After getting too late of a start with our guide, Ten (no relation to the movie), and driver we headed to the country today. Our final destination was the River Kwai (the locals pronounce this KWAY unlike the movie title) with a stop along the way to a floating market and the veterans cemetery.
A quick word about our guide and driver. The driver never said a word the entire trip, just cruised the car through busy traffic with an ear bud on when he would occasionally talk to HQ about something very important. This is how I knew he was not a mute. Ten was different. Picture an Asian Danny Devito with a small backpack on, and you have our guide. She was a better organizer than communicator. The various transitions for our trip went seamlessly, but her commentary (there was none) is why you pay to have a guide in the first place. Also the English was a little weak, but she got us there and back without incident and was very well meaning.
It was great getting out of the city. After 2 days in Bangkok sharing the intensity with the 10 million residents, a change of pace was welcome. It would be like visiting America with only NYC as your guide to what the country is all about. Not a very realistic depiction with such a narrow slice. It took us about 2 hours to get to the floating market in our surprisingly well appointed Toyota.
A couple of observations: there are a lot of nice cars on the road in this country. At first I thought this must be because of the area were in near our hotel, but the quality of vehicle did not change the further out we travelled. Also the quality of roads was very impressive. I pictured something closer to what I experienced in Costa Rica, which has potholes that could swallow a small pick-up truck and break the axel of something larger. Not so here, great signage and very well maintained infrastructure.
These people love their king. I am not referring to Elvis but rather the 80 year old monarch sitting on the thrown who is now out of the hospital with the masses jumping for joy. Everywhere you go, they are celebrating this guy. There are 2 flags you will see on the road; the one for the country and the yellow one for the King. I am not sure why they picked yellow, my associating with that color is closer to cowards and kitchens, but that is just me. My observation is he has 50 percent of the billboard action, roadside with photos of him dating back to 1944 and his college days. In our country the only people getting this kind of ink are Brittany, Paris and Lindsay.
More on this later, we are going to head to Chinatown for dinner.
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