Travels in Thailand part 4 Buffalo Cart Ride
No Comments »18th July, 2006; Category: Thailand
Buffalo cart ride in rural Thailand
During my bus tour of eastern Thailand our guide had arranged for our bus to stop at a small farm. The farmer had kept several working buffaloes and we had a half hour cart ride through the rice fields on his farm. Even though there were some cushions to sit on, I found the experience very uncomfortable. The sun was hot and it was quite humid – I’d hate to be there when it was really humid during the summer. Besides, a jerking, lurching buffalo cart on farm tracks is not a good bird watching platform. I saw quite a few birds but couldn’t identify many of them.
After getting out of the cart at the end of the ride, I had very stiff legs because I am not used to sitting cross-legged for half an hour. It was very pleasant to get back into the air-conditioned bus with its moderately comfortable seats. Goodness, I’m a soft tourist!
To read my journal written at the time click here.
To see more images of my time in Thailand click here for my photo gallery.
Related articles:
Travels in Thailand part 3 Country Market
Market place in rural Thailand
On my second full day in Thailand last December I went on a full day bus tour to the Khao Yai National Park. This tour I had booked over the internet before leaving, not knowing for sure whether it would be worth doing. As it turned out the day was very interesting. I was able to see some of the rural parts of Thailand and various aspects to life in the smaller villages. One very interesting part was the visit to a rural market place in one of the villages.
Market place in rural Thailand
The vibrant colours, the cramped conditions and amazing aromas of the food available to the local people was almost overwhelming. In a way it reminded me of the Adelaide Central Market, but with many different kinds of food available. I’ve never seen live frogs for sale in Adelaide, but then I may not have been looking too carefully.
Our guide was careful to explain the foods with which we were not familiar, and we were able to taste several different kinds of fruit for the first time. The guide bought some fruit to add to our lunch menu later in the day.
To read more about my experiences on that tour click here.
To view more images on my photo gallery click here.
Travels in Thailand part 2 River Cruise
On the afternoon of my first day in Thailand I arranged to go on a river cruise. I was able to arrange this through the travel agent in the hotel lobby, which was very convenient. The company also picked me up from the hotel, and delivered me back when the tour was over.
A temple in Bangkok, Thailand
The river life in Bangkok is, like the rest of the city, quite frenetic. There seem to be boats going in all directions. River traffic is very busy, but despite that, taking a cruise on the river is an excellent way of seeing a different side of this bustling city.
A temple in Bangkok, Thailand
For a more comprehensive coverage of my experiences and thoughts on this cruise, click on the link below.
Travels in Thailand part 1 Arrival
In December of 2005 I experienced my first ever trip overseas. I was on my way to spend time with my daughter in Nepal and had a four day stopover in Bangkok, Thailand. This was an enormous cultural shock for a first time overseas.
I came into the city from the airport in the dark. It was after midnight before arriving at my hotel. Sometimes one can often get quite disorientated in a strange place. I am usually good with directions but for the next few days I was totally bemused. I couldn’t get my head around the directions in this busy, bustling city. When I ventured out into the countryside on bus tours I was still confused.
Bangkok, Thailand
I have already posted my journal of my experiences in Thailand as well as many photos in my photo gallery, so to read more about what I did click on the following links:
Overseas Travel
No Comments »14th July, 2006; Category: General
In December 2005 and January 2006 I experienced my first trip overseas. I had a four day stopover in Bangkok, Thailand on my way to spending three weeks in Nepal with my daughter. She was on her way home from a twelve months teaching exchange in England.
At the time I published my journal written during this time overseas. At that stage I didn’t have a photo gallery. I have been progressively adding photos to this gallery over recent weeks. I still have many hundreds to add to the gallery.
Over the coming weeks I will be highlighting some of these photos and how they relate to earlier posts on this blog. So if you are a new reader to this blog you can be aware of earlier postings.
Of course the journal I wrote at the time can also be accessed through the archives section of this blog.
River scene, Bangkok, Thailand