Day Four - the Love Boat

Guest blogger for the day, Maggie Simpson, picks up the story:

Monday, John's birthday, dawned bright and sunny. A planned early start had us all up and ready before 9am and, without any real understanding of what we were being told, we were off to the island of Ko Kret  somewhere along the Chao Praya river. This mighty "River of  Kings", running through Bangkok, gives a home and a living to many of its inhabitants, and the historic district shows how they lived, (many still do), in close proximity to the water.  Buddha watches over them all.

An exhilarating ride on a very small, low boat, travelling at unbecoming speeds.  We clutched.

This aeroplane appears to have become someone's home!

Ko Kret is some two kilometres in length and about a kilometre wide. The inhabitants of its seven villages make their living mainly by selling their handicrafts to visiting tourists. One of Thaksin Shinawatra's (the ex-premier of Thailand) more far-sighted initiatives was to copy the Japanese Government's "One Village, One Product" scheme which targets rural regeneration by getting the villagers to focus on one core craft for marketing purposes. So in Ko Kret, you will find a Pottery Village:

The day sped by.  We headed for the Royal Palace and Temples, only to be turned away as we had missed the last entry by 10 minutes.  A nearby 'lesser' temple was consolation, impressive and inspiring. Wat Pho is actually Bangkok's largest temple and home to a famous statue of the reclining Buddha. Decorated with reams of gold leaf and mother of pearl inlays, the Buddha is 50 feet high and 150 feet long, making it Thailand's largest image of the Buddha.

And then a mad dash on various commuter boats with zillions of others trying to get home, while we wanted to reach the boat stop for an evening dinner and cruise.  John's birthday surprise.  A beautiful teak rice barge, now refurbished for dinner and slow cruising.

Wonderful to sit down and look at Bangkok from a different viewpoint.  Wiew and her friends had organised a bottle of prosecco and we slid down the river, glass in hand, while night fell, the banks lit up and turned the city into a fairyland.  Fabulous food, immaculate service, Thai dancers, a magical evening topped off by a birthday cake and candles, also organised by our Thai friends, and the whole boat singing happy birthday!




















And so to bed ...