Lunchtime. I found this lady carrying her burning grill and stopped her for some gai, chicken in Thai. There was agirl eating there as well so she took mour picture. I showed the vendor her picture and she could only laugh.

This unfortunately is not a view from my room in Ko Samui. I walked down the beach to get this shot. I'm standing on a large outcropping of granite. The sand is very coarse and not as pleasant to walk on as it is to look at.

PROOF

This sign is NOT at the bottom!!!!

This male is being groomed and appears to have a grin on his face, lucky boy. You may not have to, but if you click on yhe picture you will see that he is most definitely a male and probably a dominate one at that. he could not have cared less that I was there, what male of any species would.

In Prachuapkhirikhan I was able to get a room on the fourth floor over looking the Gulf of Thailand, as you can see the veiw was spectacular. The beach was not very good, the sand was hard and dirty. There was a fishing fleet that docked their boats at the pier and in the bay in front of the mountain in the background.

The temple was the highlight of Prachuap.I climbed the 396 steps, at the left in the picture, it took about 25 minutes or so. I passed about 50 monkeys on the way. From babies to grandfathers that stood about 3 feet. They threatened with open mouths and beared teeth but never came close until I walked by then they would grab my pants leg.

Here is one of the monkeys that tugged on my pants. She was docile compared to some of the males. I found myself scrounging for corn and bananas left on the ground to get them to let me pass. When I came down from the temple there were vendors selling corn and bananas, if I only I knew the reason before I went up.
The spire here is the one you can see from the ground. It is an active temple with at least one monk in residence that I saw. He actually walked down to the bottom and back up again while I rested at the top.

Erawan Falls in Kanchanaburi was not as spectacular as what I expected. Waterfalls in North Carolina are much larger and fall a greater distance at one time. Erawn Falls starts 2200 meters up but the highest fall is only about fifteen feet. This wild monkey (ling in Thai) had two buddies with him/her. It's eating incense that was left as an offering to Buddah. The incense is lit, he was the only one who figured out how to pick it up without getting burnt. the others would grab the lit end and shake their hand and then look at us like we did it, they also got somewhat defensive after burning their hands repeatedly.

These are the friends I hung out with in Kanchanaburi. On the left is Erng, she owns a local bar and her own car which is how we traveled the 65 kilometers to Erawan Falls. Jook on the right is friends of Erng and drove me around on a motorbike I rented for +\- $6 for 24 hours. They have taught me a lot of Thai as I have taught them English.

A ten year old monk was our guide at the cave temple (in Thai wat tam) Kow Poon. He spoke in Thai so I really didn't get much from the experience as far as explanations go. Jook speaks some English but not enough to translate, but that's okay as I enjoy the experience of it all even if I don't understand what people are saying.

I spent a day with Jook's family going from Kanchanaburi to Uthong and Bat Tum Thani. The ride in the pickup was a bit tiring as there was only a thin pad for comfort. The entire trip was about 4 or 5 hours. Her family was terrific and couldn't do enough to ensure my comfort, as best they could, and safety. There were 8 of us and a baby of about 5 months.

As close as I could discern from extensive questioning of Jook, this man is like a shaman, tribal witch doctor if you will. They had the youngest children get their mouths and throats swabbed with some kind of herbal paste by the doctor and then he spryed water from his mouth on the back of their heads. The kids weren't at all pleased with the swabbing, each cried and gagged as you can imagine. By the way the doctor was completely blind and very highly respected.

Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) is on the opposite side of the Chayo Phraya river from Bangkok, in Thonburi. It is one of the most recognized temples in Thailand, very often photographed for promotions for tourism to Thailand.

The Temple looks plain from a distance but is very ornate up close. It is mostly covered with ceramic tiles and relief statues.
Wat Arun is and active temple with monks and services. But the vast majority of its income comes from tourism, entrance fee is 50 baht about $1.25.

