September 15 to 16—Mahasat Klong Tour and Massages With Cindy Stew

Dear Family and Friends,

Saturday, September 15, Martha’s belly did not take the night’s meal too well, and she ended up having a tough time getting out of bed. By the time she was ready, about 9:30 AM, Dani and Cindy had been up chatting for quite a while. We settled in for breakfast of bananas, two types of dragon fruit (red and white), rambutan, grainy breads, and yogurt, before heading out the door to enjoy the local ‘Ago Tour’ along Mahasawat Canal by boat. Cindy informed us that the tour had been set up by the locals as a means to make some money and show off their commerce. We paid a total of 510 baht for the three of us (about 6 USD each), and waited a few moments at a table where food could be provided. A young woman approached us and asked if we would like to take a survey, revealing that they were from the environmental school at Mahidon University (where Cindy teaches pre-college English) and were interested in responses on the eco-friendly klong tour. Of course, we had not yet taken the tour, but agreed to complete their survey upon our return!

Cindy was smart in not telling us the details of the tour, as each of the four stops was a wonderful surprise!! We were particularly thrilled with the first stop … at a local orchid plantation!! We had been sad not to make it to see the orchids in Udon Thani, but it was meant to be as we continued our trend of doing each touristy task just once on the trip. But, to get to see rows and rows and rows of gorgeous purple orchids was just incredible. Some smelled pretty, even like grape Koolaid; others were brilliant red, yellow, and orange colors. The proprietress of the plantation rattled off details of her work in Thai, completely lost to Martha and Dani, and Cindy admitted to catching about 10 percent of the details. We were content to walk the grounds, taking photos and marveling at the use of coconut as planter bases for the young orchids to flourish. It was difficult to leave, but we were soon back on the little boat with Lek, our beautiful guide. We were not empty-handed, however, as Cindy purchased a couple of orchids and a ‘lipstick’ plant that reminded her of one she’d owned during her life in America.

Our second stop was a fruit orchard, where we sat to enjoy some of the local fruit and fare—grapefruit/orange slices, the best bananas we’ve had in three months, a coconut sweet, and some puffed rice. The real treat was the ride on the tractor through the orchard, however, as the driver had to swing his body to the far left and to the far right around curves, physically dismounting from the tractor to make the turns. We passed jackfruit trees and the hanging grapefruit/orange trees, and eventually came to a rice field that was about ready to harvest. Martha and Dani noted that we had been in SE Asia for just about an entire rice crop’s growth cycle, and were so pleased to get to see the rice up-close at its final stages of growth, with long grain-like tops where we could see the rice about ready to be plucked from the ground. Neat! Back towards the entrance, we purchased some of the flavored banana chips produced at the orchard and headed back to the boat with Lek once again.

During our fruit orchard stop, Cindy had received a phone call from the local Wat Pho Massage School where her daughter had taken a course on foot and leg massage. Cindy had gotten a rather bad massage that had thrown her back off, and she was waiting for word on when her appointment for some help in healing the wound might take place. When they called to see if she could come in that afternoon, she asked if perhaps the appointment could be for three instead of one, and we all looked forward to a 4:00 PM herbal Thai massage!!!

Our third stop was at a rice cake factory, which included a board with photos of the process and some English descriptions. The proprietor shows us the tools used to create and cook the rice cakes, including utensils and the heater cauldron for oil. We were able to take recently-cooked rice cakes, put some sauce on top, and add the final toppings of either sesame seeds or a BBQ pork-based thread that looked a bit like hair and tasted delightful. Cindy picked up a bottle of fruit juice with intentions of dinnertime enjoyment (but completely forgot about it by the time we got to the house--hope Cindy got to enjoy it). One of the greatest joys of living in SE Asia is the abundance of fruit and fruit products, among other great joys in the arts, the history, the culture.

The fourth and final stop was at a lotus blossom farm, where we disembarked from the boat past the usual landing that Cindy remembered from her previous two times on this tour. We walked past little "rat doodie" pepper plants and onto a platform in the middle of a reservoir where baby lotus flowers were growing. When Cindy was there last, the water was filled with full grown plants and flowers, ready for harvest; she enjoyed getting to see the different stages of growth at the farm. We enjoyed the serenity, sitting among the plants and enjoying the water supplied at this (as it had been at every) stop before getting back onto the boat one final time.

The klong itself is a beautiful means of travel. The motor was the only noise along the way, and we got to peek into people’s lives along the canal, seeing them washing themselves or clothes, getting smiles from everyone that we passed, and witnessing their commercial tasks, including a bin of frogs and one woman collecting reeds from the klong’s vegetation. The bridge near the baot's landing is one of Cindy’s favorites, as it is so steep going up that bicyclists and motorbikes have difficulty in the ascent and greatly enjoy the decent. The water was clean, the ambiance was delightful, and we had a great three hours enjoying the tour.

Back at the dock, we fulfilled our obligation to the students as three of them sat across from us and asked questions about the eco-tour and what we might like to see them do to improve it. Cindy’s main feedback was a request for more English-language instruction on what goes on at the orchid and fruit orchards, in particular, pointing out the picture-board at the rice-cake factory as an example of a helpful resource. In general, though, our reviews of the klong tour were glowing, and we had a great time speaking with the students.

Onward, we dropped Cindy’s orchids off at her house before landing at the lavish Wat Pho Massage School, where we donned fisherman’s pants and little sleeveless shirts and giggled at the pampering goodness of it all. Cindy insisted on treating us again for this second extravagant pampering-us outing with her, and we appreciated her kindness, looking forward to the time when she will let us return the favor.

