Wheels on the Go

Well, it is our last day of vacation and we are on the search for a couple of things to bring home with us! We have been looking at the ICONSIAM mall for the last 5 days across the river from the hotel – perhaps being tormented by its noise at night – it is time to check it out! Unfortunately the hotel’s ferry boat is out for maintenance for the week so we need to take the public ferry which I think from an accessibility standpoint is a much better situation for me! The public dock is right below the hotel – however the “lane” you need to walk down to get there leaves a bit to be desired – you would think that the hotel would keep it a bit cleaner! There was dumped garbage bags (which in the heat did not smell lovely) and various other things along the side of the path.

The cost of the boat? 6 baht per person, each direction. Yup, about 3 cents each per direction! Very quickly we were across the river and at the dock on the other side! We walked near the still set up and still going on at night, Mulay KickBoxing area and into the mall which had quite the beautiful entrance! Inside it was still very exquisite – the ground floor an indoor “souk” type area and the upper floors a mall with stores. We were doing some power shopping here and once we found the elevators we were in business and found the places that we needed to go to and purchase the items that we needed to find! Now it was time to go back to the hotel to complete packing and get ready for our scheduled ride to the Le Meridien Hotel which is near the Bangkok airport, making our very early morning a bit easier! For those who have not been there, the Bangkok Airport is about 45 minutes from downtown Bangkok when the traffic is behaving!

The Le Meridien Hotel is very elegant – it is a hotel surrounding by a golf course. I did not really care what kind of room that we got here – other than the kind we booked – they were pretty upset that they could not upgrade me though! As I said to the desk clerk – for a half a night stay – please do not worry! I got a huge Thai smile from her for that comment – I guess this is one of the hotels where people’s expectations are pretty high for upgrades. As we were not going to be at the hotel for breakfast, I had the option of having 1000 Marriott points or a handmade elephant. The elephants are made by people with various disabilities so of course that was what I selected! Our room was beautiful and I would loved to spend more time there however the hotel is in the middle of nowhere! There is a nice lounge bed on the lanai and it looked over the golf course. We saw a beautiful sunset that evening – our last sunset in Thailand!

Like at the Royal Orchid – the Le Meridien provided an evening light buffet in their bar which was gratis for people high up in the Bonvoy program. Andrew had no issues eating from the small buffet but me – that was a different story! It was fairly gluten loaded. So they said they would bring me a gluten free box! And sure enough one arrived – quite cute! Andrew got the bacon skewers in the top right corner – the rest of the box was very delicious and just the amount that was needed for me this evening! We walked around the hotel a bit – it was a very nice hotel with ramps everywhere which was nice to see, and then went back to the room early so we (I) could optimize our luggage for check in tomorrow! As we were flying Business Class home, I wanted to check in one of my knapsacks as luggage so we (Andrew) had less to carry and worry about. Then it was to bed – we had a 4:30am departure for the airport scheduled!

This morning as Andrew slept in, I spent some time watching the different boat traffic on the Chao Phraya River. There sure is a lot of different traffic that goes up and down with different types of cargo!

After that, it was time to get some silk – I cannot leave Thailand without more silk! A store had been recommended to me and was also recommended quite a bit on the internet called Queen Silk – so we decided to go check it out! Well, me more than Andrew but he came along for the ride of course! It was about 3pm when we set out and the taxi driver knew exactly where we were going! I am still surprised how cheap the taxis are in Bangkok. The taxi cost is 300 baht which is about $12 Cdn for a 40 minute ride in medium (Bangkok standards – heavy Vancouver standards) to the small mall where the store was. I noticed that it was next to a Hyatt Hotel – note for future if we return – that Hyatt Hotel is a dangerous location for me! So into the mall we went and there was the store – a nice medium sized silk store and wow – the prices WERE reasonable! I could get high end 100% Thai Silk for 1500 baht per metre (which is about $37.50 Cdn). Silk like this either cannot be found in Vancouver or I have seen it in Seattle for about $75 Usd a yard. So I was getting a pretty good deal! I did buy some but it all fit into my shopping bag so I was pleased – that was my measurement of how much room was left in the suitcase! Andrew of course sat there and let me shop without much interference. He probably had fun listening to the shop lady and I chat in broken English and me so excited with all the colours (read purple)!

Then we went to the Hyatt to get a taxi back to the Sheraton. Oh boy what an unpleasant taxi ride. As Bangkok does have one way streets and some long busy roads where you can only U turn in certain areas I do understand that driving might be challenging at times but how a 40 minute ride on surface streets to get to the silk store could end up being almost 90 minutes getting home and involve a highway was beyond me. It was noisy and at times frustrating and with no working seatbelts in the cab, made me a bit anxious. When we arrived at the Royal Orchid Sheraton, they had removed the cut elephant and table from the lobby and were putting up a HUGE Christmas tree!

