So first full day in Thailand we are all running on adrenalin as not one of us in the group of thirteen has had anything like enough rest for the previous two days.
As I mentioned in the last post we were traveling with OAT. My husband and daughter had done a month long trip to China and Tibet with OAT in the summer of '08 and they were so impressed (and I impressed with their stories) that it was a no brainer to use this bunch again. You see, I contend that when traveling in a country where the writing is unrecognizable to anything like the alphabet we were taught, you should not try to go it alone. OAT uses natives to guide their groups so that you are getting a view of the country you are touring through the eyes of someone who has lived their life there. Another wonderful thing about traveling with OAT is that, even though you do see all the known (touristy) highlights, you also get off the beaten path and visit homes, schools, and factories. By traveling with OAT we were able to see so much more than we ever could have on our own, because there was no time lost just figuring things out. Add to that the indispensable fact that OAT had scouted out western style "Happy Rooms" every hour and a half to two hours in our travel so that only if desperate did we have to "get happy" like the natives - read Asian style stand up potties ladies, they think our sit down accommodations are just nasty. Also, all our hotels - though never the Ritz Carlton - had AC (and with temps in the 90s every day, that AC at the end of the day was more than welcome), clean beds, flushing potties, and food tempered a bit to the western palate (though fish sauce was ever handy if you wanted to add a bit of fire in the hole).
So after a breakfast of mostly recognizable foods - the buffet at each hotel catered to both eastern and western tastes so there was always something new for the adventurous to try. and the fruit? OMG it was heavenly- We hit the streets beginning with a bus tour and walk through the Bangkok flower market.
Orchids in Thailand are like daisies here. They are everywhere. We found orchids on our beds at night, orchids scattered on the table. Orchids hanging from trees and bunched in front of shops. People's yards full of orchids. WOW!
And the smell of the roses! Heaven. The flowers were unbelievably inexpensive. Large bundles of roses for a dollar - you don't even want to know how cheap the orchids were. The colors and varieties - boggled the mind. It was magnificent.
These arrangements are meant as temple offerings to the Buddha. Women sat arranging these by the dozen. Also stringing sprays meant as gifts or for hanging on the fronts of boats or rear view mirrors of vehicles or to hang on spirit houses.
Our guide bought each of us a small garland which he presented us with later in the day
After the flower market it was on to the fruit market for some exotic things I had never seen or heard of, much less tried.
These are pear apples, or sometimes called rose apples. They tasted like a bland apple. Though pretty - they didn't make the cut for me. Too many other much more wonderful fruits to gorge on.
Like these! Thailand has about twenty varieties of bananas and we tried several. They were all just scrumptious. I ate every one I could get my hands on. The other fruit here is pemelos. They are similar to grapefruit but much larger, sweeter, and firmer in texture. I loved them!
This odd critter is a dragon fruit. The pink skin is not edible but the meat inside is white with tiny seeds sort of like strawberry seeds and the taste is sweet and yummy. Again, I ate as much as modesty would allow.
Here are the rombutan (hairy thing) which has a fruit inside that tastes something like a grape, and the mangosteen which was an odd sort of fruit indeed. The outer skin is more than a quarter inch thick soft almost mushy - red thing but the fruit inside is off white and in sections with a small pit in each section. Tasty but almost not worth the effort to get the skin off (if you can call it skin, which it isn't really - and not edible either)
Last here I have Jack fruit. It looks a lot like Durian, but isn't. Jack fruit doesn't stink at all and the meat is soft and a bit custard like. It is sweet and tasty. We only had a chance to eat it twice, but enjoyed it both times.
Other fruits we sampled were sapodilla, lynchee, mango, coconut, papaya, tamarind, and I positively pigged out on the best fresh pineapple I ever ate. It was included every morning with breakfast and most evenings for desert. I have never ever had such wonderful pineapple!
Funny thing about Durian - we did see some in the markets but never got close enough to smell them - every single hotel we stayed in had a "No Durian" sign at the front door.
Well that gets us close to lunch time on the first day, I'll pick up from here next time. I think this is long enough for now :)
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
