Canal Tour and Floating Market

You learn something new every day. Apparently Bangkok is the Venice of Thailand, and yesterday we were taken on a tour of the canals here.

It was really amazing to see literally thousands of homes along the canals, many of which are not connected to any streets on the other sides. Mailboxes were often just a gas can tied to the outside of the house with its top cut off. It was also strange to go from a long stretch of several mansions (one of which even had a water slide) to a stretch that was nothing but shacks with metal roofs and missing some walls.

But no matter the size or status of the home, they all had shrines outside of them. That is one thing that I am loving about Bangkok, whether here in the canals or out in the busy streets in the hustle and bustle of the city, the role Buddhism plays in their lives is engrained into every aspect of their culture. A skyscraper or 5 star hotel might be right next to a temple, or a bar or massage parlor might have a shrine outside of it.

The tour ended at the floating market, where they were selling everything from fruits and vegetables to crafts and clothing. I was not brave enough to try any of the prepared foods and I am waiting either til we visit the famous huge floating market outside of Bangkok or the weekend market to start buying stuff.

For some reason I'm having trouble uploading some of my best pictures today so you'll have to wait until I post whole albums online to get the full effect.