We decided to go up to the lounge to unwind for drinks – with me going up there immediately for some juice as my sugar was low, and Andrew following for his beer at 5pm (when they start service alcohol). So to cheer Andrew up an unusually stressed Andrew from the shopping/taxi adventure, I cancelled my GF dinner for the buffet and decided to spend our last dinner in Bangkok at the very well recommended Thai Restaurant in the hotel. I asked the lounge concierge to arrange for us to have dinner at 7pm. So we had our drinks in the lounge and I told Andrew (before he hit the buffet at 6pm) that we were going out for dinner! He was surprised and as we both needed to change, we went downstairs to our room to do that and then down to the restaurant on the 1st floor for our 7pm reservation – which really was not needed for a Monday night but you never know!

At first, they sat us in the regular restaurant – however it was not that comfortable as there was not a back on the seat (they were tables sunk into the ground) for me and there was a loud party in there. So we moved outside instead to eat in the “fresh” Bangkok river air! It really was a nice place to eat as a nice breeze blew by. We had Chicken Messman Curry, Shrimp Fried Rice and of course Pad Thai! The food was SO delicious! We were just finishing dinner and I was about to take a picture of the river when BANG! AGAIN fireworks started! This was the closest we had been to the now 4 fireworks displays we had seen in the last 9 days! These ones were simply beautiful! A great end to our night at the restaurant and our time in Bangkok!

Today we are taking a day trip to Ayutthaya which is a historic city in Thailand. Yes, it involved another early morning but not as early as the Train/Floating Market. This was a bus trip to Ayutthaya which included 3 historic stops and then we were taken by bus about half way back to board a 2.5 hour boat ride back to Bangkok. Thank goodness this trip ended up where it left from – which was right next to our hotel!

The tour had Chinese, American, Australians, Spaniards and us 2 Canadians on it. It was quite an interesting bunch of people! It was also VERY different from the tour we took on Friday as this tour guide was used to doing this tour – she does it 3 days a week and is used to managing a bus load of people. She always had us under control and no one was ever missing. We also did not have to do a strange numbering system that the tour guide on our Friday trip to the train/market had us do just to keep track of us. While this was advertised as an English tour, she did make the Chinese attendees feel comfortable by speaking a bit of Mandarin. That type of customer service I like to see!

So we drove about 2 hours to the historic city of Ayutthaya which is actually where our tour guide was from. It was founded in 1350 and was the second capital of the Siam (Thailand) Kingdom.  It was once one of the world’s largest areas of global diplomacy and commerce as it was strategically located on an island (which still exists today) surrounded by three rivers connecting the city to the sea. It is also located above the tidal zone for the Gulf of Siam, thus preventing attack of the city by the sea. The location also helped to protect the city from seasonal flooding. The city burned to the ground in 1767 by the Burmese army and abandoned. The city was never rebuilt in the same location and remains known today as several archaeological sites, which we visited 2 of them.

 First we visted Wat Mahathat, “the temple of the Great Relic” was one of the most important temples in the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Located on the historical island the large monastery features a huge central prang, a very large principal viharn and ubosot and a great number of subsidiary chedis and viharns. The upper part of its once massive central prang has collapsed. Today only the base remains.

Then we took a very short ride to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, also known as the “Temple of the Holy, Splendid Omniscient” was the holiest temple in Ayutthaya during the Ayutthaya period and until the city was destroyed by the Burmese. It was the grandest and most beautiful temple in the capital and it served as a model for Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok. This is also where the Buddha’s head is entwined in tree roots and as it is fairly low down, there is a security guard sitting there with a whistle (and there is a sign in Thai and English) indicating that if you want to take a picture you must kneel down so that your head is lower that Buddha’s. If you stand near the mat, the whistle is blown at you! They did have a bench next to the mat where you could sit if you could not get down on the mat, however for the experience I was able to get down – getting up was another story!

Then we were driven to Vihara Phra Mongkhon Bophit and Wat Lokayasutharam which are located behind the Ancient Palace. Vihara Phra Mongkhon Bophit is a covered building housing a large bronze seated Buddha image of 12.45 meters high, which was originally enshrined outside the Grand Palace to the east. It is believed to date back to the 15th century. It was hard to get to from where we stopped so I do not have a picture of it. Instead we visited Wat Lokayasutharam, which is the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The image of the reclining Buddha represents the entry of Buddha into Nirvana and the end of all reincarnations. The posture of the image is referred to as sihasaiyas, the posture of a sleeping or reclining lion. The figure is 15 m high and 46 m long, and it is one of the largest Buddha statues in Thailand.

