Thailand 2014 Day 6b

Thailand 2014 Day7a

Thailand 2014 Day7b

Thailand Day 10b

Thailand Day

As we went along the highway, our tour guide had the bus pull over at a vendor stand with a BBQ grill. Northern Thailand is just miles and miles of rice fields in the flat areas. And with rice fields come the rice-eating fat rats. Which are considered a delicacy in Thailand. When our tour guide was a young boy, his family owned a rice farm, and every morning during the rice growing season he went out and checked the traps for rats, which they ate. He bought 3 of these for us to sample, but felt he should cook it more to make sure it was OK. He had the hotel re-cook the 3 rats (he refers to them as STAR MEAT...figure it out!). By the time we got to taste them it was more like starmeat jerky than anything else. Apparenly the Thai just eat the bones and all, since they are very cartilege-like and tiny. Tastes like chicken, of course! (and yes, I sampled it!)

Not a great photo, but this is a typical small town area, with the King's image on a stand, very adorned. As previously noted, this is done in every town on every major intersection.

Another example of the lightposts in town. Every town just tries to outdo the next with these fancy lightposts on the main streets!

Another thing about these towns..they have set aside parks all over the town which are loaded with these ancient artifacts and ruins of temples from the 1300's. Sukhothai is LOADED with ruins of ancient temple grounds (again, they are like little mini fortresses, bounded by brick walls, altho many of the walls have tumbled and only smaller walls remain.) These are shot from the bus as we pass by one of the many parks.

This hanging bridge is probably about 30 ft long and about 10 ft above a very calm river. It is at one side of the hotel property, and across the bridge is the elephant Chedi. I was the first to lead a group of travelers across the bridge, and I was totally petrified! I would take just one step at a time, very cautiously placing my foot on the next plank, while gripping the two side cables with all my might. Once I went across, the others just marched across fearlessly. I am such a coward about things like this! It might as well have been strung across the Grand Canyon for the amount of fear I had!