We probably started walking by 9:30-10:00. People had food stalls set-up all along the streets. I think this is common even without the holiday. We were trying to orient ourselves with our surroundings. I was all turned around. It wasn't till evening thatI realized tthe reason I was turned around was because I basically had walked somewhat in a circle. Anyway, we found out where the temples were and what ones had massages. By this time the streets were getting busy. Now I heard part of the celebration was the use of water guns, super soaks, pails of water. Trucks would drive around loaded with kids on the back of them with large tubs of water so they could throw water on to unexpecting people and also start water fights. It reminded me of the AT parade at Trail Days, but much bigger--this is all day. Besides the water they also had pails with this mud like substance. It is actually a white powder dissolved in water. They would walk around and slyly dab peoples faces. It was all done in fun and merriment. The first one that applied it to me was a surprise, but I felt honored that I was part of their tradition. They were always friendly and gentle about it. There would be all these vendors with these plaster bottles that they would fill up with water and sell. When I first saw them filling the bottle up I thought they were trying to sell water to drink. They had been using used plastic bottles. These people must have been saving these bottles all year long. The streets were filled with these vendors. It was amazing.
Besides the people getting pasted the cars were also. I actually noticed some of the taxis at the airport with hand prints and splatters of paste. These must have been made yesterday. The streets were so jammed with people and they all seemed to be walking in a parade.
Laurie and I made it back to our room. I went down to the pool for awhile and then went back to take a nap. I was awakened by music below. I decided that I wanted to check out what was going on. The people were still going at the water throwing and paste applying. They were dancing and having a grand old time. I just couldn't imagine that they would still be going at it. People were soaking wet and/or covered with paste.
Laurie and I headed back to the rooms because we didn't care about getting drenched. We watched a movie on TV and we ventured out again for dinner. Now this isn't a place where you have many nice sit down restaurants. It is basically all food vendors that cook in front of you. We found one and got fried rice with chicken. It was very good. The prices are very cheap. My food cost 75 cents.
We walked around some more, basically making a circle around the block. I would see these little alley ways where the people would live. I really wanted to go down and see what they looked like but I felt like I would have been a trespasser.
April 16, 2003
This morning we had the free breakfast from the hotel. Besides the American style breakfast, we had Thai food. My mouth was burning with some of it. After breakfast we waited for Nancy in the lobby. Nancy was to be our tour guide for the morning. She picked us up at 7:30. We were to take a river and canal ride down the Chao Phraya River. We had to wait at the river for others before we could take off. While waiting, we saw some local people bathing in the river. I don't know if these people are considered river people or not. Then there were a bunch of kids jumping in and having fun. The water certainly was not crystal clear like New Zealand, but it was a chalky gray color.
We got on the boat and started down the river. We saw all the homes on the rivers. They looked like shanties. Everyone had cothes out hanging to dry. You could pretty much see in the homes. I was actually amazed to see one girl working on a computer. They just don't look like they have much. A lot of them had plants hanging all around, but the houses looked like it would blow over if there was a strong wind. People would just jump off the edge of their house to bathe. It was neat to see how different cultures live, but I wondered if they minded people looking in and scrutinizing their homes and way of life. I don't think I would like it.
From the boat Nancy pointed out temples and other places. The temples are quite amazing. They are so big and colorful. It just amazes me that they build these large temples because of the size and the work that goes into it and also because of the money that is probably involved.
We stopped at a floating market for people to shop. That is the big thing--they want people to buy things which is understandable because that is their income. Laurie bought a couple of things, but I didn't.
Our next stop was a snake farm. From our standard it looks run down. There were a bunch of cages with all kinds of snakes, cobras pythons, vipers, and others. The man asked Laurie if she wanted to hold the snake. So she did and then I did. The snake was heavy. It was dropped over our necks and we held the tail in one hand and the head in the other. Then they charged us 20 bahts.
They put on a show with the the snakes. The cobra had fanned his head, which I think is called a hood. They showed us their fangs and drained their venom. There were some other snake stunts such as one man picking up the snake by his mouth.
After the snake farm we headed back to where we started from. We were suppose to get to a city ride, but what it really was, was for them to take us to different stores to shop. The first place was a jewelry place. They greeted us at the door, handed us a cold bevergae and showed a video about gemstones. We then could watch them grade the stones and cut and shape them. We were then herded into their display room. It was large, with many people trying to get you to look at their jewelry. It was beautiful, but I am not one to wear expensive jewelry. One, because I am cheap, two because it really doesn't go with my hiker image and three, it is too flashy for me. The next place was a fabric place where they make you an outfit in six hours. I don't think Nancy realized that I am not one for fashion. I thought my clothes would have given her a clue. I think, though, they have to bring us to these places. It must be part of their job. There were a couple of other stores that she brought us to. I did the polite walk through and then I was done. I hate to feel rude but I am just not interested, especially when I feel like they force it on you and people follow you hoping you will buy something. These weren't your street vendors, they were upscale places, but I just didn't like it.
Nancy and her driver were done showing us around and asked where we wanted to be dropped off. We decided to go to Wat Pho. This is a temple and it is also the school for massage. This is the one we heard about. We decided to go and we got a half hour massage for a little more than four dollars. The massage room is a big room with a bunch of beds. They aren't like the massage tables that I am use to. I had a young man, probably in his 20's. They're basically on the bed with you. Just so you don't get any idea, I
