After a long flight from the United States, (with a stopover in Vancouver, Canada) Polly #24 arrives safe and sound across the Pacific pond in Bangkok, Thailand!
It's always good to prepare for trips to come. Here is Polly with two Lonely Planet books, one for India and one for China. Lonely Planet is a helpful guidebook giving advice on everything from hotels to restaurants, as well as good advice on different sights to see in each country.
We visited the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market which is about 2 hours drive outside of Bangkok city. It was a great way to see how the Thai people traditionally lived and worked on the many rivers and canals in the surrounding area. It was very interesting to see how the people of the village sold so many different things from their boats; everything from vegetables to hats to barbequed fish with rice dishes.
The inhabitants of the floating market and village are very family orientated! Everyone takes part in all the daily chores, as well as helping out in the family store, or on the fields harvesting vegetables.
After the floating market we went to see a Cobra show. The men who worked with the snakes had a way of charming the snakes. I think Polly was braver then I was!!
We stayed at a guesthouse on a street called Th Khao San. It was the main area where backpackers hung out, filled with many restaurants, shops, and guesthouses. You could find just about anything here, traditional Thai food to Western Hamburgers, fisherman’s pants (a traditional wrap around style pant used mostly by fisherman, and tourists) to shorts and t-shirts. It was a lively area full of happy people.
Tags: Polly 24
July 1st, 2010 at 7:42 am
Thanks for posting Polly #24! I love the picture of the little boy holding Polly in the floating market. So cute! Were you able to communicate with him or did you use the international language of smiles?
July 1st, 2010 at 12:51 pm
A simple smile goes a long way in the world, especially Thailand, known as ‘The land of smiles”. He didn’t speak English but was very friendly and got along with Polly very well!!
July 1st, 2010 at 7:33 pm
From watching Andrew Zimmern on TV, I’ve heard that insects are a big part of people’s diets throughout the world. The humans here in the USA think bugs are gross, but we frogs know better. Polly #24 is lucky to be traveling and eating (ribbit!) in Asia. I have a question: What’s the strangest thing–in a western philosophical kind of way–an American frog would see in the floating market?
July 1st, 2010 at 8:46 pm
I’ve been waiting anxiously to hear about your adventures. I think it’s going to be an amazing time for you and I can’t wait to read more.
July 5th, 2010 at 9:41 am
There are many interesting things to eat that Polly sure does love here in Asia!! Many of the locals like to snack on things like deep fried crickets, frogs legs, and cockroaches.
The strangest thing Polly saw to eat at the floating market would be the boat that was filled with many different types of fish, they were all barbequed up, but still had the skin and heads on them, and there was some sticky paper near the fish that had lots of dead flies on it. Not something we were to interested in trying out, but different to see how their food is stored and served!
July 5th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Polly,
Those books look like heavy reading! I bet they weigh more than you do! I know all of the Pollies like to promote reading, but #24 needs to get busy.
July 5th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
It looks really cramped in that cardboard box. Were you ever worried where you might be going? Imagine…all the way from Martinsburg, WV to some of the finest food, culture, and scenery that the orient has to offer! The life of a travel frog is very good indeed!
July 6th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Since reading this post, I found out that “The Land of Smiles” is also the name of romantic opera written in early 1900’s. Although written by a German, the title takes it’s name from the Asian custom of smiling at no matter what comes your way in life. The main characters, a countess from Vienna and a prince from China, fall in love but she has trouble adjusting to his culture–and so their troubles begin!(and of course, lots and lots of smiling!)
July 6th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
It sure is a lot of reading, but not all at once. The guidebooks are useful for when we are in a certain area. Once we get to a certain city we find it in the book and read up on what there is to do in the city, where some of the good places to stay are, some of the cultures, food, etc. They are some heavy books though.
As for being worried about being in the box, it was a tight fit for awhile, but once I took my first breath of fresh Thailand air I knew it was worth the trip!!
July 20th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Wow, this is a great resource.. I’m enjoying it.. good article
February 24th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Thailand is so cool. I wanna go see a cobra show.
February 25th, 2011 at 11:45 am
Al,
I haven’t been to Thailand yet, but when I lived on the island of Okinawa we were able to go to Cobra and Mongoose ‘fights’. They are natural enemies, but because it was a show, they only let the animals interact for a few moments before breaking them up. My boys were your age when we lived there and they loved going to the snake show. The Habu snake is a very poisonous snake that lives on Okinawa and we are also able to see those kinds of snakes on exhibit, too. I always wanted my boys to be aware of what the Habu looked like, in case they happened to see one while they were playing outside. My lesson to them: “If you see a snake, don’t touch and immediately tell an adult!”
Thanks for writing!
Mrs. Schneider
May 20th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
Why do you enjoy this hobby?