Rick’s company is pretty much the only one in Thailand that gives a day off for Loy Kratong, which worked fine for us since it gave he and I the chance to do something we’ve wanted to do for awhile. We headed downtown to Bangkok and took a tour in a long boat of the canals (khlongs in Thai) off the Chao Phraya river. It was really fascinating – people live up and down the khlongs, right on the water. They are a major form of transportation, complete with a few traffic lights, street (khlong?) signs, and locks that allow the long boats and small traffic off the Chao Phraya river to safely enter the khlongs. There is so much poverty evident, but you also see people smiling, socializing, attending the many temples along the khlongs, and basically just living their lives in a much simpler manner than we are accustomed to!
In these pictures there is a neat Chinese style temple, a spirit house next to a falling down house/hut (spirit houses are at the corner of almost every piece of property here – the Thais leave offerings at them to keep the evil spirits away from the main house!), some cute Thai school boys taking a break from studying, and a lady in what is basically a canoe, selling her wares along the khlong!
In these pictures there is a neat Chinese style temple, a spirit house next to a falling down house/hut (spirit houses are at the corner of almost every piece of property here – the Thais leave offerings at them to keep the evil spirits away from the main house!), some cute Thai school boys taking a break from studying, and a lady in what is basically a canoe, selling her wares along the khlong!
1 comment:
It's great to see what you are all up to!
I spent sometime catching up with your escapades this afternoon and am struck by the difference between your family blog and mine :)
You are all having such a wonderful experience!
-kym
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