Well! That's over

Good day

As the title indicates, our 'year' is over.  How was it?  Exciting, scary, fun, amazing, wonderful, terrible, lonely, exotic.  Everything you can imagine and more.

Some things we will never forget like the up-close-and-personal visits with many animals, first time trying a zip-line (totally hooked, and want to go again), climbing a volcano to watch the sun rise, riding a tuk-tuk and a motorcycle taxi (not on the same day), and the many Thai cultural celebrations.

Hopefully, some things will dim over time like the smell, the dirt, the humidity (although I didn't really mind it), the loneliness and the frustration of limited classroom resources.

But mostly, I met some really great people and hope they remain in my life forever!

Overall, it was great and while I am now facing an uncertain future, although not without its' options, I am glad we did it.

The Floating Market at Damnoen Saduak

There is a district approximately 100km southwest of Bangkok called Damnoen Saduak.  It is here that the most famous floating market is located.  Whenever you see a photograph (or Google image) of a traditional Thai floating market, it is the one Emily and I visited today.  The biggest obstacle in visiting this place is the tourists, therefore it was recommended to take an early van from Bangkok (departure 7:30am).  We were going with some friends of ours, so in order to meet them there that early, we woke up at 5:00.  In the MORNING.  On a SATURDAY.  Unfortunately, due to a series of unfortunate events, we missed our friends and ended up going without them.  The van ride was a little under 2 hours.   We arrived at the 'gonna get you to buy a totally unnecessary boat trip for a lot of money' pier around 9:00am.  You will be impressed; we resisted the hard sales pitch, opting for the 15 minute walk down the road instead.  We arrived slightly damp (it was very hot despite the early hour), but energized.

Welcome to Damnoen Saduak (Dam-no-en Sa-du-ak)

Once upon a time, the villages of Thailand were accessible via the intricate web of canals and people would ply their trade via longboats.  Be it fruits, vegetables or mobile 'restaurants', the 'floating market' was a very social way to do business.  Today, Emily and I witnessed first hand how this was done.

 

Most of the vendors were late middle aged to elderly which makes me wonder what will happen to this place in another 20 years.  The people were very friendly and extremely well balanced!   haha.

 

 



As this is a tourist attraction, there were market stalls built all along the canal for those who preferred not to get into one of the long boats.  The dry market sold clothing and souveniers while the wet market sold only food.  The vendors would prepare the food and pass it hand to hand from boat to boat to the customers on land.

 

One of the vendors was a very talented artist.  I captured this as he was drawing it:

 

 

What else is there to see/do?







Why does Emily look so worried?

OHHHHHHHHHHH

 

For those of you who are keeping a running record of animal encounters, this makes 6!

Tiger, Monkey, Orangutan, Giraffe, Dolphin, Snake.

 





The second half of my walk

The other day I posted pictures of my walk home but that was only half of my walk.  Based on the positive feedback I received, I thought I would put up the pictures of the second half of my walk.

BTW, Edward will be here in 2 more sleeps and we will be doing a few (well, a lot) of activities that will include photographs.  So, stay tuned ... 

I think this is where we left off the other day?!

This is just past the PM's house.  Turn right at the end of the street.

I just turned right

Street food stands on the left.  I go straight ahead.

Turn left at the end of the road.

Down the lane

Off the paved road.  Down the lane.

End of lane.  Turn left at guardrail.

'Trong Pie' - Go Straight

37 stairs up on the left.  Over the bridge.

Down 36 stairs.  Swing left travelling same direction I started.

Veer right towards that blue floating thingy.

'Trong Pie' for long time

Watch your step!

All your steps!

This is getting ridiculous!

But wait!  There's more...

Hazardous sidewalks and no stop signs anywhere on the side-streets.

Night clubs on the right

Do you think the trees' roots have something to do with this?!

First sighting of home!

McDonalds on the left in the distance.

Another night club (maybe strip club) on the right.

Another 'Soi' (street) to pass with no stop sign.

Prasert-Manukij Soi Sam-Sib-Sam (33).  Otherwise known as HOME.

'Le-ow Kwa' (turn right).  No stop sign.

I turn a little to the right.  There is the street.

I turn a little more to the right, there is the condo and car park.

And I turn a little more, my condo is in the back on the right.