Bangkok, Thailand Oct. 30

The second day in Thailand and we are driving out of the city to Ayutthaya, the old capital of Siam.  The drive took us 1 and 1/2 hours but it was worth it.  The ruins of this once large temple complex were beautiful and not as crowded as the Bangkok grand palace.  Ayutthaya was burned in 1797 by the Burmese.  Saffron robed Buddhas were everywhere.

After lunch we took a boat ride on a local river where we saw beautiful and colorful scenery and a very large monitor lizard!

We walked thru a Muslim village and visited a mosque and talked to the head man of the village.  Muslims are definitely in the minority of this Buddhist country but he said they have no problems. This is our group with him.

Tonight we had another wonderful Thai dinner with free wine tasting!  The food is fantastic here!

Bangkok, Thailand Oct. 29

We have just finished our first four days of our 18 day OAT trip- Ancient Kingdoms.  After flying 20 hours and sitting in airports for 10 hours we arrived in Bangkok Tuesday night, Oct. 28,at 11:30 local time.  There are 14 more adventuresome people on this tour from all parts of the US.  Our trip guide is Todd from Bangkok.

The first day was full of a touring highlights in Bangkok.  The Grand Palace is a sprawling compound of ceremonial halls, gilded spires, and ornate buildings.  The king of Siam ruled from this palace and is the inspiration for the musical "The King and I".  

The most worshipped Buddha in all of Thailand is a 26" emerald Buddha located in one of the temples.

In the afternoon we visited the Wat Pho temple complex which is home to the largest Buddha image in Thailand - a 150' long, 49' high reclining Buddha covered in gold leaf.

In the evening of the first day we boarded a traditional wooden rice barge for a welcome dinner.  The lights of Bangkok were magical and the food was delicious.

Practice and catchup before big trip

Practicing on my blog before the big trip to SE Asia.  These are pictures of our September trip to Canyon De Chelly, lake Powell, and north rim of a Grand Canyon.  

North rim colors

Houseboating with friends

Beautiful sunset on Lake Powell.

Chica got to go on boat!

Canyon de Chelly and Whitehouse Ruin.

Paris

November 15:  We arrived early in the morning and decided to take the metro into town and then to our apartment.  The metros in Paris are pretty easy to navigate.  We had to change trains twice but we arrived around 10 AM at our apartment on Rue de Entrepreneurs.  The apartment had four rooms: living room, kitchen, two bedrooms.  The toilet was separate from the shower and sink which we liked very much.  The area we were in had all kinds of little pastry, wine, cheese, vegetable shops.  That is what I like about Paris- the food!  The first afternoon we walked to the Eiffel Tower.  The Eiffel Tower was erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair.  It has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 7.1 million people ascended it in 2011.  We did not go up but we took pictures from both sides.  Walking across the Seine river for taking pictures was the best.

November 16:  Today we did the grand tour of highlights of Paris.  We took the subway to Notre Dame and then walked from there to the Louvre Museum.  We saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and then wandered around for about 2 hours.  Actually we got lost and had a hard time finding our way out of the Lourve.  It is easy to do since this museum is one of the largest in the world.  Next stop was the Opera house but we couldn't go in because it was closed to the public today.  So we walked over to the Champs Elysee and walked thru a Christmas street fair and then the famous boulevard.  At the end of this fabulous shopping area is the Arc de Triomphe.  After walking around this arc we took the subway home and picked up some take away food for dinner.

November 17:  Today we took the subway to Versailles.  The Palace of Versailles is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France.  When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris, some 20 kilometres southwest of the French capital. The court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.  What a beautiful palace.  We walked thru the palace and saw the kings apartments, queens apartments, and the hall of mirrors.  Then we walked thru the gardens to Marie Antoinette's private living quarters.  We spent all day at this beautiful place.  That night Dean and I had a delightful dinner at a local brassiere.

November 18:  The Opera house was open today so we toured it in the morning.  The  Palais Garnier  is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera.

The Palais Garnier is "probably the most famous opera house in the world, a symbol of Paris like Notre Dame cathedral and the Louvre".  This is at least partly due to its use as the setting for Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel The Phantom of the Opera and the novel's subsequent adaptations in films and Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular 1986 musical.  We walked to the Invalides where Napoleon's tomb is  and got lost walking there which is easy to do since Paris streets run every direction!  Les Invalides contains museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l'Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the burial site for some of France's war heroes, notably Napoleon Bonaparte.  We walked thru the Army museum, saw Napoleon's tomb, and looked at old war relics.  That night we had another lovely dinner and another wonderful pastry!

November 18:  We left for the airport around 9:30. Took the subway again and got to the airport around 11 for a 2:30 flight.  We flew Air France to New York and landed around 4:30.  That night we stayed in a Howard Johnson ( a dump) and flew out the next day for Phoenix.  It is great to be back in the USA!

Pictures:  Dean and I at the Eiffel Tower, entrance to the Louvre,  Arc de Triomphe, gates to Versailles,

Hall of Mirrors, gardens of Versailles, chandelier at opera house, Napoleon's tomb, leaving our apartment, pastry shop.

Whale Coast and Garden Route

 We spent 5 days driving the Whale Coast Route and the Garden Route.  First stop was at Stoney Point on the Whale Coast Route to see more African penguins.  While we were there we saw rock dassies sunning themselves on rocks.  There were two baby dassies.  Believe it or not, these little furry creatures are related to the elephant.  The first night of the road trip we stayed at Hermanus, the whale watching capitol of Africa for one night.  We saw a mother whale and baby but too far for a picture.  In Hermanus they have a whale crier who walks along the viewing areas and blows his horn to tell everyone where you can see whales.  Dean and I had a wonderful sushi meal at Lemon Butta in Hermanus.  We stayed at the Whale Coast Inn which was very cheap, conveniently located, and had very spacious rooms.

The next day we drove to L'Agulhas, the southern most point of Africa and where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet.  It is not as impressive as Cape of Good Hope but we HAD to go to the real tip of Africa.  On the Garden Route, we drove to Mossel Bay for two nights, staying at Amzee Bookmakierie B&B. The first night here I watched some whales breeching (with binoculars).  While we were in this area we drove all the way past Plettenberg Bay to Birds of Eden (about a 3 hour drive from Mossel Bay).  It is the biggest aviary I have ever been to and has some spectacular birds.  We spent 2 hours looking and taking pictures of birds.  But we were not impressed with the Garden Route that everyone here raves about.  It supposedly goes from Heidelburg to just past Plettenberg Bay.  We didn't see much.  Just a lot of driving and not that great of scenery.

Last night we drove back towards Cape Town and we are staying at Southern Cross B&B in Somerset West.  This is another wonderful, inexpensive, B&B.  Today we walked around the old town of Stellenbosch, did some wine tasting, and had a nice lunch at one of the winery's.  We came back to our B&B, packed up and are ready to leave tomorrow for the airport and our flight to Paris.  And I think all four of us are ready to get home.

Ron has been our driver for this road trip and he has done a wonderful job.  He has had to drive on the wrong side of the road, dodge the fast moving cars, and put up with all the passengers telling him how to drive.  What a trooper!!

Pictures: Stoney Point, baby penguin, rock dassies, Hermanus whale crier, L'Agulhas and the four of us, our B & B in Mossel Bay, Birds of Eden and some colorful birds, Dean and I wine tasting, Dean and Ron.