The Magnificent Mekong Day 13

Tuesday, September 5th, 2023

This morning we visited a village outside of Kampong Cham.

Some of the children followed us as we walked through the village. They would take turns holding our hands.

Each family had their own rice paddy field.

We visited one village family who supplemented their income by making beaded necklaces, bracelets, sewing small bags, carving wooden utensils. They also let us visit their home upstairs.

In the village was the local store or as our guide called it, “7 Eleven”!

There also was a traveling market going through the village.

We visited the Twin Holy mountains, “Phnom Pros and Phnom Srey”. They really are hills but because the area around it is so flat they seem like mountains. We were told the story of the local folklore about how the hills got their names. It was said that a mountain-building competition was organized between men and women to determine who of the two should propose marriage. One mountain was made by men, and the other by women. They had a day to build their hill and whoever built the highest hill would become the winner. The loser would be the one to ask the for the opposite side’s hand in marriage. The competition would end when the Sirius Star rose which was very early in the morning. The women had placed a lantern high so that when the men saw the light, they mistook it for Sirius and stopped working. So the women won. Their mountain is taller and named Phnom Srei (Women’s Hill). The man’s mountain was called Phnom Pros (Men’s Hill). Thus the men still had to ask the woman’s parents for permission to marry.

Phnom Srey (woman hill) and Phnom Pros (man hill) both have pagodas on them but the Phnom Pros was more ostentatious.

In between the two hills was another killing field by the Khmer Rouge. Thousands were massacred here. Phnom Pros from 1975-1979 was used as a detention place for torturing Cambodian people in the Kampong Cham province.

The temple was used as a detention center during the Khmer Rouge.

We spent our time at Phnom Pros. Here we visited the Temple and the Buddha Garden.

Outside of the temple that was used as a detention center.

The library was located at the base of the hill. The library had four smiling faces.

There were many Macaques monkeys running around. We were told to leave our water bottles on the bus because they would steal them and you don’t want a chance of a scratch or bite.

As we left the hills we saw statues in roundabouts as we were heading back to the riverboat.

This afternoon we had free time so we walked over to the Pagoda and walked all through the grounds. There were some lavish stupas and we also saw the decorated dragon boat that they use for the Dragon Boat Festival.

Afterward we walked into the local market and looked around.

This evening was the Captain’s Cocktail Party that included a farewell toast because this was our last night on the Viking Saigon. It was hard to believe that we would be disembarking tomorrow.

The Magnificent Mekong Day 12

Monday, September 4th, 2023

This morning we moved upstream to Oknha Tey.

When we arrived we got off the riverboat and walked into town. As we walked along the road we passed many stupas. A stupa was a place of burial and there were many of various sizes and colors as we went by.

We also passed by a school and the students were interested in us just as much as we were with what they were doing.

In town we got on a tuk-tuk for a ride that was sometimes bumpy, to the Oknha Tey weaving village and it was also known as Silk Island.

Our tuk-tuk and our adorable driver! She didn’t realize we could hear her singing as she drove along!

We saw the silkworms and the process it took to raise cocoons and make silk by using traditional worms. It was a very interesting process.

The silkworms lay their eggs in the mulberry trees. The silkworms lived in man-made habitats.

The worms eat a lot of mulberry leaves for a little over a month.

Minea showing us mulberry leaves and its fruit.

Then they begin making a silk fiber to wrap around themselves making a cocoon.

The workers unwrapped the silk fibers from the cocoons by boiling them to loosen the thread.

The threads were then wrapped onto a large spindle. They used natural dyes for most of their silk threads.

Each family had their own foot pedal loom in their home. These villagers also were farmers and fishermen.

The weavers sat at handmade wooden looms. We watched them weave some intricate patterns.

Below was a quick video showing the process of weaving.

Also, we had time for shopping to help the local economy! I think our group did a great job helping their finances.

Back on the riverboat we watched a local take his horses into the river to cool them off and he also washed himself at the same time!

The road that just stopped!

Late this afternoon we attended a lecture and the topic was “Life at the Mekong River”.

