Month: January 2023

(I started writing this post yesterday however as our trip included an overnight stay at at the floating accomodation on Kwai Noi River which has no electricity power, hence no WiFi and no recharging of phones, I have been unable to add pictures and publish this post!)

Early this morning our wake up call went off just before 5.30 a.m. and by the time we came downstairs with all our luggage and of course with our 2 day requirements in our dry bag, our pick up was already waiting for us and it wasn’t yet 6a.m.! Beauty will be our guide for the next two days and Nem will be driving us around and looking after our excess luggage at the back of his van!

Our hotel prepared a boxed breakfast for us and after Gerry had his first smoke we were off to pick up the next couple joining us on this excursion – a Dutch young couple who were staying in China Town. Then onto another pick up from a posh hotel along the river and this time it was a British couple who retired in Cyprus. So that made up the whole group for the next two days.

It took us 2 hours to get to our first sightseeing place – Samui Songram – where the train station called Maeklong Station is in the middle of a sprawling market. The space between the rails is used by vendors to sell their fish, fruit and vegetables as well as snack and souvenirs. All the stalls have awnings over their merchandise but when the train is about to arrive then they are pulled back and the merchandise stacked against the walls or even left on the ground low enough so that the train can pass over it!

This was such a strange experience when all of a sudden a voice boomed from the loudspeakers in both Thai and English – we were warned that the train was approaching and everyone should step behind the red line. By that time all the awnings were pulled up and only the tourists needed to get away. What a sight! I have never seen anything like this before and wondered what came first – the market or the railway track? Still don’t have an answer.

We bought some fruit for the rest of the journey which was going to take us another 2 hours to get to the train station – Thonburi Nam Tok – where we would embark on the Birma Line train – or rather known as the Death Railway – to travel part of the journey where the railroad was built by the World War II prisoners.

Both Gerry and I had done this excursion when we had come out to Thailand together some 7 years ago. Well on the way on the train, we were chatting with our guide, Beauty, when she told us that the next stop was ours and we would need to get out as our driver, Nem would be waiting for us to take us to our buffet lunch restaurant – Praweenut. However all of a sudden, Beauty realised that we had gone a station too far and we got off at a little station where it seems that it was used by the Buddhist monks who had a temple high on the hill. So after Beauty contacted our driver, Nem made his way to us and arrived 15 minutes later – by this time most of us were ravenous and we made it to the restaurant just in time before two bus loads of tourists descended for lunch too!! Well the train ride which is actually the original Thailand Birma line instigated by the Japanese during World War II, by using prisoners of war and imported workers from neighboring countries, was spectacular.

Most of the passengers were tourists but of course there were also locals including monks. The views from the train on the left handsome were of the River Kwai deep below and the mountains separating Thailand from Birma or Myanmar nowadays. On the right hand side we could admire the peaceful flat verdant countryside

We had a delicious Thai buffet lunch however we are not used to having such a meal in the middle of the day and as we all had to get up at the crack of dawn, we all managed to get an afternoon dip. By the time we were ready to get away and drive to our next destination, The Hell Fire Pass Memorial, we were all exhausted! So much so, that Beauty rearranged our schedule and asked us if we preferred to go straight to our overnight stay on the Jungle Rafts but then get up early the next morning to go to the Hell Fire Pass – we all agreed to that!

Our drive would take us some one and half hours to arrive at our Jungle Rafts on the River Kwai. This was quite an experiencing to spend time on a river raft complex without any electricity but it was magical!
However to get there, we had to take a 20 minute longboat ride from Phutakien Pier- the scenery was spectacular!

It was great to able to relax once we were allocated our rooms which were simple but functional. We changed into our swimwear and Beauty had given us life jackets as besides that the current was very strong, all these establishments are heavily controlled for safety!
One of the main activities was to float down the river up to the green flag where it was safe to get out on time – the yellow Flag meant that it’s getting risky if you don’t get out now while the red flag meant that you most probably will be floating all the way down to the Gulf of Thailand!

