Saturday we went on a tour of Ayutthaya, the former capital of Thailand from 1350 to 1767. It is about 50 miles north of Bangkok. The ruins were amazing to see. It made me think of the kinds of things you would see in National Geographic or something. Evidently the Burmese burned and destroyed much of the city in the 1767. It must have been an amazing civilization in its day. Our tour guide said that there are no heads on the Buddha statues because they were cut off and sold. I had always just assumed that a head on a neck is a piece likely to be broken off. It was sad to see how different ancient temples here were ransacked for profit.

We continued on to more ancient temple ruins and a currently used wat, or temple. Like many of the temples and shrines we have seen, it was quite busy with people.

Moving on we saw some elephants. Rides were available, but since we had one scheduled for the next day we passed. It was interesting watching them eat, but we passed on buying food to feed them. We saw one of them sneeze(?) and get elephant snot on a guy. I didn’t think that looked very pleasant. The elephants seemed pretty good at getting the edible things out of the basket and dropping the rest to the ground.

We went to another wat. On the grounds was a reclining Buddha statue. I found it rather strange, not like what I am used to seeing. The smaller statues on the grounds here all had heads. Our guide said that they had been stolen as well, but that they had been replaced with new ones.

Once we were finished walking around, we continued on to a hotel for lunch. We returned home and had time to go out to the pool for awhile. We went over to check on movie times and decided to see Firewall. Since there wasn’t a lot of time before it started, we decided to eat at KFC. The seats at the theatre ran us about $3 a piece and were at least as nice as what I would expect at a multiplex in the States. Depending upon the theatre, different levels of seating may be available. I was a little disappointed that our show time was in a theatre that offered “gold seating.” Gold seating resembles a plush recliner complete with pillow and blanket. Too bad airline seats aren’t that comfy! The movie wasn’t that great, but the experience of being in a theatre again was wonderful. I miss going to movies.

We finished up the day doing something we did quite often while in Bangkok, had ice cream at Swensen’s. :)

A Twelve Hour Tour…

Sunday we went to see the bridge over the River Kwai. We were picked up from our hotel at 6:45 in the morning. I had forgotten that there was a 6:45 in the morning! Our tour guide and driver took us to pick up the other two people joining our group and we were off. Kanchanaburi is about 80 miles west of Bangkok. Traffic and road conditions meant the journey took about two hours.

We stopped first at the War Cemetery which holds the remains of over 6000 Allied POWs who died building the “Death Railway” from Burma into Thailand. The cemetery is well maintained and quite beautiful.

Next we visited the JEATH war museum. JEATH stands for Japan, England, Australia, America, Thailand, and Holland. The museum is built to resemble the buildings the POWs lived in at the camp. Inside the bamboo huts are photographs, news clippings, and artifacts telling about the history and conditions of the camp.

Right outside the camp is a monastery. The monks at the monastery care for it. I found some of the monastery buildings quite beautiful and took a couple of shots before it was time to move on.

We boarded a long tail boat and took off down the river to meet up with the River Kwai. The ride was bumpy, fast, and enjoyable. Speeding across the water brought a welcome cool breeze. Once we arrived at the bridge we go off the boat and went up to the land. The bridge is still part of an active railroad track so it surprised me that we were allowed to walk across it! There is no way that people would be allowed to walk across a bridge like that even if it was not still used by trains. It wasn’t too bad until you met up with people walking the opposite direction and had to pass.

There is not a stop right at the bridge, so we drove up a little to a stop further along the way. We just missed the train and had to wait for the next one to come. When it arrived it was already packed so we had to stand for awhile until passengers got off and seats were made available. The views along the way were spectacular.

