Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya is the old capital of Thailand (though Thailand was still Siam at the time). The capital of Siam, Ayutthaya, was destroyed by the Burmese in the late 1700's forcing the government to relocate (to present day Bangkok).

The temples and ruins form a whole little village that you can walk in/through. Reminding myself of how little technology was available in the 1300's, when this Kingdom was built, made the grandeur of Ayutthaya all the more incredible.

There were thousands of Buddha sculptures in Ayutthaya. Some were still fully intact and in pretty good condition.

Most, however, were decapitated. When the Burmese invaded Ayutthaya in the late 1700's they made a point to cut the heads off the majority of these sculptures.

This head was grown over by the roots of a fig tree. Somehow the tree knew not to cover the face.

I didn't consider myself to be much of a history nut, but Ayutthaya was absolutely breathtaking.

Floating Market

I've already spoken about the markets in Thailand, but one of the most outstanding ones that I've seen so far exists two hours outside of Bangkok in Ratchaburi.  This market exists on a 32 km long canal that was dug out at the request of King Rama IV in the late 18th century.  The vendors in this market exist either along the edges of the canal on docks, or in boats.  These vendors are accessible mostly by boat.  We rented a boat and had a great morning navigating our way through the beautiful insanity.

Although many of the vendors sell a lot of touristy souvenirs now (sarongs, candles holders, etc) this market is apparently still commonly used by the Thai people to get spices, rice, and many different fruits and vegetables.

The following images give a pretty accurate impression of just how crowded (and how beautiful) this market was on this Saturday morning.  

Crazy kids

My grade 6's figured out how to use Photobooth.

Random treats

I could easily write a blog entry every day about the food in Thailand:  some delicious, some strange,  and some unidentifiable by site, smell and even taste.  To narrow it down a little bit, I'll only write about the interesting foods that I've eaten on days when I've also had a camera on me.  (Consider yourself lucky that the chicken feet were not on such a day, that was not a pretty sight).   

This Tom Yam Gai soup definitely falls into the category of delicious.  Savoury coconut broth with lemongrass and vegetables = so good.  :)

One of MANY shakes I've had in Thailand.  Restaurants obviously have much better presentation than street vendors, but they're also about 30 baht more.  The ones I buy near my school are only 15 baht each! (about 50 cents).  At that price, it's hard to say no to a shake made of 100% fruit (papaya, mango, pineapple, coconut, etc).  

7-11 adventures:  Almost all of the snacks are a mystery.  This one looked a little like cheese puffs.  I should have noticed the tentacled chef picture sooner.  These were definitely another example of the many "cuttlefish" snacks around here.

Corn is a dessert vegetable in Thailand.  I've had corn in waffles at the market as well as in a couple of other treats listed below.  This corn milk with chocolate was on sale so I thought I'd try it out.  It was really quite delicious.  Corn and chocolate together at last!

Speaking of chocolate - why not try putting chocolate sauce on French fries?!

At our market there's a sandwich stand with these pre-wrapped jelly sandwiches.  This one is purple and orange, but I've seen red, green, yellow, etc.  I got curious one day... They taste pretty much as you would expect them to based on the colours.  It essentially tasted like a Kool-Aid sandwich.

Another example of corn in unexpected dishes.  This is corn and red bean yogurt.  So good!

I had to try one of these colourful desserts at some point while I was here, so one day when I was in Chinatown I bit the bullet and tried to communicate my way through the ordering process.  I watched someone else order one then pointed at what he was walking away with and said enthusiastically "same same" which is a Thai expression meaning what it sounds like ("the same as").  I then "chai-ed" and "mai-ed" (yes and no) my way through the possibilities of ingredients until I had a colourful bowl of gelatins, fruit, noodles, corn, and crushed ice covered with sweetened condensed coconut milk.  

Buying food is usually a mystery, but not quite at the level it is when you buy it wrapped in a banana leaf.  Really, they could put anything in that package.  Something about the intrigue makes me want to buy them more often.

This one had nothing but sticky rice and taro root.  How boring!  (but pretty!)

Speaking of pretty, anyone up for any deep fried flowers?

