A Peek at Our Neighbourhood

Our friend France came over for a visit and took some super pictures of our area.

The khlong and my super bike. There is water under the weeds and they go through cycles of clearing them.

The back entrance to my school and the way I go in every morning.

Beautifying

One of our local restaurants officially called "Baan Ice" or "Ice House". We lovingly call it "The Jungle" for obvious reasons.

Laundromat on the khlong.

Fishing net and the reason I don't buy fish at the market.

Raft and house. With dry season the smell is not always the freshest and so much garbage.

Typical bridge

Cockfighting area.

The cocks.

Finally, the pool at our fitness centre that I have never been to. On my list of things to do.

Khlong Development

One of the things I will miss about living in Thailand is running on the canals. It's the place where it is quietest and I have my regular routes and often see the same people.

One of the temples under destruction.

There is an entrance very close to us (2 km) and I was surprised one day to see construction being started.

What looked like a car bridge being built next to the foot bridge.

My favourite garden runs between the pathway and what used to be, a field.

 Looking in the opposite direction are people's homes. They don't own the land and many have built homes on whatever they can find.

The development in the distance.

The same garden 1 month later.

The road closer to being completed. We have since heard that it is a new huge subdivision.

A closeup of the new houses....amazing how quickly things change.

I took a day bike tour with few adventurous friends to the outer parts of Bangkok. The tour was this one if you are interested. Part in the city, part on the train to Manachai along the coast. It's where the fishermen leave from and all the seafood starts before heading to market.

First stop was to look at a small part of the wall that used to surround the main smaller city.

The wall.

Figuring out where we are.

Taking a ferry across to the other side of the river.

These pipes are on top of the canals in case they want to put a road on top. Never seen them like this.

Train time!

Cotton candy anyone?

Inside

We rode the train to the end. There is a market on the tracks and when the train is ready to move, the sellers move their wares off for 5 minutes.

We caught a parade.

In the ferry.

Getting off.....check out the dog.

They raise birds here and export and sell the very expensive birds nests for birds nest soup

We then went to the coast where they are replanting the mangrove trees to conserve the shoreline,

Planting.

The place was full of little mudskippers which I didn't get a picture of but this was a cute little entry sign.

Continuing our way along the shore.

Between old prawn farms.

Somehow I got a good picture and stayed upright.

Harvesting salt-lunch break.

Fascinating!

Machine for flattening the area.

Fishing boats on the way to lunch. The booms on the front are opened wide with a huge net attached. They squeeze together to catch the fish.

The gang.

Lunch. Thais often order a whole fish so that they can see it is (was) healthy.  Deep fried.

Boarding the train. This is Emily...a fabulous addition to the school.

Bikes on the train.

Staycation in Bangkok: Lumphini Park and Dim Sum

In the November I ran a race downtown which went straight up 62 flights of stairs. I came third in my age group and won Dim Sum for 2 at the Banyan Tree Hotel.....very fancy. So we headed off to the big city. We took some pictures of a few things we still find interesting.

A nice addition to the stairs.....a ramp for bikes.

The food carts which are all over the city are stored when not in use. I am always amazed how the system works. 

Lumphini Park where people come to exercise and be in nature.

A small monitor lizard...France and I saw the giant ones later one....pics to follow.

Working out doesn't need to be complicated. Stations are set up all over Bangkok in parks. This one has been here a long time.

Park in a city

Beautiful trees come in all colours.

I was watching the guy in the back coaching running. he is the famous K-san a Japanese man living in Thailand who ran across the US last year. 

The top of our hotel to give an idea of what many are like. Rooftops are very common.

Crazy wiring....

View from our restaurant window. The city is immense.