Next we were driven to our Boat Cruise down the Chao Phraya River. This included an American/Thai lunch buffet. After I managed to get onto the boat – not hard entering but the dining room was downstairs so there I remained for the whole ride which was pretty close to water level – Andrew helped himself to the buffet and the chef came out with our tour guide and spoke to me about my gluten free lunch. I said I just needed something simple like shrimp fried rice, no soya sauce and look what I got! Yikes! I hate eating when I am hot, I did not have my “to go” containers with me so I had to leave food behind which I do not like doing. Andrew and I could have shared my lunch between the two of us! My perch in the bottom of the boat did provide a great vantage point for taking pictures along the riverbank though – what a study on what happens and who lives on the riverbank! Such waves of different houses and buildings – from marshes to haphazard houses to nice condos to cobbled together houses again to a Temple – it was a fascinating experience! Our tour guide explained that some of the “houses” that we saw the owners have had that land through their families for years. Unfortunately the river is taking away their land through erosion and they are trying their best to keep their houses however it sounds like what is happening in Vancouver – groups of house holders will sell out to a developer so that is why you see the river houses and then a nice condo and then back to a bunch of river houses. Along the way we also passed the Temple of Dawn and the Grand Palace (which we had also seen the night of the Tuk Tuk adventure) and finally ended up at the dock at the mall where I could take a picture of our boat!

We then walked the short distance back to the hotel and enjoyed drinks and dinner in the 27th floor lounge. We got really great seats at the window that night and as we sat there the noise went up higher and higher and we realized there was some action going on across the way at the ICONSIAM mall. As my new phone has such a great telephoto lens we soon realized that it was a Thai “Mulay” Kickboxing event! The men were on the stage first performing a dance and then a boxing type ring had been set up also and there were “fights” into the night. Unfortunately our bedroom also faced this direction so neither of us got a lot of sleep on this Sunday night! That was okay though as not much was planned for Monday…. really! 🙂

Sleep in. Eat breakfast. Hang out, go for a walk around the hotel and relax and watch the traffic on the river. Lynda gets a massage as her back is still sore. Drinks in the lounge at 5pm. Buffet dinner in the lounge at 6pm. That was the order of the day! We accomplished it and still went shopping at the small mall next door! Silk was calling me….and I took it up on its beckoning calls!

Due to the upcoming holiday and trips that are not offered everyday/night, I booked (stupidly) two excursions for us to do today! One was to the Train Market and then to the famous Thailand Floating Market. The other one was a Tuk Tuk at Night Tour of Sights (Sounds) and Food. So it was a VERY early start for us this morning! Luckily Room Service showed up on time and Andrew was able to get his coffee and pondering session in prior to walking to the mall next door where the 1st tour gathered.

I had booked a max 15 person tour for the Train Market/Floating Market as I find that going in a smaller van is easier on my body and also it is easier for me to keep with the group. Not sure what happened, however there were 29 people and all of a sudden a huge highway bus that showed up. Great! I just love climbing bus stairs! I knew that I was going to have to get from a platform onto a train however this was unexpected. Oh well, when in Bangkok, do as the Thai do and smile!

We were off to the Train Market first. I was not very impressed with the tour guide as he tried to convince the passengers on the bus to skip the train ride and just go to the market to see the train arrive. That ticked me off a bit as one of the reasons I selected this tour was so Andrew could ride a train! The tour guide let us think and decide what to do and I was REALLY glad when someone else said they wanted to take the train. He did say that if one person wanted to take the train we all had to and he stuck to his word. So we showed up at the train “station” which were a bunch of raised platforms and the road was closed to get to them. So we could not stay there and had to go to another “rural” station instead that the tour guide knew of. So here we were waiting for the train and I realized what a HUGE climb I was going to have to get onto the train! I just might need someone to propel me on to it. So the tour guide took my walker and Andrew helped me basically get up the straight up climb of 3 high steps. Hey, I can do a highway coach I can do this! A man saw me getting on and immediately gave me his seat which was next to his wife so we shared a seat and a window and both of us took pictures along the way. As we were on the 1st car of 3, sure enough people were out with their cameras and the awnings were rolled back so the train could pass through the market to its station. It was so cool seeing all the faces pass by us so happy to see the train!

Here is some information from the Thai Tourism website – Mae Klong Railway Market (Hoop Rom Market) is a local market in Samut Songkhram Province, commonly called Siang Tai (Life-Risking) Market. It is an amazing Thailand attraction, over a 100-metres in length, located next to the railway lines near the Mae Klong Railway Station. In the fresh market you can purchase seafood, vegetables, fruits, fresh and dried food, meats and other miscellaneous goods. Mae Klong Railway Market is open from 6.00 a.m. -6.00 p.m. The market is called Life-Risking because its stalls are next to the Mae Klong-Ban Laem railway, which is a short railway line where vendors at the market put out parasols or canvas mats next to the railway lines where visitors walk and do their shopping. When the signal of the arriving train rings (which happens 8 times a day), chaos happens: vendors will rush to close their parasols and canvas, along with clearing all goods that will obstruct the coming train. Once the train passes, parasols and canvas will be reopened as goods are again put into their usual place next to the railroad. The market, accordingly, is also so called Hoop Rom (Umbrella/Parasol-Closing) Market. The practice is usual for vendors and local people, but not for tourists who will definitely find the scene exciting and enjoyable at each visit.