We stopped along the way for a Thai buffet lunch. Nothing special, but I was just excited that it was edible. :) There was also a fan to sit under, which in the heat is always a blessing. They also had “seaters” in the bathroom instead of “squatters” though since you weren’t allowed to flush tissue, but had to put it in the little garbage can, well you get the idea. L They actually supplied the toilet paper too so I guess I can’t complain! After lunch it was off to see the elephants. I was excited to go on our elephant ride. Much of the terrain was rough and since you aren’t strapped in or anything you want to hold on when things getting bumpy or you start heading downhill. When we went into the water, we were grateful we didn’t get sprayed by our thirsty elephant! We eventually gave up using the umbrella to shade ourselves as we found it more favorable to be able to hang on when the going got rough. I don’t imagine it is very fun to fall off of an elephant. This ride was much cooler than the one we passed on yesterday. In Ayutthaya the elephants just went around a 10 minute loop or so on pretty level ground along the road. THIS was an experience. From the elephants we walked down to the river to ride on bamboo rafts. I was surprised that they actually had life vests for us to wear. A motor boat pulled our rafts up the river and then let us float back down with the current, our guide directing the raft as needed. After the rafting trip it was time to return back to Bangkok. The return trip took almost three hours. Traffic is just incredible here. I’m glad we didn’t have to do the driving. After our long day we were too tired to think about finding a place to eat so we just grabbed some food at Burger King to bring back to our hotel. The sad thing is, Burger King seems like quite a treat to us.

Resting up
The River Kwai tour wiped us out. It was a long day in the heat and a lazy day seemed appropriate. Lunch, walking around a little, and time at the pool filled up the day. We had a dinner scheduled at Silom Village. As the mediocre Thai meal was finishing up, the entertainment began. It was interesting, and something worth seeing once, but I don’t know that it needs a repeat. The costumes are elaborate and quite beautiful. With the lighting I had trouble getting the kind of pictures I would like, but you get the idea.

Last Day in Bangkok
It was our last day to see things in Bangkok and we hadn’t been to the Grand Palace yet so our
day was pretty much decided. We rode the light rail to the end of the line and then hopped on the tourist boat. There were some interesting things to see along the way. The Grand Palace is the most visited place in Bangkok. Tourists and locals both visit the Palace Compound, which also includes the Wat Phra Kaew which holds the Emerald Buddha.

SNOW FESTIVAL IN HARBIN
(My favorite part of the trip!)


My favorite part of the trip was the snow festival. It was amazing! I think it was a lot more artistic than the ice festival. I was disappointed that the sky was grey instead of blue. I wasn't able to capture how beautiful the sculptures really were. I think if there had been more of a contrast between sky and snow it would have helped. Perhaps I will go again next year with Rob and try again. I took quite a few pictures and would have taken more if it hadn't been so cold. I was having trouble pushing the button on the camera because I lost all feeling in my hand. If I hadn't had hand warmers in my gloves I think I would have given up completely given up on taking pictures.
In addition to sculptures there were, of course, giant snow buildings. I climbed up the stairs of the Japanese style building and got a view from the top. It wasn't as difficult to climb the stairs here as it was to navigate those at the ice festival. Here they had boards covered with red carpet going up the stairs rather than just the slippery ice.

More Harbin

In the afternoon we were taken to the Russian Market. It wasn't what I expected. I was picturing a large, outdoor market. Instead it appeared that we were dropped at a random street corner and given an hour to roam. The market, in reality, was a Russian section of town with many small little shops. With the weather as cold as it was I think I would have been just as happy staying in my hotel room staying warm. I did enjoy going into a couple of the shops and found a Russian stacking doll for a good price.

We were then off to the Ice Festival (or whatever it is really called). I don't really know how to describe it except to say that it is a little city made out of ice. Ice castle, ice churches, ice bar, ice Cartier (but only holographic jewelry), and various other structures, sculptures, and attractions. Neon lighting is placed inside the ice so that the buildings can be seen at night. When it is first getting dark and the lights go on it has a tacky Vegas kind of feel. As it becomes darker, it becomes less tacky and more amazing.
Here are some more pictures.

