Visitng the Thai Countryside

We had an early morning in order to make the drive to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.  The drive was a little more than an hour from our hotel and then we boarded some long boats - the gas powered gondolas of Thailand.  It was very scenic as we made our 30 minute ride through the canals until we reached the market.  Pretty impressive with how many boats fill the tunnels and the way you just pulled up next the boat you wanted to buy from. 

Most of the floating markets are smaller than this one and are for local Thai people.  This one was opened to tourists in the early 1970's and the most common pictures used for tourism are from this market.  Another claim to fame was this market's use in 2 movies - The Man with the Golden Gun with Roger Moore as James Bond and Bangkok Dangerous starring Nicolas Cage.  While this place was rather touristy - it was still something to experience.  

After the kids did some shopping - we boarded our bus once again and made our way to Phra Pathom Chedi - one of the tallest chedis in Thailand - standing almost 420 feet high.  While there is no documented history on this temple before 600 AD, it is believed that the original stupa was built much earlier - probably around 190 BC.  It was made modified several times throughout the years - adding different types or architecture to it to reflect different influences.  It was completely abandoned for many years before being rediscovered by Rama IV, before he was king - and he asked Rama III to restore it, but was refused.  Once he was king, the stupa was rebuilt and has been a prominent Buddhist temple since.  We got to visit it during a celebration where many devout Buddhists were being gifts and donations for the monks and to pray. 

From there - it was off to lunch at a local resort where we were served an international buffet - which all the kids enjoyed - especially the spaghetti!  Everything here was organic - and made fresh at the resort - and it tasted like it.  We had a beautiful view overlooking a pond/lake. 

We made it back to the hotel for a quick clean up in the 2 rooms that they allowed for us to have a late check out with and then made our way to the train station to catch our train to Chaing Mai - our last stop on this memorable adventure.