The Adventures of Twinks and Sparky: THAILAND

Wow, here we are on our way to exciting, exotic, faraway, romantic Thailand!

We're staying with our friend, Boudy (Rene Kohler) whom we met in Palm Springs, and he graciously offered to pick us up at the Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok) Airport with his driver – Nu - to take us to his house in Pattaya. We planned to stay for three nights before going back to Bangkok to meet up with the A.C.T. group to start our tour going down the River Kwai.

Going through customs in Bangkok was easy and there were no problems or delays. Thank goodness for that. We got our visas in London and the necessary paperwork to visit Thailand was all in place.

We had not seen Boudy for over a year but he looked good. He ran a little late and Patricia and I waited for him at the designated location. The airport was very easy to navigate with meeting points well sign posted in English – thankfully. My first impression of Bangkok when we arrived at the Suvarnabhumi Airport was that the airport was new, state of the art, huge and very busy. The airport surpasses anything we have in the USA. The architectural elements, the newness of it and the size were impressive. The access to and from the airport, as well as signs posting taxis, trams, buses, etc. was excellent and made it easy to follow. If you go to Bangkok, be prepared to walk because it is a huge airport!

View of Bangkok from Boudy's apartment

The drive to Pattaya took about two hours.

Never having been to any city in the Far East, the thing that surprised me the most was how "West" everything looked in and around Bangkok. However, after getting further and further away from the city of Bangkok heading to Pattaya, the scenery started to slowly change—meaning, less "West" and more Far East and started to look more like I had imagined.

Thailand is predominately a Buddhist country and there is a temple on every corner. The temples are always ornate, colorful and a sanctuary for the local people to pray.

Boudy lives outside of Pattaya in a housing development called Nagawari. The house is about 4,000 +/- sq. ft. with four en-suite bedrooms, upstairs family room with sitting area and bathroom, Koi pond, pool, gazebo-like structure with BBQ area outside, six-burner gas stove, double ovens, breakfast area and decorated with his possessions from around the world and many European antiques. He spent a fortune having all this "stuff" shipped from Holland and America to Thailand!

To say Boudy lives larger then life or over the top is an understatement. His decorating style is very traditional and tasteful. His curtains are all Jim Thompson silk throughout the house! He loves that store!

Boudy's living room with dining room behind and Koi pond at the back. Stairs up to TV room.

Boudy's pool and gazebo

The kitchen is always fully stocked with all kinds of spices for cooking Thai, Dutch or Italian food! He has about ten different sets of china and each with 12 place settings. The refrigerator was a subzero and completely stocked with food. He has plenty of pots and pans, woks, knives and silverware—including ivory spoons for eating your soft-boiled eggs! Can you say Jann was in her element???

Patricia and I got the second largest bedroom of the four. Only the master is larger. We had a king-size bed that was comfortable and luxurious with a gorgeous comforter and designer sheets and pillowcases. The room had its own A/C, fan, sitting chairs and TV.
The bathroom was huge with a walk-in shower, tub for two, walk-in closet with storage, separate toilet area with a counter sink and urinal and an additional two sinks with plenty of counter space and storage under the sinks!

Boudy starts his day when he is at Nagawari in the upstairs family room on the internet and catching up on the news from around the world. Boudy has leather recliners and couches there as well as a desk, huge TV so it was definitely comfortable.

While we were there we really got to appreciate the TV network news of Al Jazeera. Had not seen this station before and obviously had some preconceived ideas about the kind of coverage they gave. However, better than BBC, CNN and definitely FOX. They just reported the news without judgement or editorial and let the viewer decide what opinion to have on the story. What a concept. It was definitely a little surreal though to watch the American Presidential debates on the Al Jazeera network in Thailand !

Nu and/or Dar, the houseboys, arrive around 9:00 AM. They have their daily chores to do and are available to take care of his rentals when they need cleaned, make his meals or go pick something up, do the laundry, wash the cars, vacuum, sweep, clean the pool, rake and do any other duties as assigned.

Nu had been with Boudy for 15 years prior to our arrival and Dar only about three years. Nu seemed to want to do things his way and make independent decisions that went totally against what Boudy had told him. This frustrated Boudy and I totally understand because there were often consequences to what Nu decided to do or not do.

However, both Nu and Dar are lovely men. Nu has two kids and Dar has a girlfriend. However, they were undereducated and being a houseboy may be their lot in life or for Dar, back to the farm to help his family in the rice paddy field. In fact, since we left Boudy, Nu quit and Dar is going to go help his father in the rice fields so Boudy is looking for new help.

The final straw for Nu was when he took the car to a dealership of his choice rather than the dealer Boudy regularly used to get the A/C checked. Without checking the car maintenance records, he let the dealer talk him into getting an oil change when the car did not need it. Boudy was understandably pissed off and let Nu know in no uncertain terms. Nu told Boudy, "I quit" and Boudy accepted!

The average salary in Thailand is $2 to $3/day. Property taxes are incredibly low or non-existent. Food staples are rice and noodles. It's tropical so you can always get coconuts, mangos, papayas, pineapples and melons and eat inexpensively. I love the staples and the fruit so eating in Thailand is not difficult for me. You can eat pad Thai for about $1.50 and I did. In fact, I think it's cheaper and easier to let them make it for you than to buy all of the ingredients and do it yourself at home.