The Ice Garden

After visiting the church, we went to (what I believe is called) the ice garden. It has sculptures and other things made out of ice and snow. Bet you never would have guessed that! The bundled up figure with the red scarf is me by one of the huge entrance gates. Throughout the garden there is a collection of various flowers frozen in the ice. They were pretty to look at. The fish who got frozen made me think of how my hands felt when I removed them from my gloves in order to take pictures. Towards the center of the park was a display of the ice sculptures different teams had created. Some were quite impressive, some not as much. All were better than I could do. It was a challenge to take decent pictures as the sculptures were clear. I just couldn't do them justice. I liked the ballet dancers that a Polish team made. I thought the man trying to pull the tree out of the ground was neat too. Very unique (as opposed to just a little bit unique).

There were also some slides in the ice park. You have to watch your step since the stairs are made of ice just as the slides are. I went on one of the shorter slides because (1) it was the first one we encountered (2) it was free and (3) it didn't have too many stairs. Later we came across some larger ones. They cost (though hardly anything) and had a lot of stairs. By the time we got to them my hands and feet were cold too and I just wanted to try to keep as warm as possible.
Russian Market, Ice Festival, and Snow Festival pictures and commentary coming soon.

Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, Winter 2005

Getting there and St Sophia Russian Orthodox Church

The trip began in the hotel lobby. We boarded a van and headed for the train station. It was a crowded, busy place and I was glad we already had tickets and a guide to follow. Toting luggage around and finding our compartment was a workout. It took awhile to settle in, with four of us to a compartment. I got an upper bunk. I was pleasantly surprised with my warm, thick comforter and fluffy pillow. The train left at 7:00 pm and by 8:30 we were going to sleep. I managed to sleep until 1:00 am. That gave me time to use the bathroom (a bit scary, but not the worst ever) and get organized before we arrived shortly before 2:00 am. Once again, a shuttle was waiting to take us to our hotel. It didn't take long to get into my comfy bed and drift off to sleep.

After a buffet breakfast we got ready to brave the cold. With all the layers I had on it was hard to move. They were necessary as it was COLD outside! As we walked towards the chuch, we passed an elderly man playing an instrument (I don't know what it is called) on the sidewalk. His gloves were so thin. I couldn't believe that he could keep them warm enough to play.

Outside the church there were rows of small ice sculptures. I also enjoyed the trees, complete with faux apples. Heaven only knows how cold it was outside and fresh fruit is growing on the tree? I don't think anyone bought it. Good try though.

The church looked out of place in China. It is no longer used for church services, but has been made into a museum. Still, it is an impressive sight. The inside is not in very good condition, but there are some nice pictures. The history of the church was all written in Chinese, so I can't really say much about it. It isn't hard to imagine that it was once very beautifully decorated.

After touring the church/ museum, we saw vendors selling bird feed so that people could feed the pigeons. The birds were landing right on people's hands, arms, shoulders... I thought that China had this whole bird flu thing going on. Can't pigeons carry that? Should one really pose kissing a pigeon? I decided to pass. I had to admit that the little kid in the picture is really cute. With all that padding you could fall down and not even notice. I wonder how to say you've fallen and can't get up in Chinese.

More Harbin pictures coming soon!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr









The river is a perfect place to skate, sled, walk, ride a bike, or fly a kite. I will be going to Harbin for the Snow and Ice Festival over the MLK holiday. If it is this cold here I don't know that I want to think about how cold it will be there. It is even further north than Shenyang and stays below freezing more than half the year. Hopefully I will get some great pictures and it will be worth it.

Carrying the camera has paid off.

I've started trying to remember to bring my camera with me more often. It seems every time I forget it I see something cool. Having it with me doesn't guarantee that I do see something cool, but hopefully it will pay off.
Walking home from buying groceries I saw a school group doing some drumming and dragon dancing in front of a newly opened store. There are two people under each dragon and they were pretty good at moving on all fours (as in above pictures) and also at having the front person jump up on the back person's shoulders to get the dragon standing up high.