Today wasn’t as busy so we enjoyed some time in the afternoon to sit up on the sky deck and read.

The Magnificent Mekong Day 11

Sunday, September 3rd, 2023

This morning we were awake at 4:30 AM and watched ESPN’s game cast of the Ohio State VS Indiana football game. It was their first game of the season. Ohio State won 23-3.

This morning we tried another tropical fruit, longan. The fruit was similar to the lychee. It was native to Asia.

Today we had about an hour drive to the Udon Monastery. We passed the fish market which was busiest at 3:00 AM and 4 PM but we still saw individuals doing business. As we drove along it was so interesting watching the sites.

The Vipassana Dhurak Buddhist Center or Udon Monastery complex was huge. The main purpose of the center was to teach Vipassana meditation techniques. Vipassana meant to see things as they really are and came from India’s ancient teachings for meditation. Proper temple dress was required and no hats on the grounds at all so many of our group used umbrellas because the sun was intense today.

The architecture of the buildings and gardens was beautiful.

We climbed the steps up to the temple and removed our shoes before going inside.

This was the temple we climbed up the stairs for our blessing with the Buddhist monks.

The inside walls and ceiling was covered with colorful panals that told of the Buddha’s life.

We went into the Pagoda for a blessing service from two Buddhist Monks. Instead of water being thrown the monks threw jasmine and lotus petals. When the monks started the blessing chant their voices were so calming even though we had no idea what they were saying.

Just some of the petals that landed on us.

Tony, our program director, took this picture during our blessing.

After the blessing we walked around the area. The monks and the laypeople were getting ready for their meal. The monks eat first in order of their age and then the laypeople.

In part of the wooded area were homes of the laypeople who live here. Below were just some of the homes we saw as we walked around. Our local guide told us her grandfather lived in a home like this at a different temple complex and when he passed the family left it for another family to have a place of shelter.

We left the Buddhist Center for a drive to a small village. On our way we crossed the Tonie Sap Lake which was part of the Mekong river system and were on a modern bridge.

Our next stop was Koh Chern which was famous for silver smith and jewelry and was an island in the Tonie Sap Lake. As you cross the bridge the first sight you see was a sitting Buddha!

Once we crossed the bridge our bus was too big to go into town so we transferred onto tuk-tuks for the rest of the ride.

The village of Koh Chern silver craft was passed from generation to generation. None of these artisans attended art schools, they learned from family members. Their craft was almost lost during the Khmer Rouge regime. We visited one of the many family-run workshops in the village. The workshop was also part of the family’s home. The family did a demonstration for us.

This afternoon we took a tuk-tuk to the Harvest Square shopping area to visit the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up a guitar pin for Cambodia.

The same tuk-tuk driver picked us up and on our way back to the riverboat our driver stopped and pointed out sights around the city and then a torrential rain fell and blew in on us. Our driver stopped and put down the clear plastic sides but he was drenched!

Independence Monument- marked Cambodia’s independence from France in 1953.

Before dinner we went to a presentation on Cambodia’s modern history by Stephanie. She was a linguist and anthropologist.

After her presentation we had a port talk so we would know the schedule and have time to prepare for tomorrow’s adventures!

The Magnificent Mekong Day 10

Saturday, September 2nd, 2023

Today we were in Phnomh Penh, Cambodia.

View of Phnomh Penh, Cambodia from our riverboat.

We met our Cambodian guide, Minea. She had a great sense of humor and was very informative.

Tony, our program director, and Minea, our Cambodian guide

When we got off the riverboat we were met by cyclos and their drivers. We each rode in a cyclo through the city where our first stop was the Royal Palace.

The traffic as we traveled on the cyclo was busy and sometimes scary.

One of the entrance gates to the Royal Palace

The Buddhist monks were walking from their school as we were walking up to the palace entrance.

The Royal Palace was a complex of buildings and many of the buildings did not allow photos inside. One of those buildings was the King’s residence. The flag wasn’t flying so he wasn’t there.