I walked outside of Boudy's development one day and there's a woman who has a make-shift restaurant on the street and I watched her as she cooked pad Thai for four and it cost me around $5.00! It was good but did not knock my socks off with flavor or spices. As I watched her cook in her outdoor kitchen five dogs slept nearby; motorbikes, cars and trucks went by kicking up dust; a pregnant cat strolled by which left the dogs unfazed; her kids stopped to ask her something; neighbors walked by and waved and yelled something in Thai, AND she just continued making my lunch! It was surreal. I was mesmerized by the experience and thought how different MY life is! Not necessarily better—just different. I felt the woman was happy with her lot in life and just carried on doing what she needed to do to live. I felt she did not know anything different and did not care.

Education is not a priority in the Thai culture and as long as you make enough money for food and a roof over your head—it's enough. They do not seem to be ambitious or driven people. They remind me so much of Mexicans in so many ways: that's NOT a bad thing.

I have to address the fact that our friend, Boudy, invited us into his home and made us feel totally welcome. We're not high maintenance when we visit friends and do not expect them to wait on us, cook for us, pamper us or change their routine. It's just nice to spend time with them; do some things with them; get their recommendations of what and where to go; pick up pieces if they need help and we can accommodate where possible and not be pains in the ass!

I have learned a lot from our friends and because they have made us feel so welcomed, I feel obligated to reciprocate and welcome the opportunity. When I think what we put Tony and Pauline through by popping in and popping out and storing things with them, we are so thankful for their friendship and their kindness.

It was only a matter of time until Patricia got sick but it happened shortly after we arrived at Boudys so at least she was comfortable and could rest. We couldn't figure out what happened to Patricia because the only thing she did that Boudy and I did not do was use the pool while we were gone. I don't know if the pool was filled with fresh water or gray water. I asked her if she swallowed any water and she did not remember. This is a heads up, do not drink the water from the tap when in Indonesia. She needed to get well because we had to meet our tour group in Bangkok on Saturday and this was Thursday.

As it happened, we had to delay our trip by one day but this was a day in Bangkok for the tour so we didn’t miss anything.

Boudy and Dar came with us by bus into Bangkok. The bus from Pattaya into Bangkok was comfortable, inexpensive and took about two hours to the airport. We could relax and enjoy the scenery. We caught the train from the airport into Bangkok and went directly to Boudy’s apartment and then called a cab to get to the tour hotel.

Dar in Boudy's Bangkok kitchen.

We had written down the name of the hotel to give to the cab driver because a lot of them do not speak English and Boudy explained exactly where we had to go (about 9 blocks) after hearing that it is quite common that they drive you around the city not being able to find your hotel so the meter keeps charging. As far as taxi fares go—it was very reasonable—it was more about knowing you were being scammed by the driver who wanted to get more $ from you. Our driver stopped and asked people directions to the hotel on at least five separate occasions. What should have taken 5 minutes took half an hour. When we finally arrived at the hotel he ran immediately from the cab into the hotel lobby to talk to the hotel staff and I gather to explain to them that he could not find the hotel. He STILL wanted his cab fare knowing full well that we were extremely annoyed AND that he had intentionally ripped us off. The hotel's explanation to us on his behalf was that the hotel was specifically built in a difficult-to-find location that afforded the guests total privacy! NOT. There was a huge sign at least four feet tall on the roof of the building saying "Royal Hotel Benja" which made them all look pretty silly and liars.

The hotel was not located in the best part of town. After checking in we wandered down Sukumvit Street, which is lined with street vendors selling all kinds of food and smells like I have never smelled before.

The next morning was another day on your own in Bangkok as far as the tour was concerned so we went with Boudy and Dar to Chatuchak market, a large weekend market in Bangkok. We caught the train along with lots of the locals and headed out to the 35 acre market. It has over 8000 stalls and because of its size and diversity of goods it is definitely a becoming a must see tourist site. However, because of the size it was a little daunting but we did manage to cover quite a bit of the market and saw a lot of very interesting local products. Patricia was still feeling a little weak and I was feeling a little queasy, so we headed back to the hotel and spent the day resting up for the tour.

Chatuchak Market, Bangkok

Although the tour had been in Bangkok for three days we caught up with them on the fourth morning when we boarded the bus to take us to our boat on the River Kwai.

This was our first introduction to the seven other women on the tour and our guide, “Richard.”

From front to rear: Tami, Norma and Rita--women on our tour.

Another one of the women--Florence.

Florence, Adele & Marvella traipsing thru Thailand to get to the boat. Florence only brought high heels!

On the way to the boat, we stopped at Phra Pathom Chedi, the largest pagoda in Southeast Asia and the Khao Noi Cave Temple. Because there was an old funicular to take us to the top of the temple that did not look too safe, I stayed on the lower level but Patricia went to the top and took the pictures. This was the first of many temples we were to see on our tour and, believe me, as amazing and inspirational as they are, they all begin to look alike !

Funicular up to the temple

Rice paddies

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant next to the famous Bridge on the River Kwai. We all sat down and ordered lunch however they would not serve any drinks as part of the lunch and we couldn’t have them until after we ate. This, obviously, went over well with nine American (UK) women and, after getting the manager, we were finally given drinks, although had to pay extra for them. I think this was where Richard realized what was in store for him ! We didn’t stay long at the bridge because we were scheduled to come back later in the tour and be able to spend more time and walk on the bridge.

Bridge over the River Kwai

We also went to the JEATH War Museum (Japan, Europe, Asia, Thai and Holland = JEATH) that commemorated the POW's who lost their lives. We walked through a bamboo hut which was a recreation of the living conditions where the POW’s lived with a photo exhibit of the inhuman conditions they lived in while building the Bridge over the River Kwai. It's always a somber time when you know so many young men gave up so much for what we enjoy! There is nothing redeeming about war then or now!

Hut recreation where POW's slept

Unexploded bomb dropped on the bridge (hopefully defused now !)