School differences: Insane photocopying procedures and a hatred of staples

Having been incredibly spoiled working in an office for the past 5 years, I find the parts of my job here that involve paper to be pretty frustrating, and well, humorous at the same time.

Here is what a teacher at my school has to go through when they want to give their students handouts of something they've prepared:

1.  Print original on paper that already has information printed on the second side.

2.  Find photocopy request sheet

3.  Fill out photocopy request sheet

4.  Leave photocopy request sheet and original document with one of two higher authorities in the school for a signature (permission to copy).

5.  Once you've gotten this signature (possibly the next day), you can take these two documents to the photocopier, or rather, to the man who works at the photocopier.

6.  Now you attempt to communicate with the man at the photocopier who speaks little English.  You try to explain to him what your English characters mean (double-sided, which pages need printing, what side of the paper is yours and what was someone else's printed document that was used to refill the printer).

7.  Leave the material with him.

8.  Hope for the best.  If it's exam time or review time, the waiting process could take a few more days.

9.  Check the out-going photocopy section daily (search through randomly stacked piles of copied material in search of what might be yours).

10.  Come out victorious with your material (sometimes it's missing pages, or you have to cross off pages that have nothing to do with the food chains handout you put together for your grade 6 science unit, but whatever).

Now, the fun begins:

The machine doesn't staple.

If you want your packages stapled, you have to do so manually.

This is fine.  Again, I've worked at an office for years, occasionally I'd forget to hit the staple button -no big deal, stapling 30 documents takes a little more than a minute maybe?

But for some reason, teachers aren't allowed to give students something that is stapled unless the staples are also covered from both sides with duct tape.  Yes, duct tape.  So you are asked to wrap every corner of everything that you give to students that is more than 1 page long with a piece of duct tape.  

I have spent hours duct-taping my corners and I still don't fully understand what the threat is.  

The best explanation I've gotten is something along the lines of "little fingers get hurt easily".

Remember my concern about the safety of children in my motorcycle post? 

Now can anyone tell me how they could possibly be so concerned about staples?

The "Motorcy"(cles)

It seems to occur to many of us at one point or another, that having a motorcycle/scooter as a secondary method of transportation is potentially a great idea.  For those of us who live in Winnipeg, this idea seems pretty brilliant until we are reminded of a very important part of Winnipeg living: Winter.

In Thailand, winter means slightly less heat (the temperature lowers to about a 27 degree high instead of 37).  With no snow, or other conditions to worry about, the "motorcy" makes a whole lot of sense here for short commutes.  

Motorcycles are everywhere in Thailand.  Most pizza delivery vehicles are motorcycles, motorcycles are available as taxis (as I mentioned in my hospital post), and because they're so cheap to purchase (I saw one in the grocery store for about $2000), and good on gas, many people use them as their primary method of transportation. 

People here get quite efficient at carrying things while driving a motorcycle.

They drive them in the rain.

Unlike in Winnipeg, where it's illegal to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk, in Thailand bicycles and motorcycles seem to have more right to the sidewalk than pedestrians do sometimes.  They weave in and out of traffic on the streets and then in and out of traffic on the sidewalks or in the already narrow aisles of the market.

The most astounding thing about motorcycles here, is the amount of people that can fit onto a single motorcycle.  The most I've ever seen is five:  Mom, Dad and three kids.  The most I've caught in a photo is four (bad shot with the sign in the way.. taking pictures of these guys is hard!  They're pretty speedy!).  

Now when I arrived here, I was pretty surprised to realize that I didn't have a seat belt in the taxi on the way home from the airport.  It was a small but notable difference from back home.  I got used to this in about a week.  Seeing so many children on these motorcycles without helmets or anything holding them in, however, still catches me off guard.  

And for those without kids:

School Differences: Thai Fire Drill

We had our first fire drill at my school today.  They apparently lit a real fire in the kitchen (for effect?), and the fire alarm went off.  The students then proceeded to empty the school by order of status.  The most wealthy students (the ones in the International Program) filed out first.  We walked by classrooms of Kindergarten students waiting their turn.  It was very strange.