The Silver Pagoda or Temple of the Emerald Buddha was located in the Royal Palace. In 1962 it was rebuilt out of concrete and Italian marble. It was formerly made from wood. It was one of the few buildings that wasn’t destroyed during the Khmer Rouge regime. The Khmer Rouge regime lasted for four years, 1975-1979 and took the power away from the Cambodian people. We learned more about what happened during that time period this afternoon.

It was called the Silver Pagoda because of its floor which was covered with 5000 tiles but when we went in most were covered for protection. No photos were allowed inside.

Throne Hall, used for official ceremonies

On the Royal Palace grounds was a mini model of Angkor Wat. We visited it later on in our trip. Our guide told us this was a great model to see the full depth of Angkor Wat.

The funeral stupa of King Suramant was located on the grounds as were other deceased royalty. A stupa was a monument that housed the ashes of the person.

Walls around the complex contained a mural that depicted the Indian epic poem called Ramayana, or Reamker in Cambodia. The story was too long to retell here. Feel free to look it up online because it was interesting to read about. The mural was created in 1900 and parts had been restored.

Have you ever seen a cannonball tree? We did at the Royal Palace. A cannonball tree’s flowers and fruits grow directly from the tree’s trunk. Their name cannonball came from their brown and round fruits.

Each of our cyclo drivers picked us up and took us to the National Museum which was made out of red sandstone. It was the largest museum of cultural history and the finest collection of Khmer sculptures.

The museum suffered a lot of damage during the Khmer Rouge regime. The Australian government and other patrons helped undertake a major remodeling during the 1990s. The Cambodians want to maintain the exhibits in the museum and one was the largest collections of Khmer artifacts in the world.

Near the Royal Palace was the Wat Ounalom. It was one of five original monastries in Phonm Penh. It was damaged during the Khmer Rouge period but had been restored. It was established in 1443 and consisted of 44 structures.

Our cyclos took us back to the boat around lunch time. We saw some more interesting sights as we headed back.

Markets selling wares/food along the road.

After lunch we had a somber visit to the Tuol Sleng Detention Center Memorial. In 1975 Tuol Svey Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot’s security forces and it was turned into a prison and was known as S-21 (Security Prison 21). It was the largest center for detention and torture in Cambodia and the most famous.

Pol Pot was the dictator who ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979 and his regime, Khmer Rouge, was responsible for the killing of between 1.5 and 3 million people. They created 189 prisons.

Between 1975 and 1978 over 20,000 people from S-21 were taken to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. The Khmer Rouge kept meticulous records of their torture. Each prisoner was photographed when they arrived to S-21 and sometimes after they were tortured! The museum had these photos displayed.

Only 7 prisoners were alive when Phnom Penh was liberated by the Vietnamese army. Two of those survivors, Chum Mey and Bou Meng were still alive and they were at S-21 promoting their first-hand accounts of their prison time!

Our last stop was to one of the Killing Fields, Choeung Ek Genocidal Center.

It was here that the Khmer Rouge regime killed thousands of people.

The memorial with glass sides houses skulls froj victims.

We purchased a lotus flower to place in the memorial urn.

They saved bullets by doing it in the fields and most were hit in the back of the head or swords were used and the victims were then mass buried in shallow graves. We walked through the memorial.

At least 20,000 Cambodians were killed here! Our guide explained that the tree with all the bracelets was where the Khmer Rouge killed small children by beating them against the tree. She visited here on a school field trip and she was very emotional telling us about what happened at this tree.

It was a somber ride back to our riverboat and everyone needed time to process the atrocities of what we heard and saw this afternoon. We were warned it would be an emotional excursion.

We ended the evening on a high with a performance by Cambodian children of traditional folk dances. The youngest performer was four years old. He was a monkey!

It was quite a day full of many emotions.

The Magnificent Mekong Day 9

Friday, September 1st, 2021

This morning at breakfast we tried another local fruit, mangosteen or queen fruit. You peel the rind and enjoy the juicy segments inside. We didn’t take a picture of one peeled open.

The picture below showed what a mangosteen peel and inside fruit looked like.