So once we arrived, we got off the train and walked around for about 30 minutes before the train was going to depart. We were not departing on the train but got to watch it depart before walking to the bus to be taken to the Floating Market. As there is a road that also crosses in front of the train station, which has gates that come down (which is good as those motorcycle drivers did push the envelope at the end) and a police man stands there with flags – red and green – which are waved down the line for the train engineer to see that the train is now approved for departure. At the same time there was a mad dash behind us (where the actual market was) to wind in all the awnings and move things from the track. We never got to go into the market as it was way too packed for me and Hugo to manage.

Then it was a short walk to the bus and off we were to the Thailand Floating Market! I was looking forward to this one as it included a boat ride which I hoped would give me a different perspective on the floating market compared to what we experience in Pattaya.

At the Floating Market we were put 4 in a boat and I really lucked out with being put in the front our our boat! They were all really cute long tail boats, mostly padded by women, with 2 umbrellas to protect people from the heat. You also could rent an engine powered boat (which I thought took away from the cultural significance and beauty of the market with their stinky motors) however 95% of the people in the floating market were in padded boats. There were SO MANY vendors in this one that were only available from the boat! This surprised me compared to the Pattaya one where we were basically on a large dock with some people in boats on the side of the docks. Here at least 75% of the vendors you had to get to from the water – including the beer vendors – some of the most expensive beer is sold floating in that market! And of course there were plenty of traffic jams too. Check out the pictures below! Then further down I describe our next adventure on the Tuk Tuk’s!

This tour dropped us off at a mall downtown – which was strange as it was NOT the mall they picked us up at next to our hotel. Instead of it being a 6 hour tour it ended up being an 8 hour one so we got back at 4pm and our next tour we had to be at a BTS station (Skytrain) by 6pm. Now the BTS system is neither near our hotel or accessible and our hotel, the Royal Orchid Sheraton is between this mall and where we need to be met, across the river. So we hopped into a tuk tuk and got a ride to out hotel – quite fun to take during rush hour on a Friday afternoon with him weaving in and out of the traffic!

We got to our hotel and I received another message from the next tour and they said to PLEASE do not take a taxi to the BTS station, take the BTS instead as a taxi could take an hour or two depending on where you are coming from. It was now 5pm and we had no choice but to take a taxi! So in we got and off we went into gridlock traffic. We got stuck where we had to go 4 long blocks before turning to the right and on my Google Maps told me that once we turned right the traffic would clear. However we sat, I knitted up a storm, and we sat some more. Finally at 5:50 pm I called the tour guide and explained the situation and he said that there was another party who was running late too and do not worry. I had him talk in Thai to the driver as to exactly where to take us once we did get out of the traffic and that helped a lot. At 6:15pm we arrived at the BTS station. When the “meeting” person got to us he suggested that next time if you are going somewhere on the other side of the river take a boat across first and then take a taxi from there and it will be MUCH faster. That was logical! Why did the doormen at the hotel not think of that? Anyway, we met our Tour Guide, named Internet, “net” for short. And we were off in our Tuk Tuks for the evening! There are 6 of us so 3 Tuk Tuks and also Hugo is along for the ride too! The tuk tuks are used for these “Explore the City by Tuk Tuk” experiences and their roof was a bit higher and covered in see through plastic and all lit up compared to other ones! What fun to ride in these tuk tuks!

There are 7 stops on this “tour” – 3 of them food and 4 of them sightseeing. Our first stop was the local market where “fast food” was served. There are TONS of these little markets where people cook food for a very reasonable price (such as 30 bahts or $1.25) for each dish. Multiple dishes are purchased by single Thai’s and taken home to eat dinner as in general single Thai’s do not cook and do not like being in the kitchen when it is hot – which is during summer. The tour guide knew that I was gluten free to it was more of a watch others eat situation however she was so HAPPY to tell me when we came to a pancake stand that the pancakes are gluten free as they are made from rice flour! I took one look at the man pouring the pancakes and KNEW they were not rice flour only based 0 way too thick! So I mentioned to her politely that I think there are other ingredients and I am going to pass. So she asked the vendor and sure enough – it was a rice AND wheat flour recipe! Boy my spider sense was also working in Thailand and I trusted my gut!

