On Saturday Dr. Klitzing, Rut & I took a boat ride on The Chao Phtaya canal. Rut is the staff person from SWU who has been assigned to us. She sets our schedule, helps us when needed, and makes sure we stay in good shape. We have had some tremendous experiences here so far and it is all because of her guidance. I feel very safe. Anyway….
For you commercial recreation people this entry is for you. At Chao Phtaya canal there are tourist boats as well as boats locals use as canal taxis. We took the locals boat & road for an hour and half for 13 baht ($0.37). The tourist boats were more expensive. We road down to Nonthaburi, which is the first city outside of Bangkok, and had lunch at a Thai restaurant. The tourist boats do the same thing but they have a guide to tell you the sites. We hopped on that boat on the way back & I couldn’t understand a word he said. It was due to the microphone and not his English speaking skills. I liked the locals boat much better.
In the picture you can see the boat we road on as well as the brown of the water. The water is fairly polluted as the boats are everywhere and people bathe in it, wash clothes, and fish. Thailand does not seem to have the anti-pollution laws that we do in the States, and our rivers and streams are quite polluted as well. I could go into a complete political tirade on that as well, but I will save that for class.
Lastly, we visited Wat Arun Ratchawaram, or Arun Royal temple. It was on the river, so we just got off of our canal taxi and back on when we finished sightseeing. The temple is 67 meters high and decorated in fine china. It is here that the young Monks live and learn to be full fledged Monks when they turn 20. They were everywhere on the grounds. This was an amazing place, and it costs less than a dollar to visit! Interestingly, it was free for Thais, and foreigners had to pay to get in. This is a nice idea to make sure that tourists are covering the cost of attractions. They do not seem to have the high taxes on tourist attractions that we do. I’m still learning all of this.
The people here are awesome. They are so nice and helpful. They work hard to welcome tourists. Although this boat trip would have been difficult without Rut, many things are in both English and Thai. You can tell they want tourists here….Something the US could learn from...the place where English is king and the rest don't matter.
This has been quite an experience so far. Stay tuned…..
For you commercial recreation people this entry is for you. At Chao Phtaya canal there are tourist boats as well as boats locals use as canal taxis. We took the locals boat & road for an hour and half for 13 baht ($0.37). The tourist boats were more expensive. We road down to Nonthaburi, which is the first city outside of Bangkok, and had lunch at a Thai restaurant. The tourist boats do the same thing but they have a guide to tell you the sites. We hopped on that boat on the way back & I couldn’t understand a word he said. It was due to the microphone and not his English speaking skills. I liked the locals boat much better.
In the picture you can see the boat we road on as well as the brown of the water. The water is fairly polluted as the boats are everywhere and people bathe in it, wash clothes, and fish. Thailand does not seem to have the anti-pollution laws that we do in the States, and our rivers and streams are quite polluted as well. I could go into a complete political tirade on that as well, but I will save that for class.
Lastly, we visited Wat Arun Ratchawaram, or Arun Royal temple. It was on the river, so we just got off of our canal taxi and back on when we finished sightseeing. The temple is 67 meters high and decorated in fine china. It is here that the young Monks live and learn to be full fledged Monks when they turn 20. They were everywhere on the grounds. This was an amazing place, and it costs less than a dollar to visit! Interestingly, it was free for Thais, and foreigners had to pay to get in. This is a nice idea to make sure that tourists are covering the cost of attractions. They do not seem to have the high taxes on tourist attractions that we do. I’m still learning all of this.
The people here are awesome. They are so nice and helpful. They work hard to welcome tourists. Although this boat trip would have been difficult without Rut, many things are in both English and Thai. You can tell they want tourists here….Something the US could learn from...the place where English is king and the rest don't matter.
This has been quite an experience so far. Stay tuned…..
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