Today we did a “Tour with Tong”, a travel guide Deb found on the net ages ago.

(Tong met us at the hotel, was great to meet her after corresponding for months, she is bright and bubbly and a little crazy , I was pleased she turned up, we took a leap of faith booking her tour, it is wonderful when things work out as you hope!)   We  left the hotel at 8am and headed for the Bangkok Flower Markets. It was amazing, all these small flower stalls selling pretty well any flowers you could think of. There were specialty stalls for everything for Home and Hotels to Weddings and Funerals. Many of the stalls were making decorative displays and arrangements.  I am sure we have got many of the arrangements in our room, J. While we were walking around Deb and Tong were chatting away, they both shared a love for flowers, and before long Tong had bought herself a couple of bunches and then bought Deb a bunch of 20 red roses . (Deb was very happy, later she was a bit sad at the thought of having to leave her beautiful flowers here after only 1 day!!). At the end of the walk we took a turn down another lane and there were all the stalls for fresh fruit. It was interesting to see that they have a lot of imported fruit here, similar to home, even oranges from the USA!!!

Then, we headed off to Wat Pho, the temples of  a huge golden “Reclining Buddha”   46m long and 15m high, and said to be one of the biggest reclining Buddha’s in the world.

Next was “The Grand Palace”. It used to be the official Palace of the King of Thailand, but that all changed when the previous King (the present King’s brother) was assassinated in the grounds, the present King could not live in the place where his brother was killed, so it’s now a mix of use, from tourist displays in the outer and middle zones, to national administration offices in the central (previously, Royal)zone. It reminded me very much of the Citadel in Hue Vietnam, but in its original state (not blasted apart by war like Hue was). It was an interesting set-up when it was used as a Palace. In the inner Royal zone, the King was the only post adolescent male allowed to live in the zone. I guess it was to protect the “Royal Line”. The buildings were amazing, so well preserved and very highly decorated.  There is so much history retained in the buildings and the displays, it was fascinating to see so much Thai history and Royal memorabilia, and lots of very unique and “special” Buddest relics, including a large Emerald Buddha. We also went into what used to be The King’s private Buddest temple.

Lunch time. Tong took us to a local restaurant called “The Coconut Palm”. To save time she pre-ordered our lunch, so as we got in and sat down they started serving us. The restaurant was full of locals, Deb and I were the only westerners in there, and the locals gave us funny looks when we got our meals well before those that were already in the restaurant before we arrived (great organisation by Tong!!). The food was a lot spicier than we get at home (a bit spicier than Deb really likes, but I loved it! ) and Tong had made a good selection of entrées and mains. We had spring rolls, a spicy prawn soup, pork stir fry and fried chicken wings, with steamed rice. Yummm!! (and it all cost $15.00 and that was paying for Tong’s food too!)

After lunch we had a special time. Before we came here, when Deb was organising the tour,  she arranged for us to go out to an orphanage to see the children (maybe play a bit with them) and give a donation. Tong knew of many orphanages near her home, and was particularly “fond” of one where the children are disabled,(Baan Fuengfan), so she contacted them to organise our visit. They said that due to the “Swine Flu” they couldn’t allow visits with the children, but if we wanted to we could come out and see the complex. They also asked that if we could buy some medicines for them with our donation. So on the way we went via a wholesale pharmacy, armed with a list of medicines they had given to Tong and bought up a pile of stuff for them. The pharmacy was amazing, anyone could walk in off the street, and they did in swarms, and get anything they wanted, all without a prescription!! When we got to the orphanage they were very appreciative of all the meds we brought with us, but due to the “Flu” we couldn’t have a look around, instead they showed  us a DVD of the children and what services they offered them. It was a very touching video. It had both Deb and Tong in tears. When we left there we chatted with Tong about the numbers and problems of the orphans. It’s a sad situation, but at least there are places and mechanisms to help them, even if they are stretched for resources.

We then went to “The Jim Thompson House Museum”. Jim Thompson was an American architect that set up home in Thailand after WWII, and tried to revive the ailing cottage industries and crafts of Thailand that were quickly disappearing. His former home in Bangkok was big by Thai standards. He had bought 5 homes from all around the country, had them disassembled and reconstructed as one home.  He then filled the home with lots of really interesting artefacts from all over Thailand. In the late 60’s he went to the jungles in Malaysia and disappeared. No trace has ever been found of him. The house was left to a trust and is now a museum. It was really interesting to see.  (and the gardens around the house were also very lovely)

Tong then took us to some street markets in China Town, you know the ones with dodgy watches and DVD’s etc, it was fun to walk around in them, there is always lots of life in these markets, and they were working markets too, where the locals could go and buy everything from clothes to hardware.

We then returned to the hotel and said bye to Tong. We had a great day with her, she is a little crazy, a beautiful person and she knows her stuff really well and we would use her services again if we come back. Her web address is www.tourwithtong.com for those interested.

We spent an hour or 2 relaxing and cooling down, before we went to dinner. We walked down to the river and got a hotel boat across the Chao Phraya River (The River of the King) to their Thai restaurant on the other side located right next to the river, wonderful view. We had a mixed entree followed by a seafood platter. It was all delicious (maybe the scallops were a bit dry J )and the company was perfect. What a way to finish our holiday, sitting on the edge of the river, watching the world go by and having a delicious meal together. 

We leave tomorrow, and will be home before lunch, it seems that the last week and a bit of our holiday has literally flown by, and it’s a bit sad our holiday is coming to an end, but it’s also nice to be heading home. 

We just posted a card to Dante Tessa Ella & Ethan so next week you should get one from London and then another from Bangkok, then I am afraid they will stop, we will just have to go on some more holidays!!!  

Can't wait to see you all, love us xoxox

PS Just added more pics for London and some for Thailand.