattle WA at 9:30am on April 3 which represents about 18 hours of real travel time. Thanks for joining us for this great adventure. Next stop, PDX

How To Make An Umbrella

We visited several Chiang Mai handicraft factories and my favorite was the umbrella factory. The process starts with the bark of the Saa tree (Mulberry) which is stripped from the limbs of the living tree so that the tree isn't killed and then boiled and pounded to a pulp.
The pulp is dissolved in a vat of water, sometimes with a natural color die added, and a fine screen is passed through the vat, collecting the fibers. This thin coating is left in the sun to dry.
The next step is to make the frame from sections of bamboo.

The ribs are carefully cut and fitted and then set in the sun to dry as well.
Here are some frames and painted tops drying in the sun waiting to turn into patio umbrellas.
Once the saa paper has dried, it is peeled from the screen and cut into circles and carefully fitted to the ribs. It is coated with waterproofing and dried.
The final step is the delicate painting. This particular factory also makes silk and pure cotton umbrellas as well.
This is the paper umbrella we bought, antiqued before it was painted.

Orchids, Orchids Everywhere

Chiang Mai is known for its flowers, particularly orchids. When you fly with Thai Air they present everyone with a fresh orchid. Fortunately orchids are willing subjects for photographs so enjoy an orchid garden with me.

Ok, I know the lotus to the left isn't an orchid but this is one of my favorite photos from this trip. As always, if you want to take a closer look at any photo, a larger version is available if you click on it.

Night Market in Chang Mai

Hey, I could live here: excellent food, lots of culture, warm and welcoming people, plenty of used book stores, awesome shopping, easy internet access, and Aljazeera and BBC on cable. What's not to like? Oh, the heat and humidity.

Fortunately the night market begins once the sun has set and it begins to cool down. Here are some random photos shot as we strolled along the miles of booths lining the street and overflowing into shopping malls. To the left are wood and paper lanterns and lower down, the flowers are carved and painted bars of bath soap.

Rethinking Paradise

From Siem Reap, we spent the entire next day traveling by car, bus and ferry, arriving after dark on to the island of Koh Chang back in Thailand. We awoke the next day to the contrast between the dry countryside and extreme poverty of Cambodia and the rainforest, bustling tourist industry and beautiful beaches of Thailand.














Our hotel was an attractive cluster of thatched huts a few minutes stroll from the beach.












The island is the second largest in Thailand and we stuck close to the beach we chose to stay on, a perfect stretch of white sand lined with hotels, little restaurants and a beach swing. We spent a lot of time just floating in the calm water of the Gulf of Siam and one day snorkeling in their National Marine Reserve.







Take a look at this even smaller cluster of cabins on one of the smaller islands where we snorkeled. They go for 300 baht (about $10 a night). Paradise anyone?

Bangkok: Turning the Clock Upside Down

Arriving in Thailand we "lost" a day and had to adjust our internal clocks to 8 hours difference. Since we checked in at 1:30 am we had to sleep immediately even though our bodies thought it was mid day in Portland. It has taken several days but I think we are now on Thai time and we will hopefully adjust to the 2.5 hour difference in India time tomorrow when we fly.

We have spent the last two days getting to know the area around our hotel and finding a place to purchase our air tickets to India. More important is we have been eating lovely Thai food and fresh fruit. Here is a fruit stand near our hotel. Our favorite is fresh pineapple thrown in the blender with ice.







We are staying in the backpackers area between Khao San Road and the river, which makes for great people watching and inviting little cafes. You can buy anything in this district, often from backpackers who have decided to lighten their loads.








This morning we took a tuk tuk to see some temples.















Here is a really tall standing Buddha.
We stopped at the Temple of Good Luck and burned some incense and candles in exchange for a wish.

I loved the floral offerings which lined the street in front of each temple. These are Lotus blossoms and other flowers I don't know the name for.We happened upon a lovely jazz festival in the park and an aerobics class outside in the high 80s; I didn't join in.



In the middle of the day we retreat to our cool, tile floor, air conditioned room to recover.