Pictures on Picasa now!

Got the photo link to work as I want it to- just click on it over on the right and enjoy=) ---->>>>

Wonderful Damnoen Saduak Floating Market....

This means toilet... Good to know...;)












Spirit Houses; Thais put those houses up to invite a protective spirit to the their property. It has to be located in a spot where the shadow of the house cant ever fall on it.














Jack Fruit; larger than a watermelon- you can only eat the yellow bits of it- tastes sweet, exotic -mmmmmm...=)











Elephant baby and it mom- arent they cute=)
We got to ride on a big one of them called BIG...;)
















Head of a Buddha Statue in the roots of a tree in
Wat Mahathat

Home Sweet Home- Back I Am

After another two amazing and amazingly hot days in Bangkok I am back here in Switzerland...
Saturday I got to see the Kings Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo, one of the most important Wats in Thailand; truly ostentatious places! Even as a non Buddist the pompous buildings let you understand how important they are. I learned so much about Buddism- so many of all the paintings and statues are based on the story of life of the Buddha and the Ramayana Story, which I am not going to try to tell you here- it s sort of long and somewhat complex- my earlier attempt to try to repeat it was not very successful... But if you re interested in Buddism go google it, it helps a lot to understand.
On the way there I also got to ride a TUKTUK which is some kind of motorized rickshaw, the drivers are a bit crazy and you get the real taste of the downtown air right in your face but let me tell you- it s great- gotta have ridden a TUKTUK when in Bangkok=)!
After we went to Chatuchak Weekend Market.... It s HUGE!! And you can get EVERYTHING there; food, clothing, Thai traditional art, plants, pets and the locals actually like going there to go shopping for all of it as Mink told me... And for one time I wasnt the only "farang" , as the Thais call non Asian people.... We spent some 5 hours at the market and didnt even get to see half of it.... I love markets- I loved JJ market =)!!
Come to think of it; did you know that if you ask a Thai person at seven o clock what time it is might tell you it s one o clock? Thais start counting the hours after sunrise or sunset... It so didnt make sense to me at first- but if you think about it- if the sun always rises and sets at the same time- why not go by sun schedule...?

Sunday Mink and her dad took me a bit out west to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market... Boats filled up to the edge with fresh fruit, arts and crafts, food... You get to catch a boat looking a bit like gondolas in Venice, with a skipper that moves you around the channels with a stick and you just let him know where you want to stop to look at things. =)
Another market, mangos, mangos with sticky rice and coconut milk-mmmm, Rambutans, Mangosteen, Somtam, a salad made from green Papayas, tom yum, a spicy and sour soup with chicken-mmmmmm.... So markets + pretty places + exotic fruit + good food + such nice people = happy Annina ;)
Only thing- the climate made Annina be a bit less happy- between 35 an 40 degrees, crazy humid, sunny and not always very clean air was pretty hard on me...

After an incredibly busy 5 days Mink took me to the airport Sunday Night. Sad leaving her behind again after such a short time of seeing her again!! But it did give me a great insight in what her life in Thailand is like! My plane took off and I spent just a few moments more awake- being dead tired of an exhausting five days my trip home didnt seem too long even though I spent 12 hours on the plane.... Even though physically back home my mind still lags behind........

I hope you all enjoyed reading about our adventures out in the big, wide world!!!
Finally pictures are on picasa for you to watch. Somehow the photo link doesnt quite work the way I want it to work so get on the page by the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/adafs11

Enjoy!!

In Bangkok.....

Sawat-dee!!
My guide Mink is doing a great job taking me around the city and around- showing me everything, introducing me to everything... I ve been eating so many new things these days. Not to talk about trying to figure at least a couple of words in Thai...
First day we spent shopping at that one mall that actually rather looks like a market to me. So much fun!
Yesterday we headed out to Ayuthaya, the next province to see ancient temples from the period of Ayuthaya so when Thailand was still reigned from there. And I got to ride on an elephant=). You know, one of these real Thai elephants with the pretty red and orange cover on them..
Today we went all over Ratthanakosin, the part of downtown around the royal palace where you find the most and the most precious temples.. It really incredible how colorful and how numeorus you can find these Wat, the temple areas here. We went to Wat Pho to see the reclining Buddha which is about 45 m long and lying down-enormous!!!! Then we visited Wat Arun, which is a overly high Chedi, pretty much a bell shaped tower with either remainings of people or other precious relicts in there... Tomorrow I ll get to go to the Weekend Market and before to the actually Kings Palace and the Emerald Buddha, the most holy Buddha in Thailand.. I m learning lots about Buddism.. Sunday we ll probably head to the floating market, a market on the river..It s great to have a local guide!!!

Arrived in Bangkok

After a airly calm 7 h flight I finally got to Bangkok where my Thai Friend Mink and her Mom picked me up from the airport and took me to their house just outside of bangkok... Now it s up to my guide for the next 5 days to take me around and show me some of her city. She has already all planed out; so i ll get to go to a huge market to an ancient temple site in another state a bit out of Bangkok and today we ll be wondering around in the city, just to see...
It s really exciting to see her again and to be in Asia for the first time.... =)