Our time in Bangkok has been good, Pat got in lots of nights at the blues club and dental work, I got Thai massages and acupuncture.  Of course we ate lots of good Thai food for pennies everyday.  The streets are so alive here with adhock food booths and carts filling the sidewalks and alleys.  Every meal is a taste treat.

We took several trips out of town in the last 2 weeks.  Visiting Phetchaburi by a 4 hour train ride, we were exposed to a much more relaxed pace of life.  Old  shophouses and wats (Buddhist temples where monks live), built in the 1700’s, dot the small town and as sweets are the town specialty every other food stand had tempting brightly colored rice treats with various forms of sugar liberally applied.

Next we visited Hua Hin, a beach resort with nearby coastal birding and kiteboarding.  Pat was interested in checking out the kiting and found it a happening spot.  With wind most of the year, warm water and smaller waves this could prove to be a good place to spend time.  There were lots of Thais on the beach as this is a popular weekend

getaway from Bangkok.

After a few days back in Bangkok for some crown replacements we headed north 2 hrs by train to visit Ayutthaya, a former Khmer stronghold built in the 1400’s then sacked by Burmese invaders in 1767.  Most of the buildings have been reconstructed by foreign groups, so we could see the temples and stupas from this old island capital of Thailand ( Siam). Riding bikes around to the various sites and taking a river cruise to see some of the out of the way sites was really nice.  Every thing was so green this time of year with lots of rain it made for cooler weather and a beautiful 2 days