5 memories from Thailand

A few months ago, I was invited by Thailand Tourism on an international bloggers meet and I must say that it remains one of my best trips so far. It was quite a treat driving around the country in a convoy with the Tourist Police leading us. I have shared a few posts on my blog, but they have largely been teasers as I have not had the time to sit and blog about my trip. Looking back at my photographs, I realised that it is difficult to pick up just a handful of memories from a memorable trip, but here are my favourite five memories from Thailand.
A visit to Wat Arun
The temple of dawn looked rather unimpressive from the ferry but as we entered this ancient temple, built on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, I felt humbled and dwarfed looking at the 79-metres tall spire built in the Khmer style of architecture, sparkling with glass and porcelain that were used as ballast by ships coming in from China several centuries ago.

Cruising down the canals in Bangkok
While a cruise down the beautiful Chao Phraya River, one figures that the the heart of Bangkok lies in its canals. Houses, home stays and restaurants built on stilts dot the canals as one wonders if you are in Venice or in Amsterdam. As I was looking at some of the mansions and gardens, I found this guy, a water monitor peeping out while ferrying past the Chak Phra Canal to the Floating Market

Taling Chan Floating Market

There are several markets in Bangkok, including a few floating markets and we headed to one of them called Taling Chan Floating Market. It's essentially a weekend market by local farmers who sell their produce. There is music, food, arts and loads of colour and energy here.

Khun Dan Prakarnchon Dam

One of the most stunning parts of our trip, this one gave us a glimpse of rustic Thailand. We got to visit villages, dams, arts and craft centres and also mingle with the locals. And one such place we visited was Nakhon Nayok. Apart from my stint at river rafting (although I was highly worried that I would be thrown off my raft), I loved waking up to take in unparalleled sights of the sunrise at the Royal Hills Golf Resort and Spa. This was followed by a visi to the dam near the town of Ban Tha Dan which offered sights painted in abundance of greenery, although wrapped in mist.

A visit to Ban Dong Krathong Yam
It is not very often that we visit villages when we travel abroad or for that matter in India. And it is not very often when an entire village cooks for a handful of bloggers from around the world. The village here is known for noodle strainers and it is often referred to as the 'noodle strainer village'. Simple, loving, affectionate and hospitable, the half day that I spent here will go down as one of the best times during my visit to Thailand.