Today we took the sampan boat to Tân Châu.

The ferry takes people from one side of the river to the other side.

When we got off the boat we got on a rickshaw for a 15-20 minute ride to the temple, Thánh Thãt Tân Châu.

When we got on the rickshaw it was raining for part of our ride. We felt sorry for our drivers. We tipped them well when we got off at the temple.

Sights as we rode around the busy town.

We got off the rickshaws at the Thánh Thãt Tân Châu.

We took off our shoes and entered the temple, women entered on the left and men on the right. It was ornate and beautiful inside.

Looking out from the temple to its entrance and the river behind.

Another boat on one of the canals off the Mekong.

We got back on our sampan for a ride to Vinh Hoa, known as “Evergreen Island”. It was one of the islands in the Makong Delta. We climbed out of our boat and walked up a path for an interesting walk on the island. It was a rural community with traditional houses up on stilts.

The island was luscious with all kinds of vegetables growing.

Some of the neighborhood children walked with us because they didn’t have school today because tomorrow was a national Vietnam holiday. We enjoyed their company.

We visited one of the local homes and our guide translated with the mother. She was very gracious and after our question and answer time she let us visit inside her home. To get to the home there was a ramp up the front of the home. The family needed that because they keep their motorbike(s) on the porch! The home had a back staircase also.

Her youngest was so sweet. He wove a palm leave into a beautiful butterfly and gave it to me!

Their home was made of corrugated iron and the floor in the living area was bamboo slats. This home had electricity and a small television. The home was very clean and they made good use of their limited space.

Leaving down the back staircase of the home

When our visit was finished we got back on the sampan to visit one of the many floating fish farms on the Mekong. The fish we fed were about three months old. The fish were in cages and fed once a day. The river current helped to keep the cages clean. It was a smelly place.

The video demonstrated the fish going being fed food.

After our visit to the floating fish farm we went back to the riverboat because we were crossing the Border from Vietnam to Cambodia! As were cruised along the river the Sous chef, Chef Sophors and his assistant did a demonstration on how to make fresh spring rolls. He also gave us his recipe!

Tony, our program director gave a talk about the history of Vietnam. It was an interesting talk.

Our cabin neighbor came and told us to look out our window. We did and saw a reclining Buddha up on stilts in Cambodia.

Tomorrow we would have a busy day in Phonmh Penh, Cambodia!

The Magnificent Mekong Day 8

Thursday, August 31st, 2023

After breakfast we boarded a sampan boat. A sampan was a wooden boat that took us to Cái Bè Village and along the Mekong Delta. Boats were the main form of transportation in this region.

We visited a local family where we tried various locally grown fruits with some tea. We had rambutan, watermelon, mangos, pomelo and jackfruit.

We also walked around their property.

**The netting is where they catch and raise their fish.**

**The kitchen. Most homes do not have refrigerators.**

Our next stop was to visit a pop rice factory where we saw the production of rice paper, coconut candy and pop rice sweets and savory snacks!

The workers demonstrated for us how whole grains of rice with their husks were put into a large pot that had black sand from the Mekong River. It was poured over the fire. The first video below showed the rice popping!

They sifted out the black sand and a second time to remove the rice husks. Then the crispy rice was put into another wok-shaped pot and mixed with a syrup of sugar and water. This video shows the mixing to make a savory crispy rice treat.

This last video showed adding the popped rice to the mixture.

Then they poured the rice mixture into the frame, press it and let it cool.

We tried the savory crispy rice treat and the sweet rice treat and both were delicious!

Our group did a shot of banana wine. It was strong!

They also had snake wine that you could try. The bottle had dead snakes in it! A few of our group members did try it but none of them liked it.

The Vietnamese coconut candy was very popular in Vietnam. It was the most popular candy.

A worker was making rice papers. She showed us the process and the pictures below illustrate the steps.

After our morning excursions, our riverboat left Cái Bè and we were headed to Sa Déc. As we were cruising along we watched the sights along the river.

This afternoon we visited the Sa Déc open air market that was incredibly busy. Click on the slide show to see some of the unusual and interesting items that were being sold at the market!