Do you want something to eat? Open markets are the way Thais buy their food. The lage majority live in single rooms without airconditioning and refrigerators are more than a luxury. So perishable food is bought daily. They also use a great deal of dried foods, which are dried in the sun.

The city of Ayuthaya, about 50 miles north of Bangkok, was the capitol of Thailand 200 years ago. This temple is one of at least 30 that are 400 years and more old. They were built of brick and then stuccoed over to appear smooth with intricate patterns carved in the stucco. This was the burial chamber for one of the kings. The idea is somilar to the piramids with valuables buried in the center.

On my trip to Ayuthaya from Bankok, I got a seat no problem. The return trip was another story. We were buts to nuts as they say. I was standing on the step to the outside door. No pigs or chickens but you could have cooked them it was so hot. The trip was only about 2 hours so it could have been worse.

My digs in Kanchanaburi, one room with private bathroom, small balcony, western toilet and view of the River Kwai, $7.00 a night. Bamboo on the inside also and yes it does have about a 10 degree slope toward the river. It took a couple of days but I finlly stopped falling downhill. I have house guests, 3 Tokay Geckos about 8" long, they keep down the bugs and are very politethey don't hang out when I'm there.

There is an extremely efficient mass transit system in most of Thailand, especially in Bangkok. This is the #4 bus thattakes you to the BTS, Bangkok Train System which is a Sky train. This is one of the older buses with wooden floors. I would guess the age to be about 20 years or so
still running and better than walking.

This is Thai iced tea in a to go bag. Very easy and less expensive than if you get a real cup.

This is one of the altars in Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn). Most of the gold is gold leaf, all very garrish. The craftsmanship is quite remarkable, the picture does it no justice.

This is Wat Arun from across the river at the river taxi stop. When you are in the twmple area there is no where to get far enough away to get a complete picture. From a distance it looks dirty and plain but up close it is covered with ceramic tiles and intricetly carved figurines.

As part of the new year, (Sangkron) celebration everyone throws water at each other in every imaginable type of vessel, from cups, for the less aggresive, to five gallon buckets and hoses. Pickup trucks are armed with drums of water and revelers to indiscrimantly disperse the celebratory water. They also smear you with apaste made from baby powder and water and sometimes this perfume that is so aromatic it made me gag. From what I've gathered the water comes from a religious act of pouring water on the statues of Buddah at the temples.

This is all going on while the protest are about 2 miles away.

This is the local ice house. They break the large blocks and then crush it in the machine in front of the guy in the green T shirt. Sanitation is not a big concern here, as you can see by the blocks sitting in the sidewalk, those are concrete pavers not ceramic tile so the absorbancy is great.

Again sanitation is not a big concern. The meat, pork and chicken, will stay there all day unrefrigerated. However, the turn over is fast. Thais are big meat eaters. This shop is part of a very large open market with veggies, eggs, live, dried and salt cured fish and some things which may be edible but completely unrecognizable to me. Most all of the local street vendors by their daily supplies here and the street food is quite tasty and safe.

The dog is sitting on a roadside restaurant table where they serve customers. There are so many dogs and cats running loose and most are scruffy street animals. They all leave you alone but they tend to let you know where they have been, if you know what I mean. Step high and carefully.

At about six in the morning the monks come to the streets with their begging bowls. They recieve food not money and in return, as in this picture, give a blessing. There are about ten or twelve monks that walk the couple of blocks in the neighborhood. Some do so well that they have a believer with them to carry a large bag of food which they have collected. Every morning they walk the streets from about 6 to 7:30 AM.

This is the street to Blue Fin Guesthouse. Very narrow but adequately wide for two small cars to pass carefully. Notice the wiring, those are telephone wires probably about 6 inches in diameter. That blue door is the entrance to a home. This area, Dusit, is kept very clean. Not much in the way of debris on the streets. Everyone pitches in and sweeps their area daily, imagine that ever happening in the states.