Photo of the building of the bridge

Finally we arrived at the boat. Our cabin was small but functional with its own A/C unit, two single beds and a toilet, sink and shower. The ship was older but well maintained. It had 10 deluxe staterooms and was entirely made of wood. It went 8 knots at cruising speed and had a Thai crew of 11. The upper deck had the "open plan" with dining, a bar and seating areas with a wonderful 360 degree view of the scenery. It was covered by a collapsible frame awning to enable it to pass under low bridges when necessary. We had to drop the awning twice because the water levels were higher than normal and too high to go under two of the many bridges on the river.

Jann on the boat at the entrance to our cabin

Front row seats on the top deck


Our views down the River Kwai At night the tables were set on the top deck with fairy lights and candles

There were seven other women on the tour with us, two nurses from Riverside (Tami and Norma); two women from Palm Desert (Florence and Adele) friends who traveled together a lot; Laurel, also from Palm Desert; Marvella from Oregon and Palm Springs and Rita from Miami Beach. (Pictures above of the women.)

It was not the most compatible, cozy or friendly grouping of women. Tami was friendly and talkative but Norma made no effort to communicate and responded to any attempts at conversation with grunts. Florence started drinking at about 3:00 every day and became really talkative. After 5 hours of drinking she could become quite rude and abusive. She shared stories that you share with people you have known for many years not days. She also only brought shoes with a heel ! Laurel had had so much plastic surgery, her face didn't move and she had Angelina Jolie lips! She never stopped talking. She wore full-length sleeves and pants and a hat the entire trip because if she got bit by a mosquito, she might die—according to her. She ate like a bird and Florence picked on her relentlessly throughout the cruise just because she didn't like her and did not believe her story that the facial surgery was because of a car accident vs. cosmetic.

Rita from Miami (nicknamed Miss Miami by the group) was our cruise diva. She was 76 years old and had had a lot of plastic surgery too. She colored her hair, dressed casually and smart and looked pretty good for her age. She told me she liked to be last because she had to be careful to take her time because she was afraid of falling. She was on the verge of divorcing her husband but he died first. She inherited his money and it was enough to make her life comfortable. She had decided that she would treat herself to a vacation at least once a month and as such she was extremely well traveled. She had two adult children but did not seem to be close with either of them. In addition to being a diva, she was also a stereotypical Jewish American princess! She loved to tell stories and enjoyed being the center of attention. When she was not—it was not a good thing! I found her entertaining. At least she was not vindictive or catty like Florence. Unfortunately, the tour ran on Miss Miami time! If we had an hour to shop, Rita would add an extra 15 minutes or longer for herself. She was not concerned about keeping 8 other people waiting and it happened every time. Richard was a saint in rounding her up and moving her along as best he could, while trying to keep everyone else from killing her !!

Last, but not least, was Marvella from Portland and Palm Springs. She had the best of both worlds by living in Portland during the summer and spending her winters in Palm Springs. She had been a real estate commissioner in Oregon and knew everything about everything. You know the type? She thought she was entertaining and monopolized a lot of conversations and thought that we were all waiting with baited breath for her next profound comment. She was a royal pain in the ass. I did not like her at all and found her overbearing, obnoxious, manipulative, mean spirited and boring! Her husband died and she was doing a lot of traveling. She had a son who worked in the Far East so when she heard we were going to China, she shared a lot of information with Patricia about things to see and do.

We stayed out of the fray. I think we were curious oddities and everyone liked our story about looking for a new place to live and traveling the world to find it. However, we stirred things up a bit when we switched seats at the dinner and breakfast table. There were two tables and everyone seemed to have staked out their seats after the first night, and we just thought everyone should get a chance to spend time with everyone else. So one night when we were first to sit down we switched tables. Marvella, however, always occupied the head of the table.

Our tour guide for the entire river cruise was this very kind, sweet, gentle, patient man named Richard. He was so evolved, loved and respected women and was certainly the right man for the job! He ate his meals with the boat crew. He loved to tell us about the Thai people and their customs, his family, the government and its role in their lives. He share some of his conceptions about the tourist nationalities, such as American Tourists liking to see everything, but not for long, and English tourists wanting everything to be like England! Some of the perceptions of a country he had obviously picked up from other groups. He commented that if you were poor in America it was because you were lazy. Of course, Patricia could not let that be, so that night she explained that 90% of Americans are one catastrophic illness away from losing everything, no matter how hard they have worked, or the single mother that works three jobs and is still poor because of medical costs, minimum wages, etc. He would end all of his commentaries with the cutest, funniest little laugh. He also like to clap his hands when something pleased him and said “Happy, happy.” We all adopted this habit and, believe me nowhere did it mean more than when we got in the air conditioning after being in the heat and humidity – happy, happy. He did a wonderful job of “herding cats” and was liked by all of us.

There was some very interesting scenery as we cruised down the river.

Raising farm fish

One of the older river boats !!

Tapioca fields

Fishermen on the Kwai

Elephant on the shore

One of the many Buddhist shrines on the side of the river

Dragon Hotel

Often times when we had an excursion from the ship, there was no dock for the boat to get close to so we could get off. So we had to board a smaller boat. Sometimes the smaller boat could not get close to land and we had to enter the water and walk ashore! Ugh! This was not a favorite experience of mine because the water was muddy and god knows what all goes in the river. Actually I know! That's why I was not happy about having to get in the water. Then, we had Florence who only brought heels! After we trod through the water, then we had to hike through swampy tall grass and weeds! Thank goodness we did not have to cope with crocodiles too! What an experience!

