Wat Chom Thong

" THE SAME , THE SAME , BUT DIFFERENT" is one of the most popular phrases around here and I guess when we have visited so many temples it gets that way. This has been built for the existing King of Thailand and is a beautiful monument as most are ! We often see the Munks visiting.

Update on Bangkok. We were stuck in Chaing Mai no flights out. Trains & Buses fully booked for 2days until Monday.
Thai airlines gave us a full credit $221.00 and a taxi driver gave us a deal to drive us to Bangkok $222.00 and 10hrs later Sat night we are in Bangkok.
Hopefully protest is over by Sat Dec 6th when we leave for Veitnam.
This is the monument inside the temple built for the queen of Thailand
At the top of the stairs to the temple there were many workers hauling up stones to construct the stone wall that is encased in wire.
At the base they would pile huge rocks into a barrel ( with the side cut out ) and pull the rocks up a steep embankment.
Workers ( men and women ) are passing huge rocks one at a time from person to person to fill the barrel at the end of the line. It was amazing to watch all of the manpower with no machinery!

Tour to the end of the Himalaya Mt. Range

Doi Inthanon is 8514 feet above sea level and this marks the highest point in Thailand which is the end of the Himalayan Mountain Range.
This was huge poppy growing area up to 50 years ago as Thailand's main "export" was opium! The King of Thailand has instigated a new program where most of the fields now produce fruits , vegetables and flowers.
The Royal Gardens are a tribute to this program and are at the base of a huge waterfall.
Inside the garden is a large gazebo where a school class was doing an outing with a group of English teachers. What a gorgeous setting.
As we enetered the area , children handed us "free flowers" and then asked us to buy more. They produce fields of "mums" which are now in full bloom.

Local Cottage Industries

Silk worms starting the process.
The thread is ready to weave.
Lacquer-ware is often decorated with egg shells.
24 K. gold leaf is popular and adds more value to the craft.
A 300 year old Mahogany tree will make some beautiful furniture.
The hand crafting was amazing in teak.
With beautiful mother of pearl inlays.
Bosarng paper and umbrella factory.
Each umbrella frame was hand stitched together.
An amazing artist works on my tee shirt .
He produces a work of art on the front of it and was ecstatic when I gave him $10Cdn. They also painted Jan's skirt and the camera case.

Political problems in Thailand .

It is no problem in Thailand in fact I would say the majority of the people do not want democracy, and one way or another do not care if they get it or not. They are making big preparations for the King's birthday Dec 5th, so the word on the street is that everything will be back to normal for Dec 5th as the King will want nothing to mar his big celebration. We are getting a refund on our flights to Bangkok and taking the train we are trying to get a ticket on the train but not confirmed yet.
In the mean time we are enjoying the view from our Hotel.
The foyer of the Hotel.
The elevators in the foyer.

A reminder of what is coming. We were surpised to see this in a Budist country.

Caves - continued

Navigating the caves.
.....Was sometimes a feat in it self. Very low and tight.
...Then it would all of a sudden open into a huge cavern.
With lots of interesting sites.
It ended at a 35 meter deep pit that you could not see the bottom. Ralphie slipped coming to the cavern which freaked out the girls. We thought we just about lost him!!!

A great time was had by all!!

Chiang Dao Caves

The entrance to the caves were similar to the temples. A gorgeous river flowed into the fish pond.
The fish were huge from being fed so much food ( sold at the entrance )but a very beautiful fish pond.
Being swallowed up by the cave.
All the pictures were taken in pitch black. You could not see the hand in front of your face without a lantern and we really ddi not know how the pictures would turn out.
Stalactites, Stalagmites were fascinating.

The bats hanging on the ceiling added a weird atmosphere to the experience.

Our Last Visit

A work in progress.
Cooking at its finest! Everything over an open fire!
This woman was preparing lunch in her small hut. She was washing out a very black pot which was one of the few she owned.
Many villages are industrious. This is basket - making in process. You must split the bamboo into long thin strips.

The end product is helpful around the house as well as a popular selling product.

Souvenirs

Each tribe dressed in their native costume and sold many articles for souvenirs.
Bartering is always fun!
But this guy grabs your heart strings.
A much more contemporary buildings and on stilts for protection from floods.
The country side was beautiful.

Everytime you stop the people come from out of no where with their wares. It is incredible.These 2 women followed the van on a scooter until we stopped !

The Village Market

The market was full of fresh produce and many articles needed for daily living.
Birds nests were collected for decoration. These were available for tourists!
David enjoying Thia whiskey. These are our new friends -Dori & David from Melbourne, Australia.
Miss Ann - holding a type of corn they feed the chickens. An expression of Miss Anny 's was
"Mr Ralph! You see me?" What a fabulous tour guide!
This was another village and how they lived. Note the bamboo on the floor. Not dirt.

A kitchen in this village was a step up from the first village.