Thailand, part 3: Phetchaburi and Bangkok

Visiting Phetchaburi
We decided to visit Phetchaburi because I wanted to find the resting place of my great-great grandfather, who is buried near a Christian church in town, and we also wanted to see the historic temples in the city.  We caught a ten-hour air-con bus from Phang Nga to Phetchaburi, which was actually pretty pleasant.  It stopped every few hours for a food and restroom break, and the driver wasn't too violent with the steering wheel.

Eating fried bananas and some kind of fried coconut treat while waiting for the bus in Phang Nga

The bus dropped us off along the side of the highway near the city. We took motorcycle taxis into town and found a cheap room which had a duct-taped toilet seat and a shower that was just a pipe with no shower head.  Fun!

0-star bathroom.  At least it didn't produce a sewer smell in the middle of the night like another bathroom we had!

We weren't there to spend time in our room, though, and headed out immediately to the night-market.

Trying a dessert at the night market.  The outside is a wafer shaped like a taco and inside is a dab of something like marshmallow with coconut or sweet potato on it.

The next morning we headed out for early breakfast at a street stall and walked a circuit to see the local temples.

Fish soup for breakfast

Walking out to peek in the library at a wat.  It's built over water to prevent ants and termites from getting in and eating the books. Min almost fell in the water when a bunch of birds flew out the door as she was peering in.

Taking pictures.  Again.

Wat Kamphaeng Laeng, built by the Khmer Empire (Cambodia) in the 13th century, when they occupied Phetchaburi.

Fresh fish at a market, arranged prettily.

These guys guarded the ends of a bridge in town.

After the temples and wats, we went hunting for the church.  We found it, after asking directions of several locals (Christian churches are rare in the town so it wasn't too difficult).

Sipi Mawn Tum Church in Phetchaburi.  A very nice woman at the church named Sakoin even helped us buy flowers for my great-great grandfather's grave.

We didn't want to dally too long in Phetchaburi since we had only 15 days in Thailand, so we headed to the bus station and got a small bus to Bangkok.

Bangkok

We spent a few days in Bangkok resting and preparing for Cambodia.  We planned our border crossing and shopped for travel gear, but mostly we ate. We also checked out the nightlife in the city, and had a very interesting time people-watching from an outdoor bar.

Soup near Bangkok's Chinatown

The duck at this street stall was incredible.  We ate there twice, and would have gone back again if we were in town longer.

Next up: Cambodia border crossing and Angkor.