The tour group spent New Years Eve in a traditional Thai teak house. It was built about 20 years ago and is very beautiful. We were invited to join neighbors celebrating New Years. We tried rice whiskey, sat on mats and conversed. It was a great experience. Some of the group stayed until 2 AM! The next morning on New Years Day we went to the local temple to give alms. People brought rice and other food gifts.
The Thai House website: http://www.thaihouse.co.th/home.htm
The entrance to the Thai house.
One of the upstairs rooms.
Every Thai house has a Spirit House mounted on a pillar outside the main house. More Hindu than Buddhist, Spirit Houses are miniature houses for the spirits and offerings are made to them. Here is the Spirit House outside the Thai teak house.
Elizabeth eating fruit for dessert. Notice the beautiful (and delicious!) tropical fruit in the basket!
Penelope with Noi, our tour leader, the morning after a long night of drinking.
Taking alms into the temple.
Tables laden with food gifts inside the temple.
Noi and Nicola outside the temple. Nicola was always smoking and taking photos!
We went into a small temple next to the large one. Here we lit incense, left flowers and said prayers for the new year.
The monks live in a complex next to the temple. Here they wait in line to enter the temple where they chant prayers.
Saying goodbye to the three sisters who manage the Thai teak house. Noi is still recovering from New Years Eve!
The recent Thai flood, the worst in fifty years…the Thai teak house was flooded for three months. The only way to get around was by boat. The suburbs of Bangkok were hit the worst because the government focused on protecting the inner city.
We went by long-tail boat on the klongs (canals) of Bangkok to return to our starting hotel. We passed canal houses that were lined with high-water marks from the flooding.
This teak house was half-way submerged during the flooding. Notice the watermark.
Many canal-side temples were flooded. The water is still high.
After the tour ended I went to the weekend market in Bangkok. On the way back to the hotel in a taxi I saw this monitor lizard creeping out of the bushes! At first I thought it was a crocodile because I read that crocodiles escaped from a farm during the flooding.