Getting off the small boat

Walking through the swamps

Our bus transportation

We had an itinerary and did everything on the itinerary but not in the order presented. The weather played an important role in the change of the itinerary as well as the height of the river and the energy level of the group.

I particularly enjoyed the elephant ride. They are such beautiful, gentle and intelligent animals. We went to the Sai Yok Elephant Village and picked out the elephant we wanted to ride. It had rained the night before so there was water and mud on the entire trail. Our elephant had given birth five months prior and the baby was attached and accompanied us along the trail.

This is the baby elephant and you can see the condition of the trail--muddy and slippery.

They have a platform built and the seat is strapped on to the elephants back and then they walk the elephant to the platform and you get on. It was very easy. The hard part was staying calm hoping the elephant did not lose her footing and you would land in the mud! The weight of the elephant in the mud meant not only that it was slippy and she was sliding down the paths but that her leg went way down in the mud and there was a big sucking sound as she pulled it up. I made a few noises of angst along the way.

Before the end of the trail, the baby wanted to roll around in the water to get the mud off so we patiently waited and watched. The bond between the mother and the baby was unquestionable! The elephants seemed to be well cared for and fed. It was a fun experience. However, I think you only need to ride an elephant once but I would do it again. It was 300 baht to ride the elephant or about $3.00! Laurel got her elephant driving license! The Thai elephant is smaller than the African elephant and does not have tusks and, according to Richard, you can’t mix an African elephant with an Asian elephant.

All the elephants

Mother, baby and mud!

Getting on the elephant

Plodding through the mud

Throughout the entire country you will see spirit houses on stands near all buildings. These spirit houses are very significant to Thai people, the majority of whom are Buddhists. One spirit house honors the land spirit and is put in front of their homes or businesses. There is also a second spirit house to honor their ancestors. The more money the Thai family has, the more ornate the spirit houses are. The spirit houses are very well taken care of and each morning homeowners will put out a little food in the spirit house for their ancestors so they have something to eat. They put food, flowers, candles or something on the land spirit house each day as a blessing for all their good fortune and to honor the land god. Installation of the spirit houses requires an elaborate ceremony, and if the house is sold and a new owner moves in there is also an elaborate ceremony to remove the spirit houses. The color of the houses is significant too.

Spirit houses for sale

Richard explained that every day of the week has a different color associated with it, e.g., Sunday is red; Monday is yellow; Tuesday is pink; Wednesday is green; Thursday is orange; Friday is light blue and Saturday is purple. You determine your color based on the day of the week you were born. For me, December 1st, 1946 fell on a Sunday so my birth color is red. Patricia's birthday is August 24th, 1943 and in that year, the 24th fell on a Tuesday so her color is pink. Therefore, our spirit and land houses outside our home would be in the colors of red and pink! The King of Thailand was born on a Monday so all his flags are yellow and yellow flowers are planted all over the country. The Queen was born on a Friday so you see her blue flag flying alongside the King’s yellow one. Isn't that interesting? We found it fascinating.

Jann with red spirit houses for her day of birth color - Sunday

The Thai people are very proud of the fact that they embrace all religions. Even though over 90% of the people are Buddhist they like to incorporate the best of other religions into their daily lives. We visited a 700 year old Hindu temple that stands in a beautiful park. The locals still present daily offerings to the Hindu gods there asking for their blessings. Better to be safe than sorry !!

Jann at the 700 year old Hindu Temple

Offerings to the Hindu God

Our bus dropped us off at the Tha Kilen Train Station where Richard had upgraded us from third class to first class for our train ride to Krasae cave along the “Death Railway” so called because it was built by the POWs during the war.

Here comes the train

First class - Thai style (sitting opposite Adele and Florence)

They serve refreshments in first class !! Laurel was also one of the women on the tour.

As we got closer to the cave station we went over a long wooden viaduct and pulled into the station. The cave is situated on the bank of the Kwai Noi River and gives an excellent view over the river valley. The cave was set up as a sacred place with a Buddha to commemorate the POWs that died building the railroad. During the building of the railroad the cave was used as a hospital for the POWs as they suffered from many diseases and abuse.

View from the train window

wooden viaduct

Jann on the tracks

Pat with railroad trestle in background

Entrance to the cave

Buddha inside the cave

The next day we visited Sai Yok Waterfalls and after we saw the waterfalls, we ate at a restaurant on the river. The food was excellent and had been pre-ordered by Richard. We just sat down, drank our beer, tea, water or whatever and waited for the food. It was a good time to go to the bathroom. Picture this: here we are somewhere on the River Kwai having lunch on a floating restaurant. It's hotter than hell and you are sweating. You get directions of where the toilet is and fortunately it's a Western-style toilet and you get to sit down. Then, you flush the toilet and realize there are no plumbing pipes attached to the toilet. So you see it go into the river! YIKES! When I looked at the two waterfalls afterwards, I noticed how brown the water was. What do you think?

Our floating restaurant near the waterfalls

Jann at the restaurant with Laurel in the background

Pat on the bridge looking down on the restaurant

Sai Yok Falls (This is the "brown" I'm talking about?!)

At the top of the waterfall

As we were sitting at the restaurant we noticed a few floating restaurants that were actually on pontoons being towed up and down the river. Great idea for any river because its like a mini cruise. Actually later in the tour we saw quite a lot that were bars with entertainment being pulled up and down the river. One boat was actually pulling three pontoon bars behind him.

