Exploring in Bangkok and the Royal Palace

We skipped a few cities from Northern Thailand as we made our way south due to flooding and spent 3 days in Bangkok.  It was different, but not one of my favorite places.  I've come to the realization that I really enjoy 'walking' cities and that is not Bangkok.  There was mass transportation, but it was limited and the tuk tuk drivers here were worse than anywhere in SE Asia, as far as price gouging, at least in my opinion.  Anyway, here a few photos - hope you enjoy.  

 (Statue outside the 'Central Park' of Bangkok)

(View of the city from the park)

 (This temple holds the largest solid gold Buddha statue in the world)

(Just a few statues for sale)

(Entrance to China Town)

(Tuk Tuk)

(This shrine was in one of the temples we went in to)

(A few guys hanging out in China town, having their morning tea)

 (Junk for sale)

(Royal Palace with shady Tuk Tuk drivers.  They will try to tell you the palace is closed or they will offer you a free ride and take you to certain shops so they can get gas coupons.  Or, they will double the price, just because you are a foreigner.  However, I am sure there are some honest ones out there...)

(Entrance to the Royal Palace)

(They had quite a few temples/shrines/buildings jammed in one area.  However, I enjoyed the different architecture of each one.)

(Protector)

(More protectors - just to give you an idea of the size)

(A fun end post on the railing)

(Full scale model of Angkor Wat)

(Another view of the same temple)

 (These guys were holding up the shrine which housed the remains of Buddha)

(This temple housed the Emerald Buddha.  Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed to be taken in side.  You go in, sit down, people watch/meditate for as long as you like, which I think was about 10 minutes, and then move on.)

(It is extremely difficult to see, but that is the Emerald Buddha.  It actually has its outfit changed depending on the season - how cool is that?)

 (Katrina with a guard)

(The actual Royal Palace, home to the King and Queen.  Surprisingly, most of the countries we visited still had a ruling royal family.  However, I'm not sure what political power any had, but I believe some still wield significant influence.)

The Life of Pai

One of my favorite stops in Thailand, next to Chaing Mai was a little tiny town to the north called Pai.  I guess it is considered the Hippie BackPacker town of Thailand.  It was laid back and relaxing.  I even went on a tubing trip which was an adventure.  Unfortunately, there aren't any pictures of that.  Here are a few of the photos from Pai.  

(Candles)

 (Some interesting art work - Pai is falling in LOVE)

(A quirky little toy shop with some interesting gizmos)

(A piece of art I liked - there were street vendors every night and it was a quaint, cozy, non invasive market where you could look at works and enjoy your time outside.)

(Breeze of Pai Guest House - a nice little hostel for around $10 a night)

(The traveling pink van)

(This was the good luck charm outside of our hostel)

 ('Traditional' Chinese village outside of Pai.  They were still doing a bit of work.)

 (Entrance to the Chinese Village)

(A few from the scooter we rented for a day)

(A natural water slide which looked more dangerous than fun.  Needless to say, I didn't make the trip down.)

(Some of the handicrafts for sale)

 (The 'Grand Canyon' of Thailand)

(Another shot at the Canyon)

 (Yep, saw quite a few of these guys around Pai.  Didn't ride any but I did get a chance to feed one for $2 or $3.)

(Peace Bridge from the Japanese invasion I believe - it's been a while)

 (Yep, here were some people riding an elephant.  I'm not really upset I didn't do it.)

 (Temple)

 (A view of the countryside)

(A lying Buddha)

(Traditional wagon outside one of the temples)

 (They love the Buddha)

(Someone's house...)

 (I am not sure if I would call this a temple or a place of worship.  I believe it is supposed to hold a relic of the Buddha.)

 (Guardian outside one of the temples)

(In this tiny town there were lots of great places to eat and the food was great.  Also, there were a lot of vegetarian options.)

(This was outside city hall or the police station.  I guess it's ok to mix beliefs and government in Thailand...)

Making Thai Food in Thailand - booyah

One of the days in Chiang Mai, we decided to take a cooking class.  First, we stopped at a local market to purchase the ingredients and learn more about the ingredients that go into Thai food.  Then, it was off to a secluded location where both Katrina and I prepared 5 amazing dishes.  First was a pork salad accompanied with pork spring rolls.  Next, we followed it up with fish curry and prawn stir fry.  We finished with a black sticky rice and some new fruits for desert.  They were very accommodating and Katrina was able to make all vegetarian dishes.  The school was called cooking@home and I would recommend it for those not on a strict budget who want to learn how to make some Thai dishes.  We were also given a cookbook so hopefully Katrina and I will be able to prepare a few of these dishes in the States.  Also, there are a few pictures from diner one evening. 

 Cooking at Home Culinary School

Our first stop was a market - here you can see some different curry pastes.  We actually made our own, homemade curry paste which is something I've never done.

I believe this is a curry starter set.  You have your turmeric, a garlic/ginger like root, and some lemon grass I believe.  It's kind of cool how they sell them all together as a curry starter set.

Blood - not sure what it is used for...

Meat anyone?  This part made me a little sick but Katrina didn't mind it all - go figure...

Some sort of new fruit...

Dragon fruit - quite possibly one of my favorite new fruits

View as we ate our meals - a little bit of heaven on Earth, almost doesn't seem real

Our stations for the day

First dish was a pork salad - tofu and mushroom for Katrina

Chef Katrina whipping up a master piece, frying her spring rolls

Not sure what I'm doing in the picture but my spring rolls were a little brown...

Spring rolls and pork salad - Thai Style

It is actually a family run business and this is one of the sisters.  As a group, we all pitched in and made the sticky rice for desert.  Here, I added the rice.  There was a Canadian couple on their honeymoon who was also at the school with us.

This is another sister showing us how to make a dish.  First, one of the sisters would prepare a dish, we would taste test, and then go back to our stations and make it.

Chef Katrina making her curry paste.  It was quite the workout using the mortar and pestle, a utensil I've never used before. 

Bam - Fish Curry

The Chef and her dishes

Prawn or Shrimp Stir Fry

Katrina tasting some fruits at the end of our day

Dinner with Libby...  This was the day before, since we were stuffed from all the food we ate at the cooking school.  This was a Northern Thailand restaurant.  Yeah, I didn't know there were different Thai dishes either.  

Entrance to the restaurant

Inside were lots of cool nick knacks

Green Curry with Shrimp

Katrina mistakenly ended up with the pork fried rice

Pomelo Salad with baby eggplant.  It was a cross between pineapple and grapefruit.

Katrina and I after dinner

We went to a night market afterwards to get some desert - here's a fruit stand

Here's a food stand - I was a bit concerned about how long the food's been sitting out.  There didn't seem to be many takers and as you can see, some of the pans were quite full.  It just made me wonder a bit, that's all...

Rotee Time - It was like a fried dough, drenched in oil and butter, with bananas inside and drizzled with chocolate on top...

The ladies watching as she made