Nate headed back home. Sad to see him go but so fun to have been able to spend almost 3 weeks with him and have so many wonderful and interesting shared experiences together. We were able to see Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and now a bit of Thailand with him. Nate loves to travel as much as I do and I know he was sad to leave and head back to work. But, so grateful that his office was able to support him in coming to join us. It will be a memory we will always have.
The girls and Sam and I loaded up to go see the floating markets. We had been warned that it was more touristy now but the photos still looked really cool and haven’t been to a place where they had floating markets. It was about a 90 minute drive but we had a couple of stops along the way. We first stopped at the salt fields where they farm salt. They flood what look like rice paddies with salt water from the sea and then let the water evaporate and in a week or so the salt lays like a sheet on the ground and then they chop it up and rake it into piles and then send to be refined and cleaned and sold. There were many slat fields along the road. We also made a stop at a coconut farm and home where they make palm sugar. There we saw how they use all parts of the coconut from the husks for fuel and for gardens and to grow orchids in. The flower that comes from the tree- like a long stalk- they take the liquid from- like a sap and boil it and then whip it into a solid form that can be used for sugar cubes or candy, baking,… The place also had all kinds of animals including squirrels on chains. This is something you don’t see everyday. The kids had the squirrel running up and down their arms. We had a hilarious laugh when the squirrel shot up Syd’s arm and to her neck and she was freaking out! They had a gibbon that wanted to hold hands, chickens and roosters that the lady wanted us to hold- no thanks. And then Sam held a huge wide python which the girls couldn’t bare to hold on their own, which is also so heavy. They had birds, of course Sam was in heaven, and had all but a lemur, which we found later at the floating market.
We packed up and hopped into a narrow long tailed boat and we loved our rid up the canals to the floating market. There there were tons of boats, and tons of tourists. The first part seemed fairly authentic since there were women selling all kinds of food and fruits but as we boarded almost like a canoe to tour around the floating markets it was all trinkets and was set up for tourists. It was honestly a bit of a disappointment and it was so crazy hot. We hopped out and as we were walking out there was the woman with the lemur. We just loved this lemur. The kids had all held him before it it just the most cuddly cute thing I have ever seen. If we were in the USA and I could purchase this pet, I would have done it an instant. Anyone that knows me knows there isn’t a single animal I have ever wanted in the past 40 years. This lemur, I would love to have! We all took turns holding it and its tiny tongue and adorable little hands, we just fell in love.
On the way back to Bangkok we stopped at an elephant park where we fed a huge elephant bananas and saw a monkey show. The show was what you kind of think you will find in the backstreets of Thailand. It was totally sketchy and the monkeys were all chained, honestly a little sad, but also pretty funny. They had them riding bikes and dunking basketballs, but by the end we felt like we should set the monkeys free!
We stopped at small local restaurant along the canal for lunch and enjoyed some good local food before heading back to Bangkok and our hotel. Sam was still rearing to go and wanted to see more animals so I had our guide Tee, which we found out later his name really was Pee, but then it was too late to call him that;) take him to the zoo. I went to the room and relaxed and got caught up on photos and our blog and just needed to regroup. The girls walked down the street to a shopping district and had fun exploring town on their own. Sam enjoyed seeing the tigers and birds and other exotic animals at the park. They took the Sky Train back and had fun hanging with a local for the afternoon.
For dinner we opted to leave the hotel and dressed up for a dinner the concierge suggested and booked us at the top of the Banyan Tree Hotel called Vertigo. It exceeded expectations. It was on the roof of the hotel but outside under the stars and overlooking the whole city. There was a nice breeze and the service and food was excellent with the best view in town. It was a great end to the day.
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