Kanchanaburi part 2

Sunday was an early morning. After breakfast at the guesthouse restaurant (you know how much I love breakfast) we took the scooters out one last time to check out a temple we could see from the restaurant, just a little ways down the river. It was just a few minutes drive. It turned out to be a Chinese style Buddhist temple (the Chinese Buddha tends to be the fat one). I don't really know much about the difference between Thai and Chinese Buddhism. Thailand generally follows Theravada Buddhism, the oldest form of the religion. There wasn't much going on at the temple complex; I think it was still too early. 

Do you see that blue rectangle on the top tier of the temple? That shows the personal seal and royal cipher of HH Queen Sirikit. We think she may have commissioned the construction or was involved in some way.

The Chinese temples that I've visited here seem more ornate than the Thai ones, but much emptier. There was hardly anything going on at this one. Still, it was very cool to see. The decoration inside was pretty impressive.

the ceiling inside the shrine

Afterwards, we returned to the guesthouse, checked out, reluctantly returned the rented scooters, paid the bill, and walked back to the train station where we were going to meet the Thai family we were going to be staying with.

In Thailand, it is uncommon to be referred to by your family name. Everyone goes by their first name, or by a nickname. That's why I'm called Teacher Michael instead of Mr. Desrosiers. In the Mathayom office, we all just address each other by our first names, or sometimes give each other the title "Ajarn" for extra respect. "Ajarn" means "teacher", but is a title of honor. Mathayom is much more laid back and less structured than Prathom is. In the Prathom office they call the Thai teachers by their first names, but add the honorific "Phi" meaning "older brother or sister". That shows familiarity but still a degree of respect. It's often abbreviated to P'.

P'Ja is a Thai teacher at Prathom. She and Katie tutor together. Katie tutors English, and P'Ja tutors Thai language (literature, writing, etc). When she found out that we were going to be in Kanchanaburi, she invited us to come stay with her family who was also traveling there. Katie and Grant traveled with them a few times last year too.

I met P'Ja and her husband P'Chai. They also brought their son Boom and a close family friend, Joc, who is more like an uncle. After introductions, we got in the back seat of the car Boom was driving, with P'Ja in the passenger seat. The two men took another car and all the luggage. Until this point we had been in Kanchanaburi City proper, but now we were heading out to the Thai countryside in Kanchanaburi Province. We drove about an hour out of town to some bungalows owned by P'Ja's family friends.

After driving for a while we stopped at a little restaurant on the side of the road and the family picked up some food for us to go. A few minutes later we arrived at where we would be staying.

Thai countryside in Kanchanaburi Province

 We ate the lunch outside under a covered porch. They bought several different Thai dishes for us to try. I certainly wouldn't be going hungry over the weekend! Thai people are very proud of their food, and take great pride in stuffing farangs with as much of it as they can. After eating, we took a walk around the area. After the crowds, noise, and pollution of Bangkok, being surrounded by nothing but nature literally for miles on all sides was an amazing feeling. After walking to the MRT or going downtown for anything in the city I feel like I need to take a shower. Out in the countryside, everything felt fresh and clean. Fresh air is a rare commodity in Bangkok, one of the world's most polluted cities.

those dark hills in the far background are on the Burmese border

the bungalow I stayed in

The bungalows look small and primitive, but they actually had electricity, air conditioning, running water, and even a TV (although I never turned mine on).

We didn't do too much on Sunday. Mostly we hiked around for a while, and then had dinner outside. The family was super nice, and told us of their plans for the next day. They wanted to make sure that we got to see and do as much as we possibly could on our holiday!