Sa Dec Market
Busy street
Very busy market
Selling her fruit
Vegetables
Cucumbers
Eggs
Vegetables
Cutting meat
Fish
Pig parts
Meat cuts
Seafood
Seafood
Seafood
Skinned Rats
Motorbikes shopping
Hanging meat
Pig parts
Watermelon
Flowers
Durian Fruit
Flowers
Flowers
Purchasing veggies.
Veggies.

We also saw Marguerite Duras’ lover’s home, Mr. Huynh Thuy Le. Marguerite, a French writer, wrote an autobiographical novel called The Lover. Only the outside of the home was available because the inside of the home is in disrepair. They had an affair but his family didn’t approve of it and his family forced him to marry a Chinese woman but we were told he never stopped loving Marguerite.

We cruised along the Mekong river. We saw homes along the river and some were pretty modern looking and others were barely standing.

Before dinner Captain Hiep invited all of us to the lounge for a toast to welcome us on board. Besides the captain, the hotel manager, our program directors, the head housekeeper, maître d’ and the executive chef were introduced. We found everyone to be so kind and helpful.

The Magnificent Mekong Day 7

Wednesday, August 30th, 2023

This morning we checked out of our hotel and headed to the Cu Chi tunnels. It was about two and a half hours from Ho Chi Minh City.

As we left Saigon we saw bananas, watermelons, and other fruits being sold.

The Cu Chi tunnels were part of a Vietnam War memorial park.

There were military vehicles left from the Vietnam war around the area.

These tunnels were begun by Communist forces in the 1940s during the war to gain their independence from France. The tunnels were often dug by hand. These tunnels were expanded during the war between the North Vietnamese and the non-Communist regime in South Vietnam.

The United States military aided South Vietnam and used a lot of aerial bombing and the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong went underground in these tunnels. Besides offering shelter the tunnels served as a base for the Communist attacks on Saigon.

Look at the two pictures below. Can you find the entrance to one of the tunnels? It’s there!

The video below showed our guide demonstrating how the Viet Cong disappeared!

The United States had to learn to navigate these tunnels and were called “tunnel rats” and they also had to look out for the booby traps. The area was all jungle and so it was extremely difficult to find the tunnels and escape the booby traps everywhere. Below were just a few of the various traps that were set for the S. Vietnamese and U.S. soldiers. They were quite gruesome.

We had the opportunity to go down into one of the tunnels and crawl/stoop through one section. It was dark and humid in the tunnel.

The entrance that was created for visitors.

Tony took these pictures of us as we came out of the tunnel.

We saw other areas of the tunnels that had been uncovered for visitors to see.

Our guide gave us a bag of tapioca to try. It didn’t have much flavor. It reminded me of a raw potato.

On our way from the tunnels to the port we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant that served traditional food family style.

These were some of the interesting sites we saw as we headed to the port.

Our next stop was the port where we boarded the Viking Saigon, our riverboat for seven days. A staff member showed us to our room and explained where everything was located. Our luggage was already in our room. We unpacked and met our room steward, Patha.

Our cabin and the Mekong River from our French Balcony.

There were 77 passengers on board plus the crew members. The rooms were very spacious! The Viking Saigon had one lounge, one dining room, one skybar, which was on the top deck where the small pool and sun deck was located.

Before dinner there was piano music in the lounge and at 6:00 PM we had a Welcome briefing by one of the program directors and an introduction by the hotel manager.

After dinner there was a Vietnamese music show in the lounge.

After the wonderful music and song we were ready to get some sleep. It was a long day and with the heat and humidity it drained our energy!

The Magnificent Mekong Day 6

Tuesday, August 29th, 2023

This morning we met with our tour directors for a short introduction to Vietnam. The program directors would be with us for the rest of our trip. We were split into 3 groups: the A family, B family, and C family. We were in the C family with Tony!

The first photo below showed where we would be visiting in Cambodia and Vietnam. The second photo showed us how to greet and show respect in those countries.