Floating restaurants pulled by a pontoon

We also took an excursion to Hell Fire Pass, a part of the Death Railway cut through the stone mountain. The trails led to Hin Tok Bridge and Konyu Cutting where a plaque commemorates the ordeal. There are still some of the original railroad ties on the path but the majority has disappeared. Under the harsh and abusive Japanese, Australian and British POW's in WWII undertook the hazardous work in precarious conditions at the aptly named pass. The memorial complex (Hin Lek Fai) is intended to honor the Allied Prisoners of War and conscripted people from India, Burma, Malaysia and other countries who died during the construction of the railway as well as all who suffered as a consequence of the hardships. It was very moving, especially the phrase on the memorial that says “tell them we spent our todays to ensure their tomorrows.” Sometimes we forget the sacrifices that have been made to keep the world safe and free for us.

The site of the railroad track

Our guide, Richard


Some of the original railroad tracks

Patricia's father spent time during the war in Burma so it was meaningful to see the Hell Fire Pass. He was not a POW. When Patricia told him we were going to get close to that part of world—Burma—he was not impressed. He did not like it then or now and thought we were crazy. We were not in Burma but we were darn close

We went to Kanchanaburi to visit the world famous bridge over the River Kwai. The sturdy iron bridge spans the River Kwai Yai, which was a crucial part of the Death Railway and was built in around 16 months by allied prisoners of war and Asian conscripts. The bridge was destroyed in allied bombing raids towards the end of WWII and was later rebuilt by the Japanese as war reparations.

We also visited the Death Railway Museum that is an interactive museum providing remarkable research and information dedicated to presenting the story of the Thailand-Burma Railway. The two countries are not connected by this railroad now.

Outside the museum is the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery and it contains the remains of 6,982 allied prisoners of war who perished during the construction of the "Death Railway." It was an emotionally exhausting day.

The British POW section

The next day we visited the Indochinese Tiger Conservation Project at Forest Temple featuring many kinds of wildlife including deer, gibbons, wild boars, peacocks, two black Asian bears and many tigers. Monks run the project and are assisted by young travelers who learn to work with the tigers. They do not receive remuneration but get free room and board.

The tigers are well cared for and live in a natural environment. Before they are viewed and pictures taken, they are fed with a whole cooked chicken each! For the ones who are available for us to pet they get an extra treat of BBQ chicken after they are finished for the day. Because they are in a temple, no killing of animals is allowed on the property so the chickens have to be brought in from the outside. The tigers are chained during the petting process to prevent any accidents …. hopefully. To think that these gorgeous animals are relatives of Ms. Murphy and Ms. Roxy is hard to fathom but they are! I never thought I would ever experience petting a tiger but I did! This is a "must do" for everyone visiting this part of the world.

Asian black bears at the zoo.

This is just so cool to be so up close and personal AND to pet a beautiful tiger!

Tummy rub? Of course!

"A little to the right, please."

Something that you do not get to do often is feed monks. Our guide Richard got us up early one morning at 6:30 AM so we could eat first and then we went into a town. The monks walk the streets early in the morning collecting food from people who buy it for them from the street vendors. The monks bless those who give them food. It is usually the only food that they eat all day. The monks are all ages and always wear saffron-colored robes. They spend most of their day meditating for people in the world. All boys go into a monastery for three months at age 18 to learn how to become good men, husbands and fathers. Some go into the monastery at a younger age, stay and become life-long monks.

Buying the food for the monks

Presenting the food to the monks and receiving blessings

Young monks collecting the food

Receiving the blessing

Jann with our guide, Richard

Street food

We experienced all sorts of water transportation. One of them was a jungle raft at the Mon Village. The Mon culture has no electricity and live and run one of the world's best floating eco hotels on the river.

We had crossed a roped walking bridge across the river and seen the Mon Village and to get back to the speedboat that took us here, we had to get on a bamboo raft. Patricia thought it was a small canoe boat and decided she wasn't going to do that because it looked dangerous but after being shown the actual large raft and told she had no choice because there was no other way, she got on board! The speedboat, affectionately called the "James Bond" boat took us back to the cruise boat. The raft trip was about one hour with two Mon teenagers paddling us down and it was so quiet and peaceful!

Longboat, called "James Bond" boat by richard

Bamboo raft

Raft ride

River Kwai Eco Resort

Mon village hut

Mon village street

Bamboo bridge crossing from the Eco resort to the Mon Village

We also visited the Khao Noi Cave Temple; Prasat Muang Singh (800 year-old Khmer temple like Angkor Wat in Cambodia); Kaeng Lava Cave (stalactite and stalagmite formations); Vachiralongkorn Dam; Hin Dad Hot Springs (mineral springs); and Pha Tad Waterfall.

Entrance to Kaeng Lava Cave

114 steps to the lava cave

Lava Cave

Pha Tad waterfall

The crew entertained us on our last night and it was a fun evening. They took good care of us but the food on the boat was only mediocre at best.

Jann and Richard at the farewell party

We saw a lot of thick jungle surrounded by fertile land that supports agricultural crops such as sugar cane, tapioca, tobacco, maize cotton and of course, rice paddies. I had never seen "tapioca" plants before but we saw a lot of them in the country.

We covered a lot of ground in Thailand and a lot of water! Despite what our friend Boudy says, Thailand is a third world country once you leave the major cities!

It's a colorful, tropical, affordable country with a lot to see and do. It reminds me a lot of Mexico because of the climate; available fruits; temperament of the people; all the color; all the noise; affordability factor, street and beach vendors; litter; construction--they never finish projects either because if they do, they have to start paying taxes; religion; family comes first, etc.

One thing that was a surprise was the tax on alcohol. They pay 400% tax and it's going up to 430%. They also have a heavy tax on cigarettes and all these taxes go to support a medical clinic in each village. They figure that alcohol and cigarettes cause illness hence the donations to the clinics. They also have a very high tax on new cars – 500% on luxury cars – and they use these taxes for building roads. The thinking is that the people who buy the cars need the roads so they should pay for it – makes some sort of sense.

