I'm still going to go with text for posts though I should over the next day and half have a chance to test the upload capabilities for picture posts.
Today we took what was promoted as a 'small boat tour of the old canals of Bangkok'. The city formerly was mostly water transportation oriented. That stopped in the modern era and there are very few if any in Bangkok proper. But across the river on the Western side, an extensive canal system still exists. There are a number of tour companies that give very limited tours with multiple people in a boat. The one we chose allowed us to have a custom experience.
Our guide, Nui, turned out to be a gem. She was a wealth of information about how life used to be on the canals and especially about the importance of Buddhism in the daily life and attitude toward life of the Thai. As the day progressed (we were with her from 8 AM until 3 PM) our conversations got deeper going in both directions which frankly doesn't happen all that often with tour guides. I even felt comfortable enough to ask Nui about how the obviously deep spiritual attitude of the country coexisted with Bangkok's notorious reputation as a sex tourism destination. She felt comfortable enough with us to ask us questions that related to her own situation as a guide and how we felt about certain things that were sensitive in her company. It was a pretty special experience.
Also just being on the boat, going down the canals deep into the countryside outside of Bangkok was so relaxing. We got to see some neat Temples, and orchid farm, and a artist village where they did a traditional Thai puppet show.
Chalk up another mark and the experiences list :)
1 comment:
I would love to hear her answer to your question!
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