Thailand Day 3 – Monkey Mountain
Tuesday Oct 14th , Day 3 – Monkey Mountain
Good news – Joe’s infection looked much better today. What a relief!
Joe and Becky picked up waffles for breakfast at the daily market before we headed out for the day. Its different from how we might grocery shop in the U.S. for the week, there is no need for that here. Everything you might want to eat, you can find fresh or served up at the daily market. The Monday market is the biggest but every day there is a daily market on a smaller scale that occurs. Becky will just buy breakfast there as well as lunch as the market is just down the street from her house. No need to shop and keep groceries on hand. There is a real concern for bugs here. If you spill anything in the house, you must immediately wipe it up. Even the smallest crumb means ants.
We picked up waffles from the daily market for breakfast
We visited the other market today (the Chinese market). It was mostly the same stuff but I found a souvenir for my Dad here since he collects coins (a Morgan Silver dollar dated 1896). Not sure how that coin got all the way over here. A visit to the market is still a big event as there is still much to see that feels very different from our farmer’s markets back home.
A kitty inspects the morning fruit display at the Chinese market – the fresh fruit options in Thailand are unlimited
We marveled at all the wires we saw dangling in the Chinese market – no idea how many of them were electrified!
Joe was jealous of our Thai massage yesterday so we got another today so he could enjoy as well. Joe had the foot/leg massage and Becky and I had the full body massage. Traditional Thai massage is different than the deep tissue massage you get in the U.S. It consists of a lot of stretching and deep pressure that is applied by the palm of the hand, thumbs and sometimes even by the feet. I got some great pics of Becky’s masseuse walking around on top of her. The Thai technique focuses on improving circulation by combining acupressure, Indian Ayurvedic principles, and assisted yoga posture.
Also, traditional Thai massage doesn’t use oils or lotions. The recipient remains clothed during a treatment. There is constant body contact between the masseuse and the client, but rather than rubbing on muscles, the body is compressed, pulled, stretched and rocked to relieve stress. It was the same wonderful low price as yesterday — $5 each for 90 minutes.
Becky’s masseuse applied stress-relieving techniques with her feet
During the afternoon, we went to Phanat Nikhom’s “fishing club”…basically it’s a lake where you pay to fish. We caught mostly carp but the real fishing will be in Krabi anyway. It was still fun. We stopped by the bat temple again on the way home since Joe missed it yesterday while at the chicken fights and buffalo races.
On the way to BangSaen we saw the 2nd largest Chinese temple in the world (the first largest being in Hong Kong)
We went to BangSaen to visit Kao Saam Mo (otherwise known as monkey mountain). Hundreds of wild monkeys that live on this mountain will come down to the mountain road because they know tourists will feed them. That does not mean they are tame AT ALL. I had a basket of small bananas that I was dangling too low to the ground. Next thing I know, one of the monkeys grabbed it by the handle. It was a 5-second tug of war between me and this monkey. I tried to pull it back from him, he hissed at me and showed his very sharp teeth and I was done. As cute as they are, they can be quite fearsome and they DO mean business when they bare their teeth and food is on the line.
Monkeys galore at Kao Saam Mo – otherwise known as monkey mountain
Then Joe tried to take a step toward the thieving monkey to get my basket back and this monkey actually started to charge him and also bared his teeth again…..Joe backed off immediately. They’ll take food out of your hand but you need to be careful and remember they are still wild animals.
Joe is actually saying, “hurry up and take the picture before this monkey assaults me”
We ate at a wonderful seafood restaurant that overlooked the Gulf of Thailand. We ordered everything you can imagine! Plate after plate of seafood came out: lobster, soft shell crab, shrimp, fish, scallops, and octopus. We literally paid a fraction of what it would cost in the U.S Food is very cheap here. But I noticed that everywhere is the same in the restaurants: NO NAPKINS! They have these tiny one-time use napkins that are so small and so thin, they represent the consistency of a kleenex. I could take 10 of them to equal what I’m used to wiping my hands on.
We enjoyed a seafood extravaganza – I really liked the soft shell crab and octopus as seen here
Supper was wonderful and as we walked off our dinners afterwards, we came upon some street artists who drew a very funny caricature of Joe and Eric at the buffalo races for a small fee. We’re going back to Bangkok tomorrow so we can fly to Krabi. We’ll be in Krabi for 7 days for more adventures!
A street artist drew a funny caricature of Joe & Erik riding the water buffalos
Side Notes:
Thai houses are very cluttered with junk. And there is NO recycling whatsoever. Seriously, the U.S. is light years ahead of Thailand with all we try to do to be ‘green’ and we should be proud of that. Thai’s don’t seem to care about the environment or what they are doing to it. They think nothing of throwing garbage over their back wall behind their house to dispose of trash. It drives Joe’s sister crazy. Phanat Nikhom is the cleanest town in Thailand. They received an award but based on their disposal habits, that ain’t saying much. Their maid would always throw all their trash behind the back wall and it took a very long time for Becky to get across to her not to do this. Speaking of houses, Becky has managed to caulk up their house fairly good to keep all the bugs from coming in, but that hasn’t stopped the geckos. Every once in a while, you’ll get a glimpse of a gecko scooting across the wall. You must use disinfectant on all the countertops if you prepared food there as ants are a real problem.
The Thai’s are actually very interested in our presidential election. The way they see it, the race is between ‘the black one’ and the ‘old one’. Despite the limited amount of English, I have managed to ask who the Thai’s favored and they mostly say McCain. Because he is old and in Thai culture, you always respect the eldest for knowledge and experience. There are 3 things that have been on the TV nonstop during our stay: the economy, the U.S election, and all the protest rallies in Bangkok. They talk about the economy almost as much as we do (and it’s a serious state across the entire world…everyone’s economic system is bad). And they are very interested in our U.S. election which surprised me. And of course, everyone asks where you are from, but nobody understands when I say, the United States. When I say, America, everyone knows that word.