Next we were off to see some temples which are documented below and then for dinner at a restaurant – did not take any pictures here… The tour guide now knew that I was VERY serious about being gluten free so she ordered me Pad Thai which I thoroughly enjoyed. The wife of one of the other couples was from England and she picked up when at the 1st markets that I had Celiac Disease right away. So when the two friends who were traveling together (other couple), when one of them said to me that I took a bit too much Pad Thai and did I know we were sharing it, the wife of the other couple said that it was the only dish I could eat and she will give me her portion. That made me feel good as really the Pad Thai had been ordered for me! Then to my surprise, “Net” had gotten me a chicken dish too but it had been placed at the other end of the table by mistake (the other people had 4 dishes plus rice to share) and when Net came by and saw this she gave it to me to eat. Unfortunately. I was hot, had eaten Pad Thai and did not have much room left for chicken! On top of that the chicken looked and tasted a bit suspect as it had a crunchy exterior. It had been pan friend and battered with rice flour I later found out!

So no need for chat time – we were then off to our next destination – the Palace and monument next to it – which was closed for the night. Then we went to the 24 hour Flower Market – what a production that is! I have NEVER seen so many flowers getting ready to be bundled and sold! The building just went on forever! So we went in one side, out the other side of a huge hanger like building in downtown Bangkok and then into and out of another one! Then the flower sales spread out onto the street… Eventually our tuk tuks picked us up and again we were off this time to our last stop which was Chinatown and where we would be getting our dessert! After driving into Chinatown through a bunch of back alleys which reminded me of walking around the neighbourhoods in Japan where every home seemed to have a family business out the back door, we arrived at our destination – the coconut ice cream cart! Wow – nothing like frozen coconut milk when it is 38 degrees F out with the humidity and 9pm at night! Even Andrew who does not like coconut ate some! Then we walked down the street, which I found quite sad at times (but did not take any pictures) as there was quite a line of people with various disabilities busking for money. We ended up at another stall where sticky rice and mango dishes were served and that was the encore to our evening – that was absolutely delicious too! Then we parted ways with Net and our tuk tuks took us back to our various hotels! What a long but fun day! Even Andrew, who is not always one to share his feelings. agreed!

Well we said goodbye to our nice hotel in Pattaya today and moved on to Bangkok which I was really looking forward to! Before we left though there was one last breakfast to have and some pictures to take of the breakfast buffet! It is quite a beautiful setup actually and quite diverse in its offerings!

Next we had a pick up scheduled for 2pm for a SUV transfer to Bangkok. Now the last transfer that I booked was really good – the lady who picked us up at Bangkok and drove us to Rayong had a really nice comfortable car and we (particularly me) did not arrive in pain. Same with our transfer from Rayong to Pattaya. Not so for this trip! I believe the difference was that there is only one highway between Bangkok Airport and Rayong and Rayong to Pattaya however once you get closer to Bangkok (lets say about an hour away) one can choose between the highway and the “lower” road which also is considerably more BUMPY. The van we were in did not have much in the shock department so it was a very uncomfortable ride. On top of that, the service that I used to hire the driver said he spoke English and not a word of English did he speak so we could not get him to get back on the highway. I would have been happy to pay the highway tolls (although they should have been included) however that was pretty hard to communicate. I was SO GLAD when we got to the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel!

One thing that really has helped during our travels and when I get into situations with anxiety or pain like this is that I have a newer cell phone and it has an eSIM slot which has allowed me to turn off my Telus SIM and switch to a world wide data provided which has been awesome. I am able to follow Google Maps to see where we are going (and if we are going the right way) and that has helped a lot! Technology sure has changed in the last year since we traveled to Italy/Spain!

The Royal Orchid Sheraton looks to be a beautiful hotel! It sure has lots of orchids in its lobby! We checked in and got to our room, which I had upgraded to a suite using my Suite Nights which is a benefit of the Bonvoy (Marriott) program. As our suite was not ready when we checked in at 4pm, we spent the late afternoon/early evening in the lounge having both refreshments and some light appetizers. As the light appetizers consisted of some pretty wheat based things, they brought me some pasta with tomato sauce and bread which was awesome!

WOW. Simply WOW. We have been upgraded to suites before but this one took the CAKE! This is a 28 floor hotel and I am not sure how many floors have suites – we were on the 20th floor and there were 2 on our floor. The hotel is like a Y with the bottom of the Y being at the river and the 2 suites sharing half of each side of the Y. I think we had the better view than the other suite as we had a 180 degree view of the river as it turned in front of our suite and meandered along. See the pictures below. It was wonderful to watch early in the morning, during the day and later at night.

And now we have arrived in Bangkok – river life!

Well, today is a deep but dry day from a subject perspective. We had breakfast. We went to the pool and hung out. I took pictures of flowers. At Happy Hour, I got 2 Pina Colada Mocktails for the price of 1 where alcohol was NOT 2 for 1 so Andrew made due with one beer – although it was a Singha – when in Thailand, drink as the Thai’s drink is his motto!

