Cha-Am Wrap Up

Although it was pretty hard to top our experience with the monkeys, Kung knew exactly where to go for us to have a very special treat (one of the benefits of traveling with a native Thai!)...

 

Mango & sticky rice is, quite possibly, one of the best desserts in the world.  I know Kevin would beg to differ since it does not contain any chocolate (and, in fact, has - GASP - fruit!) but it IS  amazing.  I wasn't exactly sold the first time I had it but it sort of grew on me and now I love it... if made correctly!    

Kung told us the woman in the first photo above has sold mango & sticky rice from her cart in the beach town of Hua Hin for 24 years.  Sticky rice (also called glutinous rice) is different from ordinary rice as it is shorter and becomes "sticky" when cooked. When sticky rice is cooked, it turns from white to translucent, whereas ordinary (long grain) rice does the reverse.  It is quite a time consuming process to make sticky rice.  The rice is soaked in water for several hours (overnight is best), drained and then steamed for twenty minutes or until it becomes translucent. Served warm with chilled fresh mango and a drizzle of a sweet coconut milk sauce, it is absolutely delicious!  In fact, we told Kung how much we liked it and, after we returned to Bangkok, she brought me mango & sticky rice for my lunch (and breakfast) for two days!   

On our way back to Cha-Am, we stopped at a temple that has the largest Buddha in Thailand.  

A pair of elaborately carved & decorated elephants flanked the steps leading up to the Buddha.

 

The kids walking up to the Buddha.

 

Lighting the incense sticks. 

 Offerings to Buddha.

 

 

 Applying gold leaf to a Buddha.

A full view of the Buddha, partially covered with golf leaf.

Another Buddha covered with gold leaf.

Offerings to Buddha.  These very beautiful and colorful floral strands are similar to leis and are sold throughout Thailand to be used as offerings at temples, spirit homes, etc.

 

 

  The boys.

The boys and the girl.

 

Kung told us good luck comes to those who toss coins into the openings above the elephant's tusks so, obviously, we did that!  

I have to say that for two boys who are very good baseball pitchers, there sure were a lot of coins that did not make it to the elephant!  

 

 

 

Random family photos.

 

 

 

 

 On our drive back to Cha-Am, we passed fields of pineapples...

And tapioca (known as cassava in Thailand).  We thought these were just swamp weeds...

 

We stopped at a floating market for lunch.  These vendors have their entire operation set up on their boat and just move along the canal or the river to where the business is.  Again, no refrigeration (or running water) but, "When in Rome..."

 

  Wherever you go in the world, there is always Coca-Cola!

So, those were the highlights of our trip.  Kevin did get a round of golf in at a very nice course with a friend from the Embassy.  We spent a lot of time reading by the pool and exploring Cha-Am.  As the weekend progressed, Cha-Am became very crowded but we never had to wait for a table or in a line.  Trying to navigate through the traffic in town was a nightmare so we walked or waited until the evening after the beach crowds left.  

Have a great Wednesday!  

Monkey Business

Other than in Thailand, I am not sure where else in the world I would need to get my car washed because the monkey sitting in the tree above where it was parked dropped a can of Coke on it!  How is that for a unique experience?!?  

On our second day in Cha-Am, we went with Kung and Kei to an area a bit south of Cha-Am (close to the town of Hua Hin) to visit a village with two claims to fame.  The first claim is the amazing temple perched high above Hua Hin with fabulous views of the coastline and the sea.  The second claim is that the village is completely overrun by monkeys.  

We had to drive up a very steep mountain to get to the village and then you had to climb about 200 stairs to reach the temple.  The views were incredible from being up so high...

 

Now, about those monkeys...


We pulled into a car park and monkeys were EVERYWHERE!  

At first we were thinking how cute they were...  

The monkey in the photo below seemed to be contemplating something very important.

This little guy loved playing on the telephone and electrical wires.  

 

 

At one point (see the photo below), I thought we might end up with a "fried" monkey but, fortunately, he stopped chewing on the wire before any damage was done.

It was sweet watching the mother monkeys taking care of and watch over their little ones.

 

 

  

As we spent more time walking around the village and watching the monkeys, it became obvious the monkeys could be pretty pesky.  I can't imagine if this is how my neighborhood looked all of the time...

 

Any sort of food or drink not nailed down or hidden well is fair game for the monkeys to steal.  The monkey in the photo below spotted a man eating lunch in his car and kept trying to figure out a way to get into the car.

I bet he is thinking, "Hmm, maybe I can get in this way...".

Somehow, the monkey in the photo below got a hold of someone's water bottle and opened it for a drink.

 

The poor person who owned the pickup truck in the photo below made the horrible mistake of leaving some groceries in the back.  One monkey made the discovery and within minutes the truck was covered with monkeys eager to get a piece of the "pie".

A woman who lives nearby takes care of any orphaned or injured monkeys and arranges vet care if necessary.  She also accepts donations for food and feeds the monkeys whenever she can.  She offered to let Christopher, Kei and Kung feed them and that is when it got a little freaky.  I don't know where all of the monkeys came from but, as soon as she brought out a few buckets of bananas, dozens of monkeys swarmed around them!  A few even tried to climb up Christopher's legs to get at the bucket of banana pieces that he was holding.  

 

By this time, Caitlynne and I had enough of the monkeys so we gathered everyone together and headed for the car, only to find it covered in brown goo.  Fortunately, a monk was nearby and told me about the monkey in the tree dropping the Coke on to our car.  While I was annoyed about the mess, I was very happy to hear it was only Coke as I had imagined the substance to be something entirely different!  

Have a great Sunday!