Orchid foot bath started us out, washing and scrubbing away from our sandaled feet months of road dirt from the trails of SE Asia. The lovely ladies washed our feet and lower legs before ushering us back to the massage room where Cindy’s masseur was already hard at work to help correct her injured back. Martha took the bed to her right side, and Dani took her left, each laying down for an hour of quiet bliss. This massage differed so drastically from the ‘original’ Wat Pho massage in that the room contained only the three of us, separated by screens so that we were in a peaceful and calm environment, surrounded by the smell of herbs and blissful Asian instrumental music.

Relaxed, so happy to be together, we enjoyed one more stop in our evening, walking through the local Salaya marketplace to pick up an assortment of dining stuffs to eat back at Cindy’s—pumpkin soup, three types of satay, a green salad, veggie-packed jellies with a spicy sauce, gyoza, and two types of drinks, including a detox tea to complete our day of goodness to our bodies. We sat down together to enjoy this last meal, talking about the coming days’ events and whether Dani and Martha would end up South for a few days on a Thai island or if they would end up in Bangkok before heading back to Europe. Just a few more days in this part of the world …

Cindy drove us the half hour to her friend’s guest house, the Riverline Guest House near the Rama VIII Bridge in the Northern downtown of Bangkok. She expertly navigated the narrow alleyways, pointing out a restaurant that she knew well, and telling us of her early days living in the city, where she stayed at the accommodations of her now-friend, Gee. The original location of Cindy’s living was the Riverside Guest House, which is the parent guest house to the new one where we would be staying, just around the corner. We were happy to spend the time in surroundings familiar to Cindy and give her friend some business.

No sooner had we opened the gate to enter the secure, walled guest house and check in, than who should be standing RIGHT THERE!?!? Now, realize, folks, we had not set foot in Bangkok but about five minutes at this point … and … so oddly … and unexpectedly … who should be standing right there!?!? You’ll never guess. OK, you might easily, but still. (Is this suspenseful enough for you?)

Our friend, Kevin, from Cambodia and Saigon to Nha Trang, VietNam, was RIGHT THERE IN THE DOORWAY with his lovely girlfriend, Pim!!!!

Everybody now: “It’s a small world, after all. Bum bum bum. It’s a small world, after all. Bum bum bum …”. What a pleasant surprise! We were headed in different directions after a very warm (and confusing-to-Cindy) reunion, but knew we would run into each other again in the coming days as we were staying in the same place! (Weird.)

We said our ‘see ya laters’ to Cindy, making plans to have dinner together on Wednesday to celebrate our last night in town, and Dani and Martha headed down to the riverside eatery for another quick bite and some ambiance in this hipsters part of Bangkok. A live band played. The chit chat of the locals flooded the air. We were back in Bangkok.

Sunday, September 16, we asked to switch rooms in the Riverline Guest House since Martha’s back was hurting from how hard the bed was in Room #306; upstairs, we found the bed just a wee bit softer in Room #405, and paid the 350 baht for another night. We got settled and headed out to the weekend market of Chatuchak. Dani asked the lady at reception about which bus to take, and we hopped onto Bus #34 around the corner. We were on a mission, to find a coconut lantern.

The ride was pretty long as the market was located uptown, close to the bus station of Moh Chit (where we were formerly lost on Bus #77 months ago). The afternoon was not as hot as it had been in July, and we enjoyed walking around with only a bit of sweat pouring down in the humidity. It was still a nice break from the weather we had been experiencing all summer, and way better than it had been in Bangkok previously.

Chatuchak Market was huge and packed with people out for their Sunday enjoyment. Many locals and tourists cluttered the pedestrian walkways. Some children played their musical instruments along the sides of the walkways in hopes of getting some extra baht from passers-by. Folks with mobile stalls sold hair ties and trinkets, only to pick them up and move along whenever a security official showed up. Eventually, it started raining, but not before we had finished up our shopping for Christmas and crossed most everyone off of our list! GLORIOUS! Among our triumphant purchases were two that we were particularly happy to find—a couple of coconut candle holders! We had been looking all over the continent, up and down market aisle after market aisle, everywhere for one for Cindy Stew’s daughter. Now we could turn them over to Cindy on Wednesday over dinner and surprise her!

We ate lunch of chicken with rice … hold the chicken liver, please … at a local stand in the market. Among the wonderful wares, we found a couple of Buddha at the request of one of our friends (Love the Stephie ...), including one of the medallions that we have discussed in an earlier post. The man we bought them from was playing the stringed instrument common to this region. In negotiating with the musical wheeler dealer, we learned that the elderly gentleman had visited the United States in years past. Behind him in the large market stall were photos of a younger-him in DC in front of the Capital Building and New York City before the Statue of Liberty.

In Vang Vieng, Martha had lost her khrama from Cambodia (so sad), and we were also walking through the aisles on the hunt for one to replace it. We found many scarves of various styles and patterns but none of the colorful gingham designs specific to that part of the world. UNTIL, we rounded one bend only to find an entire box filled with them for 50 baht each! Needless to say, Martha picked up another one, and an extra for good measure (just in case of a second incident of loss).

We took the bus back towards home and stopped in to grab the computer. We took a different path away from the guest house, passing the old Phra Sumen Fort along the way. Dani had understood that there were places along Khao San Road where we could have dinner and use WiFi services. We never did find a place touting wireless and a meal, so we sat down for a nice dinner of hot and sour pork for Martha and stir fried beef with basil, chilis, and vegetables for Dani. In the end, we shared Yahtzee once again, enjoying a learning-for-them experience with two Japanese gentlemen who had just arrived in Bangkok that day for several weeks of holiday.

Love to you all,

Martha and Dani