The Thai people have a king who is revered. He's 86 years old and in failing health. There may be some changes forthcoming when he dies. He has a son who will become the heir apparent but he is not well liked. The king has a daughter who is well liked. However, the son will become the heir unless the king announces differently but no-one is hopeful about this. However, it is not a good idea to discuss any of this in Thailand. You can be arrested for speaking ill of the King or royal family.

After the cruise, they bussed us back to Bangkok where we got the bus back to Pattaya.

We were back with Boudy in Nagawari until October 28th, 2012 and the 29th we went into Bangkok with Boudy and Brian. We spent from October 29th until November 2nd in Bangkok before we left for Shanghai.

While I was in Pattaya, I went to e-licensing at the CA DRE website and renewed my CA real estate license on October 19th. You never know when I may want to sell real estate again. You cannot renew your license until your three months from your expiration date. In my case, that date is January 19th. Every four years I have to be retested to renew the license. I took all the courses when we were in Florida. So, I'm good to go!

Being back with Boudy was good. We got to get to know him better. We got along famously. He did his thing and we stayed out of his way. I did go with him on several occasions and wanted to see his apartment at the Royal Cliff which is next door to the Sheraton in Pattaya.

We went to the Royal Cliff one morning on our way to see how Nu and Dar were doing getting one of the apartments ready for new tenants.

The Royal Cliff apartment is on the 16th floor and overlooks the Gulf of Siam. The view is magnificent. The apartment is filled with—you guessed it—Jim Thompson silk! My favorite color is red and the couch is a gorgeous red silk fabric with a yellow pattern. The couch sits under a jungle picture of a tiger in a jungle. There are two red leather recliners. There are two en-suite bedrooms, office, dining area combo family room and a view to die for.

Boudy on the balcony at Royal Cliff overlooking the Gulf of Siam

Jann in the living room at Royal Cliff

The apartment is much closer to downtown Pattaya than the Nagawari house and in fact you can walk to the "Walking District" in Pattaya from there. I did it, so I know. Boudy usually stays in this apartment and not the huge house in Nagawari.

On this day, we left the apartment and went to where Nu and Dar were cleaning. This particular apartment had been rented to a French man, was a corner unit and had magnificent views. The Frenchman vacated earlier than expected and Boudy was getting it ready for the next tenant.

He thought it had been totally abused and I thought it was normal wear and tear. It definitely needed a good cleaning but I could live there year round. It was beautiful. Very modern and so were the furnishings. The location was right by where we catch the bus to go into Bangkok so that was good. Ah, but the crowning glory was the view and balcony.

It took Nu and Dar too long to clean the place. Someone also had to come in to fix a leak in the bathroom. It finally got put back together again and is probably one of his nicest units to rent. I believe he has about 20 total. He does not rent out Nagawari or Royal Cliff. They both have too many things to steal so I can understand.

Boudy is originally from Holland and bought many properties in the 80's and is now reaping the benefits from rental income. All the properties are paid for so he has no mortgages—great position to be in! He also owns a personal house in Bali and a hotel that needs completed but he needs to generate some capital to the tune of about $250,000 to complete it. He made his $ in the states owning the only gay bar in Orange County until he was forced to close it because the county exercised their eminent domain rights using suspicious cause but in reality they wanted to shut the bar down. He will tell you that he made more $ in real estate but I think he was bankrolled by the bar. He also says that the bar did nothing but cost him $ but I'm not convinced. I think, because of his age, he has forgotten a lot! (We're the same age so I'm doing a little ribbing here!)

He had mentioned that he wanted us to meet his friends in Pattaya and that his friend Brian was going to have a birthday and he was debating whether or not to have a party for him. Brian's favorite food is Italian and I told Boudy that I would cook the food for the party. He gave it some thought and then said, "We're having a party!"

I made watermelon soup since it is refreshing and it's hotter than hell in Thailand. I made a shrimp pasta, a salad, and also a pineapple granita. Boudy made two pavlovas with berries and we had birthday cake!

It was a lovely dinner party and I think Brian was surprised and had a good time. I think, however, I should have purchased more shrimp for the pasta but pasta fills you up whether you have the shrimp or not!

Boudy's table

Birthday party

Boudy serving the pavlova. This is a good picture of the birthday boy, Brian.

Brian lives in the Royal Cliff apartments and wanted Boudy to buy in there which he did. Brian's apartment is on the 13th floor and Boudy's is on the 16th. The apartments are as different as the two of them! Brian's is ultra contemporary and Boudy's is very traditional.

Brian's career was in banking. He's Canadian. His accounts were in the Far East so he spent a great deal of time in Thailand during his working years. He's also gay—no surprise there but you would not know it unless you have radar for gays. By that, I mean, he's "butch", watches football and all kinds of sports, loves playing golf, has a belly and looks very "straight."

During his years in Thailand, he's met, fallen in love with and now takes care of four men. He calls them Boy 1, 2, 3 and 4. All of them are married with children and he supports them. He makes no bones or excuses for it and is proud and happy to do it. He is also counting on them to be there for him when he needs them in his old age as all his family is back in Canada and he has no intention of going back there to die. He can afford it, wants to do it, loves doing it and as far as I'm concerned is doing a great thing.

