Here's How We Spent New Year's Day in Thailand

Here's what we did on New Year's Eve Day, the Grand Palace and Wat Pho - The Temple of the Reclining Buddha...off to our Riverboat Dinner Cruise for fireworks...enjoy...Happy New Year's...from my table to yours.

Elephants, Elephants and More Elephants

The revered elephant

Less than twenty-four in our return to Bangkok has us tired and filled with the sights, sounds, smells and experiences of Thai culture - beginning with the Floating Market where you can get anything you want...and more, on a boat - you may choose to be in a boat or purchase from a vendor on a boat, there is so much activity, color and excitement as the boats meet head-on and play bumper-boats with each other. Then off to ride the elephants...quite an adventure. After a stop for lunch we watched a cultural festival and learned more about elephants - what a fun day...please enjoy the stories told in pictures...and as always...from my table to yours...enjoy!

The floating market where everything is on the water

This woman is selling soup to customers sitting by the side of the river.

Our guide told us to be sure to keep all limbs in the boat...let the bumper-boats begin.

The fruit was beautful

You can get anything you want...

except a COLD beer (or at least I didn't see one)

Table-side service

This shrine to the elephant greets riders as we wait for our turn

This was the elephant Shannon and I rode and it was hungry!

Here she is coming round the corner looking for goodies

Les regally riding

Elephants were featured at the cultural show

This elephant demonstration showed off some fun talents

The view from my lunch table

Off for a swim to cool off

These are our windows in the morning...

...and here's the view at night

Monkeys, elephants and heat at Angkor Wat

Goodbyes are never easy, especially when you know that they are probably for good...but difficult goodbyes usually mean terrific connections and memories...well such is the case for leaving Les's host family and now as we prepare to leave Cambodia. Yesterday we stood by the roadside to catch our van to the airport in Phnom Penh. As it turns out we got the "express" and it only took 45 minutes or so and we didn't stop as much nor have as many passengers as the first trip on this route. We only had 15 people or so and arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. The plane flight to Siem Reap was less than forty-five minutes.

A tuk tuk took us to our hotel - the Golden Banana, and it was a good thing we had heard about the warnings of a scam with tuk tuk drivers taking unsuspecting customers to a place other than what they had requested and getting commissions from the vendors whose sites they take these new customers...because our driver tried that with us and Shannon was very firm and insisted many times that he take us to the hotel immediately...yeah Shannon!

Standing by the side of the road
waiting to catch our ride to the airport

Siem Reap is filled with international visitors and it is really fun to hear so many languages surrounding us. Our hotel room is especially nice with a beautiful balcony overlooking one of the three pools at the hotel compound. The Golden Banana will be reviewed in my overall reviews of the hotels we stayed in on this trip. the sights here are incredible and so I will just give you a glimpse of our last several days in Siem Reap...enjoy - bringing you food and travel from my table to yours...

One of our two balconies in our room at the Golden Banana

The view from one of the three pools at the Golden Banana

Lunch

The beginning of the Angkor Wat photos
This seven headed serpent greeted us

Monkeys at the moat around the temple

A bridge to the Night Market In Siem Reap

Sunset from the rooftop of our hotel