Went for a light dinner as I had been eyeing for a couple of days the Panna Cotta with Mango for dessert that was marked gluten free. So I did it – I ate a healthy but a small dinner so I could have the Panna Cotta! Oh my, when it arrived it was HUGE! It is a good thing there were two spoons as I could not finish it myself! A ton of Mango along with Panna Cotta layered with Mango Juice jelly in a Mason jar. How beautiful! Almost sad to eat this gorgeous presentation!

We then went for a walk at night to take some night pictures of the hotel pool and various ramps and ran into a gecko on the way back to the room – very cool! Tomorrow we are changing to Bangkok!

Today we got up EARLY as we had booked a “Pattaya Landmark” Tour and they were picking us up at 8am. Once we got up and got going the time changed to 8:30am so that gave us some more time to eat breakfast and have a more relaxed meal. Soon it was time to go meet our tour so we went and waited in the lobby. This was to be a small tour group which is what I like as I find with my walker I am often behind people and cannot hear what is being said. The driver and tour guide arrived, and there was only one other person on the tour! One reason I had selected this tour was it said that it was customizable. I had tried writing the tour company that we wanted to customize our tour and not go to the Floating Market as we had been there the previous day – but no one got back to me. So I expressed our wish to the tour guide and she said she would see what we could do.

We started off by going to visit the Buddha Mountain which really is an outline of the Buddha on the face of a low mountain/hill. It has a beautiful garden in front of it and there were some monks in orange visiting that day. There also was a memorial stone dedicated to the area. After that visit we got back into the van and drove past Jomtien Beach which is the area of Pattaya we were staying in, and then onto the Big Buddha Temple. At this point, I let Andrew visit the Big Buddha Temple as there were a lot of stairs to get up to it and this was the start of the day and I was really interested in a future stop and having energy (and possible climbing) power for it. Andrew, with the gentleman from India and the tour guide went up and experienced a lot of things besides this huge sitting Buddha on the top of the monument area. I actually did not realize how big the area was and how much was up there – from my vantage point near the parking lot it looked just like a golden Buddha sitting down. When they arrived back (and one Coke Zero later) down from the open-air Temple, we were off to view Pattaya from a view point. What a beautiful view it was! The ocean so teal and the actual downtown a crescent moon shaped beach away. We looked down on the Bali Hai Pier which is also called Pattaya Pier and Walking Street (basically the Robson Street of Pattaya) which are both in South Pattaya. The Pier is a hub of activities with boats taking people to the local islands mainly. Then we proceeded to the Sanctuary of Truth, which is what I was really looking forward to seeing!

The Sanctuary of Truth is a museum/castle like structure in Pattaya that is the most popular place to visit when there. In 1980, it was commissioned by a local business man (not even rich) to appreciate philosophy, art, culture and faith – without it representing a single religion. Inspired by the temples in Ayutthaya (we are going here Dec 3rd from Bangkok), the carvings show respect to father, mother, teacher, the king, and the elephant-headed god. The northern hall features wisdom of emancipation. The southern hall features astronomical themes, namely the sun, moon, and other planets impacting people’s well-being. The western hall features representations of the classical elements (earth, water, wind, and fire) and the gods who conquer the four elements. The eastern hall features familial representations. The main focus of the Sanctuary of Truth is to visually portray important eastern religious concepts and the cycle of life. The sanctuary is made of several different types of wood, giving different parts of the sanctuary different textures. The oldest wood that has been used is takien wood, used to build the main post at about 105 metres tall, is expected to last for 600 years. The detail in the carvings is absolutely memorizing. Best of all, it is also wheelchair accessible!

The construction has not been completed (estimated to finish in 2025), so all visitors have to wear hard hats! Mind kept trying to fall off – hard to take pictures and look up at all the carvings and balance a hard hat. We were provided with a van to take us down to the structure, however first we had to stop at the view point to take pictures and if you wanted, you could go to the simple restaurant or buy souvenirs. The souvenir shop was not accessible so I did not go into it. Also at this viewpoint anyone not wearing proper “respectable” clothing had to “borrow with a fee” a top with sleeves or pants to wear. As you lined up to go down the very long flights of stairs to the Sanctuary of Truth, the clothing police (just lay people but I like the term!) watched people in the line. For all temple like places in Thailand people must have their shoulders and knees covered. It was funny though, while we were waiting for the transport down to the actual structure, we watched a man, who looked like he did not want to wear the elephant print pants (which is the print on the fabric of the pants at all of these places), lower his Bermuda type shorts pretty low on his hips, and cover that up with his shirt (which had sleeves – so okay there) – so the pants would covered his knees. It seems that somewhere between being “approved” to descend the stairs and getting into the structure, that his pants made it back onto his hips! I generally wear clothes that cover my knees so that is not an issue and I have a light scarf that I use to cover my shoulders. Andrew’s regular shorts are not long enough so he generally wears his long linen pants when we might be running into an occasion where we will be visiting a place where modesty is needed.