Throughout his condo, he will proudly tell you which one of the "boys" gave him what. There's no resentment, unhappiness, guilt or longing romantic residue and he totally seems content. He has told his family not to worry about him and all of his burial/funeral arrangements have been taken care of—by himself. He will die in Thailand and be cremated there. Each one of the "boys" has the key to his safe and they are all taken care of in his estate. He's seriously thinking about giving each one of the boys one of his four-digit codes to the safe so that they must cooperate with each other. I think they all know about each other but I don't remember if they know each other. Anyway, Brian is totally competent, happy, secure in who he is and an interesting man who has lived a full life and had a successful career. We both enjoyed spending time with him and getting to know him better. We all went into Bangkok together and Brian took us to the gay bars—both girl and boy bars. That story will follow!

It was extremely hot when we were in Thailand and Pattaya--too hot for Twinks to do a lot outside. Therefore, on several occasions I walked from Boudy's house to the main drag and caught a tuk-tuk truck. They are very cool and only cost 10 baht one way and took me into Pattaya. It's not lush or plush but who cares, it got me out and about.

My first excursion into Pattaya from Boudy's was a little nerve wracking because I did not where to get off, where to go, did not have my bearings and just set out to spend the day in town.

It's easy to spot those who are not Thai people and I made up an excuse to chat with this guy with white skin. He ended up being French and owned a condo not far from Boudy's and was going into Pattaya to run errands. He gave me a heads up on how to get around, where to get off the tuk-tuk truck, what to do in town, where to shop and how much to pay for the trip. Invaluable information.

I asked if he minded if I got off when he got off and he agreed. We got off together. He directed me to the beach and he went his way and I went mine—never to be seen again.

I spent the day in a huge mall because of the A/C. The shops were not particularly exciting or different and if I was 20 years old, I might have found it more interesting.

I went through the mall and then exited through the rear of the mall and ended up right on the beach. The stores are on one side of the street, then the street, then the sidewalk, then the vendors and then the cabanas and then the beach. This is all about 500' total!

Since it was over 100º, I decided after all that walking I would park my butt on a beach chaise lounge and enjoy a cold beer. That's exactly what I did. The view was spectacular and I enjoyed every last minute of it and every last drop of my beer.

I decided I had had enough shopping and Pattaya for the day, I set off home. Knowing full well, it was going to be a trek, I relaxed and got on with it. I walked and walked and walked and finally got a tuk-tuk truck and took it to Sukumvit which would take me to the stop I needed close to Nagawari and would walk home from there.I made it home and relaxed with another cold beer. At the tuk-tuk stop, I walked into a store and picked up some beer. A tuk-tuk truck is just a small pick-up truck that the owner has put benches down each side and a canopy over the top and you climb in through the back of the truck.

While we were with Boudy for those two weeks, it was relaxing. We told Boudy we wanted to go to a "gem factory, the "Teak Temple" and for lunch on the beach—The Mirage.

Nu drove us and had no clue where he was going. He has only been born and reared in Pattaya and is oblivious to his surroundings. Can you say frustrating? We eventually got to the Teak Temple and he waited for us while we toured around. The teak temple was pretty amazing considering that everything had been hand carved and it was huge and beautiful. We took a horse and carriage ride from the entrance to the temple. The horse's bit seemed to annoy the horse and I thought he was going to take off with us into the woods. The horse was not happy!

Teak temple

The next stop was the gem factory and that was a total bust. First you had to get a pass to get in and then you were assigned an assistant. This assistant followed you everywhere, and even though there were tour groups all over the store, each person had an assigned assistant. Very intimidating and not time to just stop and browse. If you're going to shop for gems in Thailand or anywhere in the Far East, do your homework first so you know a good gem from a not-so-good gem and negotiate heavily!

We went with Boudy and Brian to the Mirage Resort for lunch. It was a beautiful resort right on the beach and the food was good.

Brian, Boudy and Jann lunch at the Mirage Resort

Beach at the Mirage Resort

Brian, Boudy and Jann at the Mirage Resort

On another day, I went to the floating market in Pattaya which was very close to where Boudy lived. Nu dropped me off and I spent the day there. I had a foot massage and just walked around for hours.

Display of hanging orchids at the floating market.

Yum yum--crickets, locusts and scorpions!

Yes, these are my feet enjoying a foot and leg massage at the Floating Market in Pattaya.

I also went to the Botanical Gardens close to Boudy. I spent the day there. They had performing elephants that played soccer and basketball. They put tu-tu's on some of them and they danced. They worked a hula hoop. They did so many amazing tricks it was beautiful. Kids sold bananas and I bought a bunch to feed them. Little did I know that when an elephant knows you have a bunch, he/she does not just want one banana for doing a trick: they want the entire bunch! I had an elephant's trunk get up close and personal with me and it was scary. I ended up giving the entire bunch of bananas to the elephant because I think he/she would have taken off all my clothes to get to the bananas. I love elephants!

One day we went to the beach in Pattaya and rented a beach bed and umbrellas. It was really nice when we arrived, but before we left the skies darkened and all of a sudden a very strong wind came up. The beach became a very dangerous place to be with the umbrellas literally flying through the air right at the people.

Before the storm and the storm came so fast we all scurried off the beach and for shelter but what a lovely day.

Chaise lounges at the beach in Pattaya with the storm looming but it was still hot!

Our host, Boudy, camping for the camera.

Massages and pedicures at the beach. What else is there to do?

Here comes the storm

We left for Bangkok on October 29th with Brian who drove. We got to see Boudy's Bangkok apartment and it too is gorgeous.

We wanted to do what you must do when in Bangkok and that is go to the "boy" bars and and "girl" bars. Boudy declined the "girl" bar so Brian took us.

The first night we went to the "boy" bar. There were about 20 young men on the stage and they each had a number. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but they were all pretty good looking if you're into Thai boys or men.