So obviously Gerry had to test the waters for me as I’m not much of a hero when it gets to currents and rushing waters! He enjoyed it tremendously but the steps were too far apart for me to climb out ( I also have a frozen shoulder!). Anyway the river looked murky to me and I don’t like being in unclear water – I’ve been spoilt with the clear blue Mediterranean Sea!

As dusk descended on the river, all the oil lamps were lit up giving the area somewhat of a magical and mysterious atmosphere – soon the mists will also start swirling over the river till the early morning. Anyway by torchlight we got ready for dinner – no hot water here, very spartan but then the temperature is welcoming to have a cold shower / wash!

After dinner, we took the longboat again (I’m getting used to getting in and out of this low boat and seemed to become more flexible!!) for a 5 minute ride to another part of the Jungle Rafts we’re there was going to be a dance performance by the local Mon people. So as there was no internaat and very little light, we decided to go. Actually it was a really good performance .

We were given some background information about the Mon people are from Burma and are allowed to live and build their village by the Thai authorities as they had to flee Burma. Most of the Mon people who live in the village on the banks of the river close to the Jungle Raft Resort all work in the local resorts so their village is quite empty during the day. This evening the dancing, singing and music was all performed by Mon people of different ages.

Back at our raft home, it was time to sleep – we had had so much to see today and we were dead tired! Tomorrow we have an early start as we will be visiting the Hell Fire Pass Memorial first which we missed today

As yesterday suddenly turned out to be an exciting day filled with loads of fun activities, we decided to have a relax day today so after breakfast we made appointments for massage sessions here in our hotel. Gerry went first and had an hour of Thai massage whereby he felt his body being pulled apart!!! My session of compression massage lasted 90 minutes and the masseuse handled most of my pain points in my shoulders and neck. Well we can say that we will be starting our itenarary feeling supple and relaxed.

By the time we were ready from the massage, it was time to have a light lunch out on the hotel verandah as we watched office people walking outdoors for their lunch. A little alleyway in front of our hotel and on the backside of the big office building of Bangkok Bank (where my friend Pintuwan used to work) was quickly transformed into street food stalls where the office people came to get their lunch. Mind you, our hotel restaurant is also used by the Bangkok people to have a quick lunch………… The whole of Silom is buzzing with activity on this Monday morning!!!

We were lucky to have our lunch on the verandah after which we took a stroll down Silom to the Decathlon store to get a dry bag – a waterproof bag to put our belongings for our 2 night trip to Kanchanaburi early tomorrow morning.

After having succeeded in acquiring the dry bag , we wandered a bit before heading back to the hotel to shower and get ready to go for our fitting!

You may be wondering – what fitting?
Well yesterday I did mention that our Tuk-Tuk driver made a last stop before returning us to our hotel. This stop was at the International Fashion Centre – a business run by Nepalese dress makers and tailors and where we could order clothes made to order. So yes, we ended up being measured for various outfits and today we had to go for our fitting! I was really surprised how well tailored these garments were! I have never in my life bought a pair of trousers that fitted perfectly! Gerry too had ordered a number of shirts, a suede jacket and a couple of chino pants. We will be picking up our order when we get back to Bangkok on the 9th February before returning back to NL the following day.

Gerry trying on one of his chino pants and short sleeved shirt

Our Tuk-Tuk driver whose name we found out today is Tchi picked us up to go for the fitting and then dropped us at Somboon Seafood Restaurant where we met up again with Pintuwan and Jan for our last dinner together before we left Bangkok. It’s always a pleasure being with this lovely couple who appreciate life day by day.

Of course having dinner with Pintuwan and Jan is always a feast – Pintuwan just knows what to order so between us we shared a lovely meal of grilled sea bass in salt (which Gerry filleted so professionally), king crab in a curry with boiled rice, glass noodles with shrimps, and green asparagus with mushrooms and shrimps.

And of course according to Pintuwan, we had to get one of the waiters to take a Group picture of us – once at table and the last one in the hallway! It’s not a goodbye to Pintuwan and Jan but rather au revoir as we will be catching up with them when we will be visiting them in Rayong.