The person drove us in the van down the hill, picked up our hard hats and then drove us around the the back of the building which is where we were going to join our tour which was coming down the stairs from the viewpoint at that time. Imagine my surprise to see an elevator, disguised with ornate carvings on it to lift me into the building! I know it is said that the place is wheelchair accessible and I was wondering however this was going to be done without messing up the beauty! Up the elevator Andrew and I were escorted and into the Sanctuary of Truth. We walked around for a little bit before the tour joined us. Even in the building, it had ramps for me to take instead of the few stairs! I think, other than taking pictures, I spent the whole time just amazed at the handiwork of the builders of this ornate building. I have made notes on my pictures as to the various things we learned as we were guided around the structure – it totally was awe inspiring that people had CARVED the whole structure and that no nails or other things were or are used today as work continues.

At the end, we went back up the hill on the bus and found our driver sleeping in the shade in the van (drivers deserve a break!) and we were then off to what I thought was Walking Street – that is what was advertised in the tour as the next stop. However the tour guide (which I could remember her name) asked me if we could skip it as we spent more time at the Sanctuary of Truth and we must remain on schedule. Now I had a plan for the Walking Street – to get money exchanged! We were going through a lot more cash than expected and hotels in Thailand need a special permit to change money. The Renaissance did not have one and cannot change US$ to Thai Bhat. So when we were waiting to be picked up, the concierge suggested to go to one of the exchanges on Walking Street – sounded like a plan to me! However now she does not want to stop – so I said it was fine with us as long as we were taken to a Foreign Exchange along the way. So that is what happened – Andrew and the tour guide went and had some US$ exchanged (I only travel with US$ not Canadian as they get the best rate) so that we could continue to pay for things! While I knew coming to Thailand that credit cards outside of the hotels were not used as much – they are just not used at all in some situations like taking taxi’s and some shops.

Then, as I had mentioned that we had been to the Floating Market to our tour guide at the beginning, she offered to take us back to our hotel and then take the man from India to the Floating Market – so that is what we did. As we were hungry and the sun was starting to set, we decided to walk to the restaurant at the front of the hotel for dinner – it has been busy with private parties for the last 2 days based on the note left in the room so tonight it should be open for business – but it was not! It was now closed until December 7th – after we leave! So we watched the sunset from the patio and I saw all the stairs down to the beach and then we returned to the 609 restaurant, who were pretty used to us by now, and had a great “sharing plate” dinner!

Tomorrow is a relaxation day for us – nothing planned right now – lets see what trouble we can get into!

Today at breakfast I decided to branch out and approach the “Asian” section where it looked like they were preparing soups for people. I had seen one gentleman walk by with a stir fry and I thought there was hope for me! So off I went and with not much tribulation convinced the couple that were operating the Asian buffet to cook me a simple stir fry with shrimp, squid, rice vermicelli, an egg and bean sprouts. Let’s call this Lynda’s customized fried rice but the rice was not fried in this case. The lady looked at me pretty weird when she gave the man soya sauce to put on the stir fry and I said – no – just water please as polite as I could muster, to impress upon them how urgent it is to follow my instructions. I watched the whole time and the male cook got it and I said gluten free and he nodded (which really in Asia does not mean much).

They both were so proud when I was extremely excited with the dish they produced for me! I was so happy that I wrote a note on my phone in That so the lady who was bussing tables could tell them how much this plate of food meant to me and how happy I was. At the same time a HUGE plate of bread arrived at our table – no idea why the bread keeps on multiplying each morning! I actually put brie cheese in between the bread slices and wrap them in my paper napkin (I have to be very careful that Andrew does not steal and shred it – it must be a guy thing as my Dad does the same thing) and have them for a snack later

Now, one of the reasons I picked this hotel in Pattaya was it had a beach and nice pictures of lounge chairs on the beach plus a hammock – which I love to lie in! Imagine my surprise at a hotel that said that “all traveled paths are wheelchair accessible” that there are 54 steps to go down to the beach. Not impressed! So the hotel offered to drive us down the road to the beach access so we could walk on the boardwalk back to in front of the hotel and use the lounge chairs and hammock. It was very nice of them! The man also met us a couple of hours later to bring us back, with as little sand as possible on our bodies! Andrew went for a swim in the ocean while I played in the water, picked up shells and hung out in the hammock and the beach chairs. Unfortunately, despite having 40 and 60 SPF lotion on AND a sun shade above me AND my hat on, there are some areas that got a bit pink such as my feet, knees and chest! Oh well, I was prepared and had bought Aloe lotion to apply if this happened and it came into good use! We had fun at the beach that day and there was still more fun to come!

