Thailand Day 2

We started this day with a wonderful breakfast in our hotel and then Supreeda picked us up in her new red Mazda diesel car.  She has been driving a scooter for many years and helped me to age a little more quickly as she darted in and out of traffic.

Bangkok is 9.2 million people with over 2 million more in the outlaying areas.  You can guess that the traffic is heavy.  In town there are not only cars but also scooters, scooter taxis, taxis, buses, and motor cycles.  Today we were going out into the countryside but our hotel was in the very center of the city so we were in traffic for a long time.  We drove to a pick-up point to get Raff (Wisan's son-in-law) who was to be the English speaking tour guide for the three days and then drove out into the country about 40 miles north.

It was along this drive that we saw little open shelters on sticks where some poorer people live and rice paddies.  Our first destination was Bang Pa-in which was once the Royal Summer Palace for the Thai Kings.  This was probably my favorite site on the trip.  It is a collection of beautiful buildings in various architectural styles surrounded by a lake.

 The Palace  European Style

Topiary

 Bell Tower

Looks protestant but is Thai

Chinese Residence- Donated by the Chinese Government

The Varobhas Bimarn residence.  We were able to see a formal throne room, with a less formal sitting room off to the side, and a large state dining room.





We left Bang Pa-In and drove to Ayutthaya Historical Park.  There were people riding on elephants and very much a tourist area with lots of little shops and chances
to spend money. Ayutthaya was founded in 1350 and became Thailand's second capital city.  Here we saw the ruins of the capital and the remaining palaces, monasteries and towers.  Each of the hundreds of remains are built with individual bricks.  You will notice that none of the Buddha's have heads.  When the Burmese soldiers came into the area they knocked all of the heads off the Buddha's.  One picture shows a tree which has grown around a Buddha's head.

I was fascinated by the three colors of flowers on this bush.



















We went to lunch at the Malaxor Kitchen and Cafe which Wisan had suggested.  It was right on the river.

                                This "little" creature was swimming just below where I was sitting.

One of the delights of the trip was watching Supreeda try to get Mike to taste as many Thai foods as she possibly could.  If food hadn't been so cheap we would have been broke because she had to order many dishes everywhere we ate so that he could try them.  This is a picture of the "prawn" that we were served.

I believe that these next pictures are of Wat Yai Chai Mongkhoi Temple but it was quite easy for me to get these things mixed up :)

On our way back into the city Supreeda drove us past some very beautiful and interesting buildings.  The Queen has set us an arts and crafts center with different classrooms where unskilled people can come and learn a trade.  We bought most of the little trinkets that we brought home from their display room. 

We next visited some other new buildings a short distance away where there were trade show rooms.  I let Mike buy me a beautiful leather purse for my upcoming birthday.  I cost around $45 US  but I saw other similar even there in Thailand for three times the price. 

We dropped off Laff as it was getting dark and asked Supreeda to join us for dinner at the hotel before she drove back home.  Thank goodness it was a buffet because again she wanted Mike to try and try and try.  (I was excused from much of this because there were lots of hot spices in the dishes.)
After she left we headed upstairs and were probably both asleep within thirty minutes.  What a full, interesting day it was!