Everything is packed now, alarm set for 5.30 and just in case also requested an early morning call plus a breakfast box and are ready to continue our travels in Thailand.

Day 3 in Bangkok and it’s Sunday morning and after quite a hectic day yesterday we decided to have a leisure day together – we made it just in time to breakfast which was healthy fruit (fresh papaya, mango, water melon and pineapple). Along with the fruit I had some fried rice – yes we are in Asia and I adapt myself quite easily while Gerry stuck to his omelet on toast and yogurt and fruit.

Finally by 12 noon we were out of the hotel and walking on Thanon Silom towards Lumphini Park – the green lungs of downtown Bangkok. This public park is a green zone where office people, tourists and Bangkok residents come to jog and enjoy other outdoor activities. I was reminded of Central Park in New York where it is also surrounded by skyscrapers.

Lumphini Park has a lot of flora and fauna and a large lake where people can do all sorts of outdoor activities – elderly people practise Tai Chi while young people are to be found peddling or canoeing on the artificial lake. We strolled round one section of the park taking in many breaks in the shade (yes, yes, I know it’s crazy to walk in the heat – today being sunny and 34C) and watched people doing their own thing! We also spotted quite a few leguaan or rather monitor lizards – a species some of the world’s biggest lizards growing up to 2 meters and weighing some 50 kilos! These monitor lizards can also swim!

Monitor lizards basking in the sun or swimming; orchids grown in trees and luscious green palm trees all to be found in Lumphini Park.

After some time we were ready to go exploring elsewhere in Bangkok. We had decided to go to the the highest building in Bangkok – according to my research it would be the Baiyoke Observation Deck on the 77th floor with the revolving View Point on the 84th floor. Once out of the park, we saw a Tuk-Tuk parked and thought ourselves lucky that there was no queue, however the driver was nowhere around! At the same time, another Tuk-Tuk drove along and stopped for us. We gave him the directions where we wanted to go and agreed on the price of 300Baht for both of us. On the way we got chatting and he assured us that the number one Observatory Tower was no longer the Baiyoke Observation Deck but rather the Mahanakhon Skywalk Observatory. We took his word and changed route – actually my friend Pintuwan had already told me to visit this attraction which is situated just opposite her condominium.

It seemed we had our Tuk-Tuk driver accompanying us for the rest of the day as we decided to take a longboat trip on the river and canal starting off a pier in China Town. Anyway, Tuk-Tuk driver was a very charming Thai young man and we were pleased to give him our tourist business today!

We left our Tuk-Tuk driver outside this iconic building and went indoors to buy our tickets. We were politely asked if we were over 60 years and when we said yes, we were told that we would get discounted senior citizens admission tickets for half the price! Aren’t we glad that we have grey hair! Most Thai people are very respectful towards older people and actually it’s quite charming to be called grandma and grandfather!!!

Anyway within 30 seconds we were whisked up to the tallest Observatory Deck and Skywalk – one of the world’s largest glass trays at the height of 310 meters.
It was all so very impressive and the breathtaking views are carved into our memories. After going round the observatory deck and taking quite a few pictures – selfies included- we took the elevator up further to the Skywalk. We were give cloth covers for our shoes so that the glass would not be damaged and then mustered up all the courage in the world to get onto the glass tray. Actually I had a bit of a problem and the assistant was really sweet when I turned round to go away. She asked me if she could hold my hand so that we could walk together and I agreed to that and only held her hand for two paces. Wow what an experience! Seeing skyscrapers underneath my feet! But I preferred to look ahead into the horizon……..

And this is Gerry also on top of Bangkok

We were both glad that we took up our Tuk-Tuk driver’s suggestion and we’re also happy that when we got outside, he was waiting for us with a really big smile on his face – he was proud that this grandma and grandpa did actually go on the Skywalk!