When we were being driven to the beach I noticed some signs, despite being in Thai, that seemed to announce a party. I knew that either the 27th or 28th was Loy Krathong in Thailand – which is a big festival that happens in evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. As today was the 27th I asked the concierge if today was the night for the festival and was it going to be at where the hotel driver dropped us of? He said yes, but the driver was not available as he was driving people into Pattaya for the bigger party. I told him that I did not want the driver, we would walk now that we know how to get there. He was a bit horrified to hear me say that however what was he to do? Say no? The reason why is there are no sidewalks along the collector road that runs in front of the hotel – so I have to walk on the road with cars and more likely motorbikes whizzing past me. Well, that was okay during the early evening when we walked there but coming home was a total different story! At least we were walking against the traffic and for the 1st time on both of my vacations I actually missed my basket for my walker. It is where I stand my cell phone in flashlight mode at the front of the basket to act as a single headlight. So instead, we used Andrew’s cell phone and I held it in my hand as I pushed my walker along the side of the road. We walked the 8 blocks or so with no issues however the guard at the entrance of the property was sure surprised when we showed up in the dark! However I get ahead of myself – lets talk about the festival!

The Loy Krathong festival pays respects to the water spirits. The word ‘krathong’ refers to a small vessel or basket and ‘loy’ means to float. A krathong is traditionally a small floating container made from a slice of a banana tree trunk, and decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers or food and three incense sticks, and a candle. A small coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. There were some very beautiful and many different types being sold! On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their krathong on a river, canal, or the ocean, making a wish as they do so.  There also was a competition for the best display of some large krathongs.

Along with selling the krathongs, there were TONS of people selling food too – mainly quick cook type things that people could eat at the beach or on the chairs provided. There were 2 stages of music going on and a bouncy thing for kids to play in. It was quite colourful, noisy and busy and it looked like the whole community came out to participate. There even were servers there from the Renaissance Hotel service alcoholic drinks (for sale).

Andrew and I went out onto the the temporary dock that he been installed at the beach to see how these krathongs are launched and to take pictures. We found though it was a pretty personal thing that happened so we really tried to not be intrusive. The “dock” was a jigsaw of floating containers, two containers high. We first noticed that there were life jackets hung on poles every 50 feet or so. Then we figured out why – the families go out onto the temporary dock and pray or whatever they want to do with the krathong, and then to get it into the water, a young boy slips into the pitch black water, and places the krathong in the water and then using a lighter, lights the thing and sends it on its way. There is just one problem – sometimes they are hard to light as the candle gets wet! So we watched these young boys struggle with the lighting and then eventually get tired and the life jacket is used to pull them in to the dock. I took some pictures for some families and a police officer, so they all could be in the picture with their krathongs which was really cool!

Then Andrew and I went back to the hotel as we were getting tired and hungry and decided it was time to relax. We had some snack items in the hotel room that we were going to have for dinner. We had only been in the hotel room about 5 minutes when AGAIN, a fireworks show started up! So now, two shows in 3 nights – this has been quite the experience!

We woke up early today and thought – what should we do? Well, eat breakfast was first on the list however next we went exploring at our hotel and checked out what was going on. There was to be another party at the front of the hotel tonight, so the restaurant area was off limits however the adult pool which is in front of the long pool and kids pool was not! So we decided to give hanging out a try. Andrew also went for a swim where I again, just played up to my knees in the water. The GOOD thing is that I did not slip getting out this time which was awesome! After a while though we found the sun just a bit too hot so we decided to move on and go to a market that I had read about – the Floating Market as it was the weekend and some markets are best to be visited on weekends for full shopping opportunities!

We took a taxi to the Floating Market and paid the admission fee and walked around. I did a bit of shopping as normal however it was not that busy, as it was later in the afternoon and most of the “traffic” aka tourists on busses had left. It was not what I had envisioned at all – I thought the whole market people would be on boats and we would have to take a boat to buy from them but it was not so – the majority of the market was accessible (except for the bridges with slats going across them which meant going up and over was hard) and i soon found a way around that was bridge free. If you did not want to eat, you did not have to go over a bridge! As it was still quite hot out, we decided that we had enough of the markets and people wanting you to visit their stalls so we decided to go back to the hotel. So we exited where we entered and low and behold, the taxi driver was still there sleeping in his car! That was strange – I thought the hotel said there are lots of taxis and we would not have a problem getting a new one to go to the next market! They must have arranged this? Never will know! So I said hi to the taxi driver and he took us back to the hotel – a little confused why we were not going to the next market but happy I think he did not have to follow us around.