Its takes a village

to raise a child and to put on a show. This is the entire group responsible for our two weeks in Thailand. I'm at the top of the photo in the center. Look for eyes but no mouth or nose, guess I should have picked a better place to stand.

Monkey see monkey do

Apparently there are monkeys in them thar hills. We didn't see any of them because we arrived late in the day but our guide Eak says the monkeys are very smart. They know when its lunch time and they come down to be fed by visitors. Even more impressive Eak says they know when its Saturday and Sunday (the parks busiest days) and the number of monkeys begging for food increases! Even the monkeys are industrious in Thailand. Sheesh.

Paradise found

Its seems apt that they will film a movie here, every turn is more stunningly beautiful than the last. This is the bridge to waterfall #3. Haven't I seen this death trap in Indiana Jones or Romancing the Stone?

As you cross the bridge you get your first view of Pha Num Tok.

Its been six months since the rainy season, so the falls are at their lowest points. Falls #4 to #7 are already dry. Normally all this would be underwater.

I can't even imagine how much more glorious number 3 could be with more water. My only regret is that we didn't bring our swimsuits so we could swim. The size of the fish in the water however gave me the heeby jeebies so I'm not certain I could've gotten past them.

Bathing beauties

Here is waterfall number two (Wung Macha), the most popular with swimmers this time of year. There is a ranger station where you can rent tubes and float in the pool below the falls. I know this looks like something Disney would have created at one of its parks, but no, its just mother nature. Even the color of the water doesn't seem natural, I assure you it is and you can see all the way to the bottom of the pond.

This puts my rain shower head to shame.

On the hunt for Tarzan

Ly Kin Lung is the name of waterfall number one which must translate into breathtaking beauty. As you come out of the trees, this is the view you are greeted with. I'm fairly certain that Tarzan and Jane must be around here somewhere.

Look at this sweet mother and daughter enjoying the falls. I can't even imagine having this place be my local park to go to any time I wished. Talk about a charmed life.

Going Hollywood

The last stop of the day on our adventure was at the Erawan National Park. Home to seven stories of waterfalls, this was an absolute MUST on my list of places I wanted to go. Apparently we weren't the only ones that were interested in this corner of paradise. A movie, The Lost Medallion, will be filmed here. There were building traditional Thai huts from Bamboo for the movie. This place totally brought my Blue Lagoon and Swiss Family Robinson fantasies to life. Did I want to climb in and camp out for the night? Ya you betcha!

Click your heels together

Turns out there is no place like home. I could definitely have spent more time in Thailand but as we landed in Chicago I was really excited to be stateside again. That also could have been just because I wanted off that airplane after 11 hours!!!!! Anyhow lucky for you (especially you Paula) I probably have another week of stories to share. After that you may have to find a new source of entertainment.

Arsenic and Old Lace

I was asking about Thai shadow puppets one night and our local host looked at me like I was crazy. The very next day in the market we saw something from the same family for sale. I bought an elephant, Steven bought an angry looking godlike creature. Turns out they are made on cowhide! (They look like paper.)
Me being the cynic I am I figured they were laser cut or something. Then in Wang Po there was a little man making and selling them at a roadside stand. The intricate lace like design is done by hand, each and every hole is punched one at a time using that little hammer! The elephant he is holding took 10 days to make and sells for less than $50US. Talk about a work ethic!

Alms for the poor

At each temple you can donate money to the poor. You make a donation pick up a bowl of pennies and makes wishes as you drop the coins in the bowls. As you walk through the temple, the coins fall into the pots and sound like rain drops. It was so fun to walk the line and hear the plink, plink of wishes being made.

Melts in your mouth, sticks to your hands

Just when you thought there wasn't anything else that could go gourmet, enter cotton candy. This awesome stand in the mall sells it in buckets big and small. Each color is a different flavor. So darn delicious, I'm gonna miss it something awful!

Just Plain Wrong

Billboard posted on the metro, sorry its blurry or you would see its an ad for maxi-pads. Wrong because really who holds their pad and rings it out?!? Ick! But doubly wrong with Fletch underneath.

Pop, Six, Squish, Uh Uh, Cicero, Lipschitz....Splat

Found these little balls of good time at the weekend market. They are super fun! They stick to the floor or the wall and then slowly regain their shape. To say that we spent hours of time playing with these is an understatement.
Throwing them at the floor was entertaining until we discovered the glass wall in the office.

The wind up...

The delivery....
We have contact...(the brown blob? well that's dog poop, the beige blob? A penis - duh)

Tuk Tuk Goose

Thai traffic is notoriously bad, because of that there are lots of alternative modes of transportation, my favorite is the Tuk Tuk. Not metered, like a taxi, you negotiate a price, then hop in and hold on for dear life as you zoom to your destination.

Job Security

While wandering on of Bangkok's night markets I ended up in one of the "entertainment areas" of town. This fine establishment, aptly named, advertises hands free ping pong shows among other shocking and disturbing tricks.
Right next door is this place, one stop shopping I guess.We ended up at the Happy Beer Garden. Where else can you go to a German Beer Garden decorated with tables made from wagon wheels? While there I fed a baby elephant bamboo treats and met a piano player and singer on shore leave from Princess Cruise lines. She had once done Chicago on the west end. Small world.

Hey Big Spender

One of the most fun parts of being overseas is getting money for the company in local currency. When I was in Korea, if you got all of your per diem in Won you would be a millionaire for the week. In Thailand the conversion rate is $1 US = $35 baht. That's a lot of cash.
Here's some company members giving me their best, "I just won the lottery" poses.

Happy Tour to Left, Sad Tour to Right

When I booked our tour day, I told the wacky Aussie who owned the place we wanted a fun and happy tour day, no stops at the World War 2 cemetery, no stop at Bridge Over the River Kwai, no Japanese Death Train and no mistreated caged tigers.

Somehow not all of that got communicated to our guide and our lunch time stop was in Wang Po. Wang Po is a sleepy little spot where the Japanese Death Train drops tourists off after their ride down the railroad. For those of you who haven't seen Bridge Over the River Kwai you can read about the atrocities associated with this train here.
We went to lunch at this sweet little spot that sat on a bluff above the river and had an amazing buffet (Have I mentioned that unlike in China - I have NOT gone hungry here, Thai food is so tasty!)This is the view from the restaurant; those floating huts are guest houses you can stay in. (They've been added to my "next time" list).
While eating lunch we teasingly reminded our guide that we wanted happy tour, not sad, to which he pointed at the view and responded, "happy tour to left, sad to right". This is the view to the right of the train tracks, they say a man died for each railroad tie placed.

In the presence of royalty

Thailand has one of the longest reigning monarchies on Earth, clearly Steven has seen the King and I one too many times. Here are his best Yul Brenner poses.

Scooter and I are happy subjects. (Crown courtesy of my mahout)