Well our last sightseeing activity was to go down to the Pier in China Town where obviously our Tuk-Tuk driver had his connections and join a longboat excursion along the river and main canal.
On this trip we could see quite a big contrast between the prosperous downtown and the wooden houses built on poles on the canal. But we were glad that we did this trip as between the shanty type of houses, there were also shining gold temples and lastly the King’s palace with its shimmering rooftops. On the way, we stopped along a smaller boat manned by a vendor selling Thai souvenirs. An English couple bought several elephants while I did buy 2 small wooden Buddha statues. By the time we arrived back at the pier it was already gone five o’clock and our Tuk-Tuk driver was waiting for us!

Various scenes on our longboat trip

On our way back to the hotel, we had a final stop – but I’ll write about it tomorrow as our Tuk-Tuk driver will be picking us up from our hotel tomorrow afternoon- it’s bed time here!

This morning we had to get up ever so early – no time to feel jet lagged as by 8a.m. we had to leave our hotel to make our way to our Thai cooking class at House of Taste Thai Cooking School situated some 1.5 km away from our hotel. In hindsight it was good that we only had a light breakfast as we would be eating our own dishes which we were to prepare at our classes.

As instructed we arrived at the school just on time (I had to keep turning round to see whether Gerry was still behind me as he was just sauntering along!). Of course the students were all international – a party of 6 Koreans including a young couple with their 2 young kids and their grandparents; a girl from Texas, another girl from Japan and a young couple from California and of course us two!
We had an excellent Thai young woman as our teacher and after introductions and explaining what we were going to do, she took us to the market carrying shopping baskets. Our first stop was at a vegetable stall where she showed us the vegetables and herbs we would be using, and then onto the fruit seller to show us the local fruit including papaya, dragon fruit and mango on one side of the stall while on the other side there was fruit from all around the globe!

After roaming around the market and buying some fresh juices and cherries for us, we picked up the ingredients needed for our cooking class

Back at school, we were instructed how to cut up the vegetables and herbs and also pound the spices into a curry paste. Naturally we had to take our ingredients to the cooking area where we all had our place behind a wok on a gas burner. Our Teacher had everything under control, sometimes requesting us to pound the herbs harder in the mortar with the heavy pestle, turn up the heat – or lower the heat under the wok and of course all the while, Gerry had to liven upstage group with his comments.

We prepared – and ate the following :

• Tom Kha Kai – spicy coconut soup with chicken
• Pad Thai – stir fried rice noodles with shrimp and chicken
• Gang Phed Gai – Red Curry Chicken
• Kaw Niew Ma Muang – Sweet Sticky Rice and Mango

Obviously this was all too much and Hence we were glad we had a very minimal breakfast in the morning! But it was all good fun and very tasty!

It’s a good thing we had a substantial walk back to our hotel as we were really stuffed – actually Gerry just didn’t eat his last two dishes, except for the mango fruit. Well it was siesta time by the time we got back to our hotel and as we were going out with our friends Pintuwan and Jan in the evening, we decided to take a well deserved nap.

Pintuwan and Jan came to pick us just before 6 pm so we had enough time to shower and get dressed after our nap. We were all on time to have a good evening together – Pintuwan made reservations at a restaurant called Thanying – a restaurant with Royal Thai Cuisine from the recipes of the Sukothai Palace kitchen. Pintuwan gave me a brief history of this restaurant was named after the present owner’s mother, Her Serene Highness Princess Sulabh who was once head cook in the Sukothai Palace kitchen for her half sister, Queen Rambhai Barni of the late king Rama the seventh. The recipes used in this restaurant came from Princess Sulabh own recipes used in the palace so in essence we had a royal meal ! And it was delicious – good we were with Pintuwan as she explained everything that we were eating!

After our scrumptious dinner we took one picture on the restaurant verandah – just to commemorate and cherish our friendship!

Then to end this wonderful evening with friends, we drove to the Shangri-la Hotel to enjoy an after dinner cocktail and listen to some jazzy singer while admiring the twinkling river view.

When Pintuwan and Jan left, we stayed on for a while but then decided to walk back to our hotel. I had to keep hold of Gerry as every time we passed a Massage Establishment, the young girls tried to drag him inside for a massage! Luckily we got back to the hotel together and were ready to have a good night’s sleep.

Tomorrow we plan to have a relaxing day – after all we are pensioners!