Hey there folks....sorry it has taken me so long to get another update out, but life has been crazy busy since i got back from bangkok...this past week was the school-wide science day that i organize...it went well, but kept me busy...plus i was in amsterdam for a conference and have tried to stay on top of my classes....but enough excuses....sorry
this update is for the holidays - xmas and new years - in thailand - a country i love for the friendly people, warm weather in december and january, multiple chances for swimming, the islands and of course thai food....yummy!!! this trip originally was for the job fair, but i didn't have to have that stress during my break due to already having a job....i did stay at the swanky hotel where the job fair was held and ran into many a stressed out person ...i met my new director while i was there, met up with a past student of mine and hung with one of my favorite families on the planet....
most of my time was in bangkok proper, but i did make it to one of the islands for some fun at the beach....koh samui...it was a bit rainy, but oh so nice to hit the waves and i even found a bar on the beach that had swings....
so let's move into the pictures....below is one of a tuk-tuk...i rarely traveled by tuk-tuk this trip, because they are notorious for ripping tourists off...and cabs and the sky train fit my budget and schedule...plus they were close by....however, i love tuk-tuks for some odd reason...there is no other travel like this in the world....exhaust smoke and all...love em....
on one of our daily wanderings we found a 100 yen shop, the japanese version of the american style $1 shop....it was amazing what you could find for 100 yen or less...i got some amazing postcards of kittens and pasta with really messed up english on them....love it....here are di and greg with some of their finds...definitely a fun shop with interesting things....
we also took a boat on the river - not a long tail, but kind of like a ferry for people up and down bangkok's main river - the chao praya river - this river is used by many and is a good way to see parts of the city....a lot of folks live right by the edge and i wonder what happens when the flooding season happens...i guess first floors flood...they are stilt houses and are found up and down the river bank....also in the picture below is a long tailed boat....i was on one of these at the floating market, but not on this day...i love the colors and all of them say long live the king....thai people love their king....his picture is everywhere...
one of my favorite spots in bangkok is wat pho...you will see pictures from inside the temple with the reclining buddha below, but this is shot of the temple complex from the river....we did get out and wander through the amulet market....and of course we were wondering how all of these sellers stay in business as most of the amulets were of the same thing...but i guess amulet buyers know what they are looking for...we didn't....
this was my second xmas celebration with the watts (the first was with them in ghana)...wasn't it nice that they gave me a stocking...those watts sure take care of me...here i am with alysha and kelsey....smiles all around...the coolest thing about most of my gifts from this family was that they were for china next year....planning ahead for me...it's so good to have friends where you are headed....
the day after xmas i headed to koh samui....where i stayed a place right on the beach that had its own swimming pool....i read and swam and ate and drank and read and swam....i am sure you get the idea....it was a slice of heaven...below is a shot just down the beach from where i stayed...loved the big rocks and had dinner looking over them on the beach at a cute place.... i even found a bar that had swings for seats...one of the dreams of mine if i ever own a bar...loved it and the cute bartender lady-boi who had much better hair, nails and style than me....he was a sweetheart and made a wicked capiroshka....
i headed back up to meet the watts for new years in bangkok where we found the celebration in the center of town filled with blinky lights for everyone and christmas lights and amazing fireworks....the streets were filled with thais...most of whom were sober and having a great time...it was a mellow, yet exciting way to spend new years and we did have one round of drinks before the fireworks...we did not however snack on the fried bug selection we saw on the street...maybe next time....
my favorite thing for new years eve though was a temple we happened upon....here you can see it below....we walked to the edge of the entrance and asked the guy there why everyone had strings wrapped around their heads....and he told us the string came from the robe that was wrapped around the buddha in the temple for the year and everyone was meditating and sending their thoughts as one to the buddha through these strings....it was incredible and gave an amazing sense of peace and community....and through it all the four monks in the front of the temple chanted....it truly was magical...and i felt it was a perfect start to the new year....
the celebrations that occurred downtown were at the site where a bomb had exploded about a year ago in bangkok.....so there was a lot of security...but most people seemed sober and were having a good time....below you can see the colorful changing xmas tree that was in the middle of it all...
for the fireworks, we were literally right under them....it was amazing....they were intense and powerful and everywhere you looked for the time they went off....it was awesome!!!!
one of the things we all did together was go to the patpong night market, where you have to bargain hard for what you want....we stopped in this random bar to get a quick drink and watts let me take a family shot....then it was onto shopping....both alysha and kelsey have gotten quite good at bargaining since living in ghana and now china....you go girls!!!!
on new years day, greg, di and i went to wat pho to get the new years blessings from the monks there....this is where the reclining buddha is located...and here is a shot of this buddha from its feet looking towards its head...he is 46 meters long (15.3 feet) and 15 meters high (5 feet) ... and the bottom of his feet are all mother-of-pearl....its my favorite buddha....and we had a great time walking around this temple complex....
there are buddha images everywhere you turn in this complex....you need to be sure to look up and down as the ceilings and floors are incredible...as are all of the stone statues and images....just an incredible place all around....very cool to receive blessings there on new years day!
after the watts left i visited some sights i hadn't seen before, including the public shrine of erawan...this shrine was built at the hotel with the same name to remove bad karma that had been laid down in the foundations of the hotel (or so the owners believed)...it is a stop that locals make on their way home from work and is right in the middle of town....there are dancers there and many flower sellers....i was told there is a version of this in vegas....weird....
one the trips i took outside of the city included a day at the floating market north of the bangkok....we took a long tailed boat into the market itself and then we were paddled around by a flat bottomed canoe styled boat...i was amazed at all of the tourists...i wouldn't say locals shop here at all...and the other thing that was incredible was all of the food and drink vendors...they would make you lunch or serve you a coconut drink or sell you fruit....it was way cool...here is one of the coconut vendors with one of the stall vendors....the stalls are on concrete platforms and not floating...but the food and drink vendors are in their own boats....
here's a shot of all of the boats trying to move in between one another....talk about traffic jams on the water...our paddler was a very loud lady and she seemed to rule the water ways...it was interesting to be with her....she yelled at a lot of people and then yelled at us for not giving her a tip....interesting to say the least....
in one the hotels i stayed, there was a shrine to ganesha....i really like this place, it had a open wall plan with a beautiful pool and at least three days there were wedding pictures being taken in the breezy lobby....cool place, but on the outskirts of town...
while i was visiting, i got to see one my past students, salila...we had drinks and dinner one night and as you can see the city was getting ready for the chinese new year of the rabbit...so of course we had to have our picture with a rabbit for good luck....
the shot below is from my last day in bangkok...this was the sunset view from the pool of the sheraton on the riverside, where i stayed my last two days...its where the job fair was held...talk about living the life of luxury....it was incredible and had an amazing view, as you can see....
the final shot is more of my traditional...but on the swing seats at the fun bar on koh samui...i loved it here and the staff were really nice....
so there you have it....my trip to thailand over winter break....i love this country for so many reasons and there are so many cool things to see and do....one place i highly recommend and they definitely know how to treat visitors right....i know i will be back again soon due to the proximity to shanghai....woot!!!!i hope everyone is well....has a happy valentine's day and has started the chinese new year of the rabbit off well....next stop on my update tour will be amsterdam and next weekend for my february break i am headed to....ICELAND!!!!! i am soooooo excited...a new place to be and chase some northern lights and swim in the blue lagoon there....let's hope there are no eruptions that interrupt the trip...although how cool would it be to see an eruption live and in person :) talk soon and drop a line and catch me up on your life....
peace out and have a fab day....
dani
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