We then began our city tour. We were constantly amazed by the number of motorbikes and how they drove them, even on the sidewalks!

Our first stop was the Reunification Palace or Independence Palace. It was the home and workplace of the president of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and it also was the site of the official signing of power during the “Fall of Saigon” on April 30th, 1975.

The palace was considered a historical monument because it was the site of the end of the Vietnam War when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.

A N.Vietnamese tank displayed on the palace grounds.

The Palace was also bombed in April, 1975.

We went in the palace and saw the main hall and also the President’s office, conference rooms, and a banquet hall. The War Command room was used during the Vietnam War and has been left intact with telephones, radios, maps and plotting boards.

The basement was where the communication center was located and a bunker was built during the Vietnam war to protect the President. During the bombing in 1975 the President’s entire family took refuge in the bunker.

The rooftop featured a helicopter landing area which was used for evacuation of the last Americans from Saigon on April 30th, 1975.

From the palace we drove past the Notre Dame Cathedral which was built between 1863 and 1880. This cathedral was due to the French influence during that time period. Today is was under restoration so we couldn’t see much of its exterior.

Before going inside the Saigon Central Post Office Tony showed us the location for the famous photo of an American helicopter leaving Saigon! The picture we took was from the opposite side of the building.

The post office was built by renowned architect Gustave Eiffel, of the famed Eiffel Tower in Paris, in the late 1800’s. It was well preserved and the workers still hand stamp the mail and hand put the mail in the appropriate bin!

Our last stop this morning was a visit to a lacquer shop and the process was explained to us. There were four main steps in the lacquerware process. One, the base where a a substance, like glue, was applied to protect the wood. Two, natural lacquer was applied and repeated four times. Three, the lining was repeated about six times or until the artist felt the surface was smooth, then the color was applied and the design hand painted or inlaid with mother of pearls or egg shells. Four, the piece was wet-sanded carefully to flatten the surface. We were able to watch the artists at work. It was quite a process.

After lunch we drove through Chinatown and visited a Chinese temple, Thiên Hâu. It was the Vietnamese name from the Chinese name that meant “Empress of Heaven”. This temple was first uilt in 1760 and had been repaired and expanded at least five different times.

While there we lit a spiral incense that Tony filled out for our group for good luck and good health.

After the temple we visited the Ben Thanh Market. On the way we passed some statues, street vendors, and other sites.

Phan Dinh Phung- a Vietnamese Revolutionary

The Ben Thanh Market was our last stop of the day. It was a famous shopping area in Ho Chi Minh City with over 1,500 booths!

We had time to explore it on our own. The stalls were close together and the sellers were persistent in trying to sell their wares. We did not shop very long because for us it was a little overwhelming.

The Magnificent Mekong Day 5

Monday, August 28th, 2023

We were on our way to the airport by 7:30 AM. We needed to leave early because of the rush hour traffic.

We arrived with plenty of time to check-in and go through security which was very thorough. We had a long line to wait in to get through customs.

Our flight left on time and we landed in Ho Chi Minh city at 1:13 PM. It was hot and very humid. We were told that in Vietnam they had two types of weather hot and hotter!

We transferred from the airport to the Sheraton in Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon. The locals still call it Saigon and only write Ho Chi Minh City on all documents and papers of official capacity.

Traffic was heavy in Saigon and there were PLENTY of motorbikes!

The rest of the day was free for us. We went walking on the Nguyen Hue walking street. We left our hotel and this street wasn’t very far away but we had to cross some streets which was an experience in and of itself. Even at a crosswalk you had to look both ways and cross slowly because the cars and the motorbikes might or might not stop for you. But we successfully made it to the walking street which was one of Saigon’s main streets. In 2015 it became a wide pedestrian street and it ran from the People’s Committee building with a Ho Chi Minh statue down to the Saigon River. It was a popular place for locals in the evening.

From our hotel room we could see Nguyen Hue pedestrian street.

When we returned to our hotel we decided to have Pho soup with chicken. Dave also had spring rolls. It was a delicious meal.

