Tuesday Feb 27 -No Rest For The Weary

Today was busy busy but always very interesting!  After breakfast we headed out in a bus Damnoen Saduak to the floating Market.  Bangkok’s floating markets are very well known. These are boats filled with fruits, vegetables, produced, and freshly cooked food being sold from the river.  On the way we took in the local architecture and way of life.  We drove by fields of water set into square plots in the fields here they drain in sea water to make sea salt.  The process of taking and drying takes 30 days to end product.  Next stop was to watch another THAI craft of making sugar.  I did not realize you could make sugar from the flower of a palm tree.  It is kinda comparable to the process of making maple syrup.  The difference is the flower is at the top of a palm tree and on a woody stem that is cut daily and the sap is gathered and boiled.  The photos below show some of the process.  Rob got right in there :). After this we hit the largest water market.  Here we enjoyed a canal tour in a long boat.  Waterways were an important part of traditional Thai life and are still used to transport goods.  The market is very colorful and filled with interesting sights, sounds and smells.  I loved this canal tour interesting and even saw a small reptile as seen in video below.  From here to a place that demonstrates many Thai cultural traditions such as silk spinning, fan and unbrella painting, music, pottery , weaving and some local cooking.  A small demonstration followed in a production backed by music.  Back to bangcock for supper an amazing spread of seafood.  Not for me but Rob enjoyed.  Well needless to say crashed when back to hotel at 845 pm.  Tomorrow off to The Grand Palace and the reclining Buddha.  Heading North tomorrow night to another city by plane Chiang Rai.