Fried Rice

For my first 2 or 3 weeks here, I didn't know how to say much in Thai, so when I ate out, I tended to order one of the two things that I knew how to order in Thai:  pad thai or fried rice (kao-pad-gai).  I'm happy that I know how to order a lot more now... Variety is good. :)

There's one restaurant around here that actually has an English menu.  I've ordered most of the thai things on the menu there, including the fried rice, but I'd always been curious as to how "fried rice" would differ from "American fried rice".

You might be interested to know that in America (according to the Thais), the egg in the fried rice isn't stir fried with the rest, but is instead cooked over easy on its own and then placed on top of the dish.  The dish as you can see is also served with a side of bacon and sausage (perhaps Americans consider this to be a breakfast dish?)  Also, Americans not only like peas in their fried rice, but they also enjoy copious amounts of raisins and pineapple.  Who knew?!  

 

Driving in Bangkok

You couldn't pay me to drive in Bangkok (Peter, you're insane).  For about the first week or so that I lived here, I was convinced that there were no traffic regulations.  Just like most things in Thailand the "anything goes" philosophy seemed to apply here as well. 

Getting used to driving on the left side of the street would be a headache in itself, let alone getting used to the fact that drivers pay no attention to speed limits, weave in and out of traffic aggressively, and make new lanes for themselves by riding the dotted lines when they need to be somewhere in a hurry.

Oh, and the familiar unsettling situation of passing a bicycle in a single lane of traffic from back home is enhanced ten fold when you turn the bicycle into a motorbike that you might pass on your right or left, sometimes with a whole family on board... 

The car to motorbike ratio here is probably around 6 to 1.  They're everywhere.  Motorbikes are huge in Thailand.  They really deserve their own post.  I will make sure to remember that for a future entry.

Moral of this post.  Stay safe - don't drive in Thailand.

Koh Sumet

Koh Sumet is very quaint.  Very touristy as well, but during the off season it was quiet and kind of cozy.

The speedboat ride over to the island was pretty exciting in itself, and at the end of this ride we were let off, luggage and all, at the shore, but not on the shore.. :P

Apparently the rainy season in Thailand is just starting now.  We have a pretty good downpour about once every day now, and when it rains here, it REALLY rains.  It rained a good portion of the weekend unfortunately, but it was still a great time.

The beaches here are beautiful.  Such white sand, and much bigger waves than I'm used to at Lake Manitoba!  I've heard that this beach is pretty ugly compared to the beaches that I'll be seeing in the south at the end of my trip (Phuket and Phi Phi).

I've been hearing so much about Thai massages that I figured I should indulge at least once while I'm here.  As if lying on a beach in Thailand wasn't relaxing enough in itself... 

The fire dancers in Koh Sumet were amazing - such skill and coordination.  I've never seen fire dancing before.  It was quite mesmerizing to watch.

I also drank out of my first bucket this weekend (or rather shared a couple with Lori).  This in itself is a big deal because this is very much a Thailand thing.  

Every bar/club has a deal on buckets.  The most commonly purchased bucket seems to be Samsung (Thai whiskey) and Coke.  A bucket can usually be purchased for under 300 baht (under $10) and each bucket contains a full mickey of alcohol.

Nothing encourages conversation more than a bucket full of a delicious ice cold beverage of your choice and 5 straws. 

Koh Kret: The island of pottery and other pretty things

I discovered Koh Kret in an attempt to find a place to see production potters in Thailand.  We walked the perimeter of Koh Kret, which is almost 8km's long and very scenic.  

The main road winds through villages, plantations, markets/shops and pottery workshops along the way.  The houses in these villages are very rustic and beautiful  They are all on stilts with thatched roofs.  There aren't any windows or doors on these houses as privacy doesn't seem to be too much of a concern in Thailand.  I saw many Thais lounging around in their living rooms on hammocks.

The plantation fields mostly consisted of bananas and durians, but we also saw coconuts, jackfruit, papayas and dragon fruit (images show the last three in the same order as they are listed).

The pottery for sale was sometimes sold containing a food or a drink (Lori purchased an iced coffee for 30 baht, it came with a free hand-made drinking bucket).  