We ended the evening with a glass of wine at the hotel’s Wine Bar on the 23rd floor. The views were awesome.

Our guide had told us that Vietnam wine wasn’t good so we had an Italian white wine and they served it in a frosted wine glass! Delicious!

Tomorrow we will tour and learn about Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon.

The Magnificent Mekong Day 4

Sunday, August 27th, 2023

This morning we boarded a coach for a tour of the Grand Palace and then on to Wat Pho.

To visit the Grand Palace, the entrance requirements were strictly enforced! As you enter, the first stop was to make sure you were dressed appropriately! No shorts, no shoulders showing, no flip flops, no deep cleavage, no short or see-through tops, no torn or tight pants, and no bike pants.

The white fence that surrounded the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace was built in 1782. We walked around the grounds and the temperature was in the mid-80’s but the “real feel” was in the 90’s and it was only 9:00 AM! Pete and Jenny, our Bangkok guides explained the history of the palace and the Kings. Pete shared that the movie, The King and I, was banned in Thailand because most of the film had hisotrical inaccuracies.

The Grand Palace complex was built to serve as the royal residence and administrative offices and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The current king is Maha Vajiralongkorn since 2016. He also was the wealthiest of all monarchs.

The amount of buildings in the palace complex numbered over 30! It was massive and beautiful.

Pete showing us how to fold a lotus flower.

The temple with the Emerald Buddha was beautiful. No photos were allowed inside because their king visits often and the palace security doesn’t allow them for his protection. But you could take a photo looking in from the outside.

As we were getting ready to leave we saw their version of the changing of the guard.

Our next stop was Wat Pho. This was another temple. Again no bare shoulders or knees showing, but it wasn’t quite as strict as the Grand Palace. Our shoes came off and left outside before entering. Here we saw the reclining Buddha which was 151 feet long and covered in gold leaf. It was located about ten minutes from the Grand Palace.

The reclining Buddha’s feet were 16 1/2 feet long and decorated with mother of pearl-of-pearl which were characteristics of the Buddha.

For good luck one could purchase a bowl of coins and then drop one in each of the bronze bowls that line the length of the walls. This money went toward helping the monks renovate and preserve Wat Pho.

We had a break for lunch back at our hotel. When we went to our room we had another fruit to try, a Chinese pear. It was very tasty!

This afternoon we met Jenny for an afternoon tour of Chinatown, the Flower and Vegetable Market, and a visit to the Temple of the Golden Buddha.

Our first stop was Sukhothai Traimit, where the Golden Buddha was located in Chinatown.

It was the largest Golden Buddha image in the world. It was made of solid gold! It was 12 feet 5 inches in diameter and was 15 feet 9 inches tall. It weighed about 5.5 tons! It was valued over 35.3 million dollars!

What’s fascinating about this solid gold Buddha was that it was covered in plaster to protect it from invading armies. It was over 700 years old. When it was moved to Traimit, it was accidentally damaged and some of the plaster came off. The movers noticed something that was shiny. After careful inspection they found that it was made of solid gold.

When we went in to see the Golden Buddha we were dressed appropriately and our shoes were left outside.

Monks are permitted to get much closer to Buddha.

We walked through Chinatown. The streets and sidewalks were very crowded and Jenny told us this was nothing compared to how crowded it would get in the evening! As we walked the area we saw many gold shops, open/street vendors and restaurants that opened out into the sidewalk.

The flower and vegetable market was our last stop this afternoon. These markets were opened 24 hours! They had a day shift and a night shift. The prices of the flowers were cheap by comparison to flower prices at home.

We also couldn’t get over the size of the carrots and how nice the corn was, as well as the other vegetables. It all looked delicious!

It was a sweaty but a good afternoon. Another shower because we were drenched!

In the evening we walked over to Iconsiam, the shopping mall. We stopped and took some photos of our hotel from the street.

On the sixth floor was a terrace restaurant with incredible views of Bangkok and the river. The bad thing with the restaurant was that for gluten free options there was on choice, fried rice. It was pretty dry because they didn’t have any gluten free soy sauce.