So there is a way to select one. Each man is given a number that is displayed on his skimpy bikini. They dance around the stage and also do little vignettes showcasing their talent and separating them into mini groups so the audience can focus on whom they want to select.

Well, at some point, I ended up being dragged up on the stage participating in a little vignette that involved bearing a child. There was a lot of yelling and laughing and when it got to the point where it appeared I might have to have sex with one of them, I got off the stage. It was from what I hear quite amusing and there was a lot of hooting and hollering. I think the audience thought it was staged but it wasn't.

The next night, we went to the "girl" bar. This is where men go for action—not women. The dance clubs get the prettier, younger girls. This bar where the girls perform "acts" does not!

We were the only ones in the bar when we arrived with Brian. There were five women on stage and a beer cost about $9.00!

They performed JUST for us (primarily Brian). The first trick involved pingpong balls. She got on her back with her hoo-hoo pointed in our direction. We were each given a paddle and then, pingpong balls were flying through the air. I hit the first ball with the paddle and then no one hit any others.

From pingpong balls, we advanced to darts. We were given a balloon to hold and then the woman sent darts from her hoo-hoo to burst the balloon. I want to tell you this woman had incredible accuracy because we all still have two eyes, however if I had known what was coming ahead of time I think I would have passed on holding the balloon!

Next, we were celebrating a birthday because a birthday cake and candles appeared on the stage. Who knew that the candles were going to be blown out by her hoo hoo! There was a little parading around, music playing and slight movement indicating dancing.

One of the women asked us to buy her a drink and Brian said "No". After each unbelievable trick, we gave a hefty tip. Brian grabbed money from me and gave it to the women. It's something you must experience when you go to Thailand—I think!

Afterwards we went to another club for dancing and there were drag queens. We got to the bar early and there was no one there. When the show started around midnight, the bar got packed and you couldn't move! What a night!

All these clubs were in the middle of a very large market with everything from soup to nuts and a lot of knockoffs.

After our exciting night at the bars, Brian had invited us down to his apartment for coffee and pastry the next morning. We didn't make it for breakfast but we did go down later and have drinks. We had a few good laughs and I'm sure my evening on the stage will be shared for some time.

When we were in Bangkok we went to the Grand Palace where the king's family resides. You get to see a lot of the grounds but obviously not the main residence.

We took a cab from Boudy's to the Grand Palace and were told by a man there that it was closed until 1:00 because it was a national holiday and there were special prayers going on. In the meantime; however, we could go see this huge gold Buddha in a tuk tuk and they would deliver us back to the Grand Palace when it reopened. We wanted to take a tuk-tuk ride and it was only 10 Baht so we agreed.

Tuk tuks are not comfortable, not easy to get into and once you're seated, you can't see anything because you sit too low and your vision is blocked.

The ride was a long one but we eventually did arrive at the gold Buddha. Around the Budda were vendors selling birds in cages and for a price you could free one of the birds and make your dreams come true. There were also small alcoves built into walls that contained urns and momentos of the deceased. We walked around for about ½ hour and went back to our tuk tuk and the driver was waiting.

Our tuk tuk ride

Jann in the tuk tuk

Golden Buddha

Porcelain urns

On the way back to the Grand Palace the driver pulled up to a jewelry store. He said we had to go in but were not obligated to buy anything. Patricia declined and I went in and had a look around. I had no intentions of buying anything. Next thing, Patricia was also in the store. She said that she had to come in so that the driver could get "gas money" for his tuk tuk. This jewelry store "sponsored" this driver and he received gas money for bringing people to the store. We left the store without buying anything and requested to be taken back to the Grand Palace. Again, for the second time, he wanted us to get out and go into another jewelry store. Another one of his "sponsors!" We said, "No" and got out of the tuk tuk without paying him!

We stopped and had lunch and then walked back to the Grand Palace to finish our tour. We found out that the Grand Palace had not been closed and that we had been scammed! It happens all the time with taxi drivers and tuk tuk drivers. So, if you're ever in Thailand, remember this.

The Grand Palace is the Royal Residence and includes many temples. However, the residence where the King and Queen live is off limits behind lots of security. Actually the King has been in hospital for a long time and is not well. When you enter the Grand Palace grounds you have to rent clothes, a shirt and skirt to cover any bare skin. Needless to say it was not a pretty fashion statement !!

White Elephant statue outside the Grand Palace

Scale model of Angkor Wat

Jann admiring the gold

The residence of the King and Queen

As we left the Grand Palace to go back to Boudy's condo, we flagged down a cab. We told the driver where we wanted to go and that we did not want to make any stops. He told us that he wanted to take us to his family's jewelry store! We said, "NO, NO," NO. " We were already in the cab and he kicked us out in the middle of the street !

From Boudy's Royal Cliff apartment one night, we went to the Walking Street. It's a street that has restaurants, bars, massage parlors and a lot of tourists. In fact, buses drop them off. All the stores are open and it's a happening place. We stopped in a jewelry store that Boudy has bought things from in the past and they had beautiful things. We looked at a ruby ring and I thought it was $500 but it turned out to be $5,000! Enough said.

My sister's name is "Linda" so I took this on the Walking Street so she could see her name in Thai.

Thailand used to be known for excellent quality rubies but now the Burmese ruby is more valuable. The Thai ruby is darker in color and the Burmese ruby is more of a true red color. It's a good value in Thailand but you need to know how to recognize quality. Again, you can negotiate.

Boudy, Patricia and I took the tram and had a wonderful lunch at the Mandarin Oriental hotel/restaurant on the river. The hotel boat picked us up along the river and dropped us off right at the hotel. The pictures in the woman's bathroom were beautiful as was the bathroom.