Most of the pottery sold in Koh Kret was described as "Mon" style, which seems to refer to the their signature unglazed, oxidized earthenware pieces with exceptionally intricate carving.  The potters often sat in their stores carving leather hard pieces in between helping customers.

At the end of our walk, we saw some small and large "turtle back" kilns (single chamber). 

The pottery workshops were very large for such a small island.

  

We also had the opportunity to watch some potters working on the wheel.  

Their precision in making every piece identical and the speed at which they pumped work out was incredible. (see videos below).  

 

Toilets!

The highly anticipated toilet post!

The first toilet that I used in Thailand looked like this:

These are pretty standard at public restrooms in Thailand.  These “squatters” have no running water (you fill that bucket with water from the hose on the left and pour it into the toilet to flush it).  That little bin on the bottom right is for feminine products and in the case of tourists, toilet paper (which you make sure to carry with you in your purse/backpack).  If you’re smart you’ll also carry a plastic bag of some sort with you as many washrooms also aren't supplied with any waste paper baskets to put said toilet paper in.

Needless to say I was thrilled to see that my washroom was super high class (I'm talking LUXURY here.  A seat, AND running water!  I really am SO lucky).

I’m still not supposed to throw toilet paper into this one either, but that’s FAR from the inconvenience that I was expecting. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering what the Thai alternative to toilet paper might be, check out the hose to the left of the toilet.  The infamous bum gun!  I haven’t felt the need to test this out yet, but I can only assume it would be a comparable experience to that of a bidet, but with the combined qualities of a pressure washer.  Could be fun?  I’ll let you know if I ever give it a try.

Map link

I've now added a link to a map of Thailand (to the right, under my profile).

Some notable places I've been so far (and where they are located in relation to Bangkok) include Hua Hin (south west), Kanchanaburi (north west), Chiang Mai (north west), Ayutthaya (north), Ko Sumet (south, near Pattaya), and Buriram (north east).

(Posts about the last three locations still to come).

By the end of my stay here, I will have also traveled to Phuket (south west), Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap (east (Cambodia)).

Fun facts

As trucks in Canada beep when they're put into reverse, trucks in Thailand play 

"It's a Small World After All"

Temperature

I just yesterday moved the temperature on my air conditioning up another degree to 29 degrees Celcius.  28 was starting to feel a little chilly.

School differences: Class lists

I forgot to post an entry about this when I first got the class lists.  But there were a couple of notable differences on the list in comparison to a class list in Canada.

One expected difference:  The names

The names were all Thai, but much easier to pronounce than I was expecting.  Every student has, at a young age, been given a nickname by a Buddhist monk.  I have seen the birth names of my students and am extremely grateful that they go by their shorter names.  A few examples of these names are:  Flook, Meng Hao, Tah, or Nupuk (meanwhile a sample birth name might be Ritthirong, or Chosita Khunchai).

The second, more unexpected difference:  The "disabilities" heading

One student in my class had "vegetarian" listed as a disability.

This surprised me, but not as much as when I glanced at my friend's class list that one of her students was labeled with the disability "Hindu".

The Grand Palace

The Grand Palace was built in the late 1700's and served as the residence and offices of King of Siam at the time, Rama I.   His reign and the construction of this complex took place shortly after the fall of Ayutthaya.

The Grand Palace was overwhelmingly ornate.  Many people that I traveled with used the word “beautiful” to describe it.  It was amazing, it was elaborate, it was very shiny.  It's construction was obviously expensive, but I wouldn’t have chosen the word beautiful in it's description.  It just didn’t suit my taste I suppose. 

I was happy that I went of course, just as I would be happy to see any art from the Rococo period.  The palace was incredible.  The intricacy of the construction alone was well worth the trip. 

I’m also certain that I will never have the chance to see that much gold again in my lifetime.

 

And some of the statues were very clever.

The temple with the emerald Buddha was a highlight (cameras were forbidden inside this temple). 

But the enormous reclining Buddha just outside of the Grand Palace was my favourite on this excursion.  (See last photo below for scale)