Thailand Day 2

Another fun day. Mongkhon picked us up at 8:00 a.m. and we drove 2 hours to the floating market. The drive was interesting seeing outside of Bangkok. Mongkhon brother-in-law is the local Stake President. We talked to him about the local church and some of his story. We talked about how far they have to go to the temple (either Hong Kong or Manila). We kept asking what all the beautiful buildings were along the way and they were almost always Buddhist temples. He said, "There are temples on almost every corner, just like being in Utah (with LDS Temples)" He was cute.

The floating market was amazing. First we stopped and got fresh coconut. (pic). Then we boarding our boat. This was a lot of adventure for Janet as she had to sit almost on the floor of the little boat. She thought she might be stuck there for good. I'm glad we were with Mongkhon as we entered the canals far away from all the tourists and got to ride along beautiful jungle-lined canals to reach the market. This area of Thailand people live on canals and take boats everywhere. I was hoping the market would be seeing more of a local market, but it was a lot of the same tourist souvenirs we see everywhere. Although there was a lot of food. We tried some fried bananas that were excellent. They were these small bananas deep fried in a coconut batter. Really sweet and yummy. I was bummed that I remembered I could take video on my camera after we left the main market place because I'm sure the still pictures don't do it justice. I'll post some.

We then drove another 45 minutes or so to the Bridge on the River Kwai (thanks Alex Guinness for helping me know what that was - and thanks to Tracey and Jenny for picking the movie at movie club last year Ü So American of me to get my history from Hollywood!) We first stopped briefly at a cemetary where they moved the soldiers from the work camp graveyards. It was a nice memorial.

The bridge was fun. I walked all the way across. One of those things they would never let you do in USA because of all the possible liability. There were a lot of people walking both ways and you'd have to move to the side (old, small, board running along track) as they passed. Instead of moving each time I just kept walking on in, then realized it was a little scary. Ü There were groups of school children who kept asking me to be in their photos with them. I'm not sure what that was about, but they giggled a lot.

After the bridge we drove to the Rose Garden where we had a late lunch (really quickly as we were running late) and watched a Thai dance show. It included some traditional dancing and Thai boxing ("kick boxing- sport of the future"- name the movie). Then they had elephants and snakes in the center square that you could ride or take a photo with.

Now we are back at the hotel and it's about 6:30. The evening is pretty open. I think Janet is done for the day. We may go get a late dinner in an hour or so. I'd like to go get another massage. It's pretty amazing how they contort your body. Fun. Ü

Ok- this took forever. I wish I had